Just Burn The House Down

Jimmy Turner is terrified. Very frightening things are happening in the neighborhood and he can’t figure out why. The Maggots Underneath the Porch is a powerful coming-of-age novella circa 1975. In the midst of a mid-West group of teens who are collecting baseball cards and beer cans, experiencing the cultural impact of JAWS, playing little league baseball, blasting guitar God rock music on ghetto blasters, a ravenous abomination is about to unleash death and mayhem on their unsuspecting rural community! Will any of them survive? And how many in the town will become victims before its carnage can be stopped? Beware the lurking danger that festered and formed amidst the rotting filth of The Maggots Underneath the Porch!

The Maggots Underneath the Porch by Patrick James Ryan is not that difficult to imagine happening in real life, for a variety of reasons. Ryan does an amazing job of describing ongoing events, creating an interest in the characters and layering one tragedy on top of another. The result is a horrific outburst, forever altering young Jimmy's life.

Unfortunately, after the major horror is revealed, the story ends shortly after. I am disappointed with the small amount of action. I lost count of how many times I physically gagged while reading this story, but I pushed through the graphic details, expecting "mayhem" to be unleashed all over the town. Instead, the story remains centered on Jimmy's household. There also wasn't as much carnage as I was led to believe.

I wish Ryan had put as much effort into the ending as he did with the rest of the story, but, for the record, the author kept me both engrossed and grossed out to the very last page. Even if this story doesn't sit well with some readers, I encourage horror fans to try some of Ryan's other stories.

As always,
AstraDaemon