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Spore
A festering intelligence is growing underneath Los Angeles, spores infesting the human brain. First they take root. Then they take over, destroying all they touch, driving their infected hosts to acts of madness and butchery. Rory Long and Trixie Wright are deeply in love, running for their lives across an L.A. County wracked by wildfires, mass violence and waves of the possessed. Is there any way to stop the spreading insanity?
319 pages, Paperback
First published November 23, 2010
18 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
John Skipp
104 books295 followersJohn Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 6, 2022
This was one of those stories that I had to be in the mood to read. It was listed as horror and occult horror, but I feel like it was more of an action thriller. Which isn't a bad thing. Just not my typical type of read.
The idea was brilliant. Fungi and drugs infect the majority of Los Angeles, and everyone pretty much goes crazy.
The love story between Rory and Trixie was beautiful. The first few chapters reading about them, their relationship and friendships was really fun.
Then Rory gets a call from his brother in jail, offering him a job. 2grand to drive one of his friends around town for a night
Then the action starts. Drugs lead them to drug dealers, gangs, and other undesirable types that you wouldn't want to get on their bad side.
Once it started, it was pretty much non stop action.
That doubled with the relationships in the book, especially the two brothers made the read worth while
The idea was brilliant. Fungi and drugs infect the majority of Los Angeles, and everyone pretty much goes crazy.
The love story between Rory and Trixie was beautiful. The first few chapters reading about them, their relationship and friendships was really fun.
Then Rory gets a call from his brother in jail, offering him a job. 2grand to drive one of his friends around town for a night
Then the action starts. Drugs lead them to drug dealers, gangs, and other undesirable types that you wouldn't want to get on their bad side.
Once it started, it was pretty much non stop action.
That doubled with the relationships in the book, especially the two brothers made the read worth while
December 27, 2011
In SPORE by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow, fungal spores that infect and eventually devour the human brain are spreading across Los Angeles in a designer drug, turning its victims into a fanatical army dedicated solely to spreading its host. Rory and Trixie figure out the scheme and recruit a ragtag army of scientists and criminals to fight back before it takes over the city and spreads beyond. The characters and dialogue are so fun, the action so nonstop and edge of your seat, the infected so menacing, the storytelling so paranoid and fresh, I was completely blown away by the experience of reading this book. One of the best novels I’ve read this year, highly recommended.
August 26, 2012
When his jailbird brother Richie calls him up to guilt him into chauffeuring some clients around Los Angeles, Rory is both suspicious and reluctant. Rory himself has managed to stay out of trouble lately. Any favor to his brother can only end badly. When Richie sweetens the pot by offering his little brother a significant sum of money to make the drive, Rory accepts the job. Soon after, he finds himself performing a balancing act along the tightrope that separates the city's clean scene from its criminal drug culture. And when one of Richie's clients finally forces Rory over the wrong side of that tightrope, he plummets face-first into a drug scene beyond his wildest fears and fantasies; one that turns its users into a collective mind of homicidal maniacs.
In Spore, John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow have taken an old school parasitic horror idea and combined it with a series of action movie-style car chases, western face-offs, gang wars, science fiction problem solving, and a good old-fashioned melee of gross outs. The sum is a fast-paced, high action ride through LA for the protagonist, who throughout the tale can never be certain who is a friend and who is an infected agent of the thing that threatens to consume the city.
Spore at its core is quite simply a good time. If you're a fan of Skipp's work, you'll want to cram this modest-length novel in your mouth, chew it up, savor its slimy texture on your tongue, and enjoy the satisfaction of its traditional scary horror nutrients feeding your imagination. If you've never picked up a book by either Skipp or Cody Goodfellow, this tale is a great introduction to such work. From its style through its substance, you can tell when reading Spore that its authors want nothing more than for their readers to have a good time.
In Spore, John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow have taken an old school parasitic horror idea and combined it with a series of action movie-style car chases, western face-offs, gang wars, science fiction problem solving, and a good old-fashioned melee of gross outs. The sum is a fast-paced, high action ride through LA for the protagonist, who throughout the tale can never be certain who is a friend and who is an infected agent of the thing that threatens to consume the city.
Spore at its core is quite simply a good time. If you're a fan of Skipp's work, you'll want to cram this modest-length novel in your mouth, chew it up, savor its slimy texture on your tongue, and enjoy the satisfaction of its traditional scary horror nutrients feeding your imagination. If you've never picked up a book by either Skipp or Cody Goodfellow, this tale is a great introduction to such work. From its style through its substance, you can tell when reading Spore that its authors want nothing more than for their readers to have a good time.
March 6, 2015
Start with a slab of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, add a dollop of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, and throw in a dash or two of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS...now, let all that bake in the twisted minds of Cody Goodfellow and splatterpunk legend John Skipp, and the finished recipe is SPORE, a break-neck paced horror thriller that might just blow your mind (quite literally).
SPORE is one wild ride, and fans of Skipp and Goodfellow will have a lot of fun with this one. And if you've never read Skipp or Goodfellow, I recommend that you just jump right in (and hang on tight) and let these two talented guys do the driving...they'll take you to some creepy, crazy places but you're sure to have a blast.
SPORE is one wild ride, and fans of Skipp and Goodfellow will have a lot of fun with this one. And if you've never read Skipp or Goodfellow, I recommend that you just jump right in (and hang on tight) and let these two talented guys do the driving...they'll take you to some creepy, crazy places but you're sure to have a blast.
October 13, 2014
Like the splatterpunk child of the Wire and a Zombie classic. Set in LA. Loved it. Full review coming.One of the best Zombie novels I have read.
October 29, 2014
Started out strong and fast-paced but eventually devolved into a bit of a mess, especially toward the end where the two main characters, Rory and Trixie, became lost in the action. There were bits of John Skipp's brilliance scattered throughout but there were also a few interludes that ground the pacing down to a crawl. The epilogue brought the human touch back to the novel. Overall, it was a decent read for the Halloween season but I think I would only give it 2.5 stars.
January 21, 2012
A scary, thrilling romp through a nightmarish apocalypse only Skipp and Goodfellow could come up with. If you haven't read "Spore" You are missing out on one of the most outrageously entertaining books ever printed.
June 25, 2015
Once again a novel that manages to breathe new life into the zombie genre. This time the culprit that is turning masses into to the crazed undead is a new drug that causes a fungi to take over the body and replicate and spread its disease even further. Great action and an unrelenting pace.
August 27, 2012
drug fueled zombie romp through the mean streets of L.A...took some time to get into at first, but then Skipp and Goodfellow pull out all the stops, and you had better hang on for the ride.
February 18, 2021
The best way to describe Spore is Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Dead Alive. Big action, a heavy dose of body horror and a fun, eccentric blend of characters keep the book moving, and bring the surprisingly thought out world of Spore to life. I was impressed with how well everything hung together, and enjoyed every minute of this read. Where Jake's Wake was tight, darkly comical and vicious, this book is a blockbuster action horror story with a healthy dose of bad taste. Highly recommended.
May 24, 2022
It's a good book. Crazy and backed by science. Skipp and Goodfellow write well together. My only issue with this book, for me, is that it just kind of broke down at the end, became bigger, over the top, just trying to top themselves when I don't think it was necessary. But if you like good, original horror, go for it.
April 12, 2018
Finally
I always wanted a zombie like story involving the fungus that turned bugs to crazed hosts that help spread the icky. Wonderful story and just what I wanted this story to be. More more more.
I always wanted a zombie like story involving the fungus that turned bugs to crazed hosts that help spread the icky. Wonderful story and just what I wanted this story to be. More more more.
December 20, 2021
This one was wild and crazy. I expect nothing less if Skipps name is on the cover. This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Skipp and Goodfellow and loved them both. A cocaine like substance that eats away your brain and turns you into a crazy zombie like person? Sign me up. This was fun.
December 31, 2024
This was a fun, ridiculous read. Last of Us vibes but before it existed I believe, and lots of violence and drug fueled carnage. I have read Skipp and Spector but had never read Skipp and Goodfellow I am happy I did, this was a fun splatterpunk thrill ride.
December 31, 2017
Zombies like no other, I love the original idea the book is based on. I Really enjoyed it. I tiny part of me wishes the spores won.
October 20, 2023
One of the best zombie books I’ve ever read!
September 28, 2018
The only reason I picked up Spore by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow was my fondness of the Splatterpunk literary movement of the 80s and 90s, of which Skipp was a major influential participant, and based on that expectation alone, Spore did not disappoint.
Spore bears a striking resemblance to Skipp’s previous work The Bridge – written at the height of Skipp’s writing relationship with coauthor Craig Spector – which was about chemical waste and pollution overtaking nature and the planet with an almost sentient malevolence. While Spore’s titular enemy doesn’t have the same origins, the hive-mind fungus invader’s very presence makes the novel seem like a logical spinoff of The Bridge’s environmentalist-based tone and imagery. Combine that with the book’s warts-and-all love affair with California – very reminiscent of fellow Splatterpunk author David J. Schow’s work – and Spore begins to feel like a callback to the old days of chunk-blowers and underground horror fandom.
Spore feels (at least, to me) a little more lighthearted than some might expect, but maybe that’s just another throwback to a horror genre that was more about being entertainingly gruesome than darkly foreboding. The zombie-plague aspect and far from nihilistic ending are somewhat formulaic, but if you aren’t obsessed with every book you read being a groundbreaking experience, that should keep you from enjoying this shameless attempt appeasing the gore-hound in your soul.
Spore bears a striking resemblance to Skipp’s previous work The Bridge – written at the height of Skipp’s writing relationship with coauthor Craig Spector – which was about chemical waste and pollution overtaking nature and the planet with an almost sentient malevolence. While Spore’s titular enemy doesn’t have the same origins, the hive-mind fungus invader’s very presence makes the novel seem like a logical spinoff of The Bridge’s environmentalist-based tone and imagery. Combine that with the book’s warts-and-all love affair with California – very reminiscent of fellow Splatterpunk author David J. Schow’s work – and Spore begins to feel like a callback to the old days of chunk-blowers and underground horror fandom.
Spore feels (at least, to me) a little more lighthearted than some might expect, but maybe that’s just another throwback to a horror genre that was more about being entertainingly gruesome than darkly foreboding. The zombie-plague aspect and far from nihilistic ending are somewhat formulaic, but if you aren’t obsessed with every book you read being a groundbreaking experience, that should keep you from enjoying this shameless attempt appeasing the gore-hound in your soul.
November 30, 2014
Interesting Read
The story itself was quite interesting and filled with amazing detail, description, metaphors, and similes, but also lacked a few things. There were seemingly no transitions between scenes and many inconsistencies within the story.
The story itself was quite interesting and filled with amazing detail, description, metaphors, and similes, but also lacked a few things. There were seemingly no transitions between scenes and many inconsistencies within the story.
January 31, 2011
Great story; review to follow for The Bag and the Crow website.
January 17, 2012
It started out so strong but got worse and worse as it went on. Ironically enough I did really like epilogue. Not recommended.
June 3, 2013
White knuckled adrenalin ride through L.A. Awesome story. Awesome characters. Awesome action. This story will keep you running all the way to the end.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews