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'Nids
Medical research? Genetic experiments? No one knows exactly what goes on inside the sprawling BioGenTech building on the edge of town. But after an enormous explosion at the facility, people in town start turning up dead...and in pieces. Something is loose in Hope Valley. Something big...and fast...and hungry. It has a lot of legs, a nasty disposition and a big appetite. This is one spider you can't step on.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
14 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Ray Garton
180 books564 followersRay Garton is the author of several books, including horror novels such as LIVE GIRLS (which has a movie in the works), CRUCIFAX, E4 AUTUMN, and THE FOLKS; thrillers like TRADE SECRETS and SHACKLED; and numerous short stories and novellas. He's also written a number of movie and television tie-ins for young readers. He lives with his wife, Dawn, in California.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 19, 2016
I've yet to read a Ray Garton book that's disappointing. Quite frankly, I don't think it's possible. Garton has a great talent for weaving richly-detailed, perfectly-paced, highly engrossing stories with well-developed characters.
In 'Nids we meet Rodney Lepke, a seventeen-year-old visiting Lovers' Lookout with his girlfriend, Heidi, for the very first time. The evening proves to be most memorable, not because Rodney gets lucky, but rather, because an explosion across the street at BioGenTech Inc. results in the release of a huge, vicious spider. Before long, dozens of men, women and children are ravaged and dismembered by the dangerous arachnid.
Anyone looking for a great creature feature story will love this book. Garton's skillful writing created an entertaining movie in my mind as I read and I have to say, I truly did love every minute of it.
Buy this book, break out the popcorn and enjoy! :-)
In 'Nids we meet Rodney Lepke, a seventeen-year-old visiting Lovers' Lookout with his girlfriend, Heidi, for the very first time. The evening proves to be most memorable, not because Rodney gets lucky, but rather, because an explosion across the street at BioGenTech Inc. results in the release of a huge, vicious spider. Before long, dozens of men, women and children are ravaged and dismembered by the dangerous arachnid.
Anyone looking for a great creature feature story will love this book. Garton's skillful writing created an entertaining movie in my mind as I read and I have to say, I truly did love every minute of it.
Buy this book, break out the popcorn and enjoy! :-)
May 23, 2017
A group of teenagers are at a local parking spot on a normal night when they hear the explosion at the nearby bio lab. As they watch the flames and wonder what happened, one of them is grabbed and taken down the mountain by an unseen creature. Only one witness saw what happened to her but his story of a giant spider is not believed instantly by the police until they find what is left of her body. The police are forced to reconsider their ideas on a monster spider when other kids report their car being attacked by it.
The massive sun spider is on the loose in the town, prowling the street and looking for victims. As more people come under attack the police are stretched to their limits in trying to track it down, and to keep the incident quiet to avoid mass panic. It can move at great speed and seems to be one step ahead all the time...
This was a fun monster b movie kind of plot. It has everything you would expect in this kind of offering...fast paced action, big mutant monster, lots of tension and drama and lots of death. What more could you want? I don't want to go into any more details about the plot for fear of totally spoiling it for anyone planning to read it. But if you like your mutant monsters and a plot that gets right into the action, then you'll maybe enjoy this one.
The massive sun spider is on the loose in the town, prowling the street and looking for victims. As more people come under attack the police are stretched to their limits in trying to track it down, and to keep the incident quiet to avoid mass panic. It can move at great speed and seems to be one step ahead all the time...
This was a fun monster b movie kind of plot. It has everything you would expect in this kind of offering...fast paced action, big mutant monster, lots of tension and drama and lots of death. What more could you want? I don't want to go into any more details about the plot for fear of totally spoiling it for anyone planning to read it. But if you like your mutant monsters and a plot that gets right into the action, then you'll maybe enjoy this one.
May 29, 2017
1950's creature feature brought into the twenty first century. A remote lab blows up near a make-out spot for teens. Next thing you know there are giant 'Nids killing the town off. The ending at the drive inn was a great conclusion to this wild ride.
September 12, 2021
If you suffer from arachnophobia, you will want to skip this book. But if you can hold your bowels, go for it, experience the scare and the thrill!
October 25, 2025
It’s funny that I love to read stories about spiders killing people when I have a huge phobia for them. Just thinking about spiders has my skin twitching, feeling them crawling all over me.
It appears that saying, “Because I can,” rings true in this story. Some people cook up something in a lab, never worrying about what could go wrong. Innocent people start dying, ripped apart.
You getting the picture? A genetically engineered experiment is loose. It’s huge. Crawls on more than six legs. And it’s so very hungry.
The plot never gets old for me. I love movies like this and the author gave me some good old fashioned scares.
It’s been said that there’s a spider within six feet of you at any given time. Creepy to think about, isn’t it?
It appears that saying, “Because I can,” rings true in this story. Some people cook up something in a lab, never worrying about what could go wrong. Innocent people start dying, ripped apart.
You getting the picture? A genetically engineered experiment is loose. It’s huge. Crawls on more than six legs. And it’s so very hungry.
The plot never gets old for me. I love movies like this and the author gave me some good old fashioned scares.
It’s been said that there’s a spider within six feet of you at any given time. Creepy to think about, isn’t it?
August 27, 2011
Fun book - reminds me of old giant bug movies of the 1950s.
July 15, 2025
Big spiders and lots of gore. what more does one wants?
July 7, 2019
A feast for creature feature lovers with a meaty side of gore, this fast paced monster romp does not disappoint. Giant spiders? Check. Nerdy little brother to the rescue? Check. Teenagers dying at the makeout spot? Check. Biological experiments at the local lab? Check. This book is a straightforward monster feature written so skillfully, I cried when it was finished because there were no more humans to murder. The death scenes are wonderfully graphic. Loved this book!
June 7, 2013
When I think of the ultimate nightmare, I think of giant spiders, but these are worse than most: sun spiders. At the apartment where I live, the landlord sprays and baits for roaches, but I still have to spray Raid to get rid of the arachnids, a pain in the ass. What if they were as big as a car? They are now, thanks to the explosion at BioGenTech.
September 23, 2017
Classic. Fun, old-school horror that will make you search for a sequel. Sadly, there isn't one. Grab a copy and read this if you haven't already!
October 19, 2015
Big bug fun!
August 26, 2024
Ray Garton's an author I've always been intrigued by, so when I found out about 'Nids I became excited by the sound of its premise but since this is considered to be one of the author's not-so-popular works, I decided to give his most popular novel 'Live Girls' a read first to appreciate and embrace the author at his best. But here I finally am with this novella, if you're arachnophobia stay far away!
Rodney and Heidi are a few atop Lovers Lookout to witness the old BioGenTech building explode, what already seems like a wild night of events soon becomes deadly when a genetically altered sun-spider escapes and starts killing people. Across the town of Hope Valley, people are being killed violently and without remorse and the Sheriff is running around like crazy. There's a conspiracy and the Sherrif knows who's responsible.
This entertaining and wild novella has a great cast of likable characters, solid world-building, and plenty of violence and tension. However, it's a story that's let down by its abrupt ending. I wanted to read more about what was going on at BioGenTech before it blew up and see the people responsible for such vile experiments get their just deserts. It's a novella that does everything right up until the end, which is a shame because this was almost a solid 9/10.
Overall: It's a fun novella that's a solid read but the ending lets it down. This hasn't deterred me from the rest of the author's catalog, because despite the ending there was still a lot here to love and enjoy. 8/10
Rodney and Heidi are a few atop Lovers Lookout to witness the old BioGenTech building explode, what already seems like a wild night of events soon becomes deadly when a genetically altered sun-spider escapes and starts killing people. Across the town of Hope Valley, people are being killed violently and without remorse and the Sheriff is running around like crazy. There's a conspiracy and the Sherrif knows who's responsible.
This entertaining and wild novella has a great cast of likable characters, solid world-building, and plenty of violence and tension. However, it's a story that's let down by its abrupt ending. I wanted to read more about what was going on at BioGenTech before it blew up and see the people responsible for such vile experiments get their just deserts. It's a novella that does everything right up until the end, which is a shame because this was almost a solid 9/10.
Overall: It's a fun novella that's a solid read but the ending lets it down. This hasn't deterred me from the rest of the author's catalog, because despite the ending there was still a lot here to love and enjoy. 8/10
April 25, 2023
No Itsy Bitsy Spider Here
Rodney and Heidi are parked at Lovers Point and enjoying each other's company. They live in a small town and enjoy that type of quiet living. An explosion goes off at the only place that does not belong in a small town and that's a mysterious Lab that seems to be well funded. Then one of the other couples starts screaming. What used to be a young woman is now in pieces and whatever killed her is still hungry...and seems very pissed off.
Great creature feature!! Enjoy anything Garton writes!! Very entertaining!
Rodney and Heidi are parked at Lovers Point and enjoying each other's company. They live in a small town and enjoy that type of quiet living. An explosion goes off at the only place that does not belong in a small town and that's a mysterious Lab that seems to be well funded. Then one of the other couples starts screaming. What used to be a young woman is now in pieces and whatever killed her is still hungry...and seems very pissed off.
Great creature feature!! Enjoy anything Garton writes!! Very entertaining!
December 30, 2022
Fun read
First time reader of this author. Really enjoyed the book. Good action and great characters. The beastie was superb. Vicious and evil. Nasty critter. Decent amount of gore but not gross. How else does a sun spider eat? I really cheered on the characters. Well developed and relatable. Thanks for a good time. Highly recommended.
First time reader of this author. Really enjoyed the book. Good action and great characters. The beastie was superb. Vicious and evil. Nasty critter. Decent amount of gore but not gross. How else does a sun spider eat? I really cheered on the characters. Well developed and relatable. Thanks for a good time. Highly recommended.
October 3, 2023
Garton takes a ‘50’s giant bug movie and turns it into an ‘80’s slasher. The characters are paper thin but the book has a real mean streak to it. It’s a fun read but the abrupt ending left me wondering if this edition was missing the last couple of chapters.
March 16, 2024
Love an anthology involving arachnids, but 'Nids fell short despite the namesake stories length. Each had a muted or non existant crescendo. That and the subsequent stories felt like lukewarm partial stories bound as anthology.
January 20, 2020
An entertaining read, one could finish it in a day. Recommended.
January 22, 2021
Gruesome and exciting. Fine pulp horror, with short punchy chapters that really keep the pages turning.
June 1, 2021
Not scary
I hate bugs, but this didn’t scare me. More of a gore fest just not my type of book. Some people will like it.
I hate bugs, but this didn’t scare me. More of a gore fest just not my type of book. Some people will like it.
September 7, 2021
A fun novella here from Garton. I wouldn't recommend this if you are scared of spiders.
August 10, 2015
I stumbled across Ray Garton's works more or less by accident, finding an old paperback copy of "The New Neighbor" at a blow-out sale at a local book store and I ended up thoroughly enjoying the book's macabre mixture of horror and erotica. Hence I decided to give Garton's other works a try as well.
It was "'Nids" that caught my attention next, as I was simply in the mood for some good old monster horror nostalgia and I thought Garton might actually be the guy to pull this off. Unfortunately I was dead wrong.
I was certainly not expecting great literal prose, but this is sloppy in many aspects and feels hastly thrown together as especially the language gets repetitive over the course of the book. Seriously Mr. Garton, how often can you use the phrase "The spider was on XXX before he/she could..." in one book? I lost count after it became a two digit number, but this is undoubtedly bad style.
The story's protagonists are unfortunately just as generic, offering little to no edge at all. The story remains predictable at all times and Garton fails to provide any memorable moments or unexpected character and story developments making the book feel like a cheap blueprint-copy of a generic third tier 50s monster movie. Unfortunately without its charm.
So here I am, stuck with a good and a bad experience when it comes to Ray Garton. Hence the next book will be the deciding factor whether I will dive deeper into his works or just cross him off the list. Any suggestions on where to turn to next?
It was "'Nids" that caught my attention next, as I was simply in the mood for some good old monster horror nostalgia and I thought Garton might actually be the guy to pull this off. Unfortunately I was dead wrong.
I was certainly not expecting great literal prose, but this is sloppy in many aspects and feels hastly thrown together as especially the language gets repetitive over the course of the book. Seriously Mr. Garton, how often can you use the phrase "The spider was on XXX before he/she could..." in one book? I lost count after it became a two digit number, but this is undoubtedly bad style.
The story's protagonists are unfortunately just as generic, offering little to no edge at all. The story remains predictable at all times and Garton fails to provide any memorable moments or unexpected character and story developments making the book feel like a cheap blueprint-copy of a generic third tier 50s monster movie. Unfortunately without its charm.
So here I am, stuck with a good and a bad experience when it comes to Ray Garton. Hence the next book will be the deciding factor whether I will dive deeper into his works or just cross him off the list. Any suggestions on where to turn to next?
December 8, 2023
This was quick and merciless and absolutely devoid of fat. If you're a character in this book, you're eligible for death. If you're a pet, prepare for Valhalla. This is the essence of fast-moving narrative, with minimal depth but massive impact. It's 49 "chapters" long in 161 pages, and it doesn't miss much. And while it's limited, it pours gas on everything within those limits, so buckle up, buttercup.
March 3, 2013
Great B-Movie horror! It had me thinking back to the days when I was 12 and 13 watching "Creature Feature" on rainy Saturday afternoons. Just what books are supposed to be, entertainment!, I curse all my past english teachers for trying to make them anything else. Ray Garton gets it.
May 21, 2015
I was after a good old monster story that would remind me of the old monster movies of the 50's.
This book nailed it.
A nice quick read that will have you tearing through chapters almost as quickly as the creature tears through victims.
This book nailed it.
A nice quick read that will have you tearing through chapters almost as quickly as the creature tears through victims.
August 22, 2012
This reminded me of "Eight Legged Freaks" without the humor. It was fun, in a creature feature way.
all in all, a good short read.
all in all, a good short read.
September 16, 2014
A fun, quick read, even though spiders are Disgusting, Horrible, and totally and irredeemably, Evil creatures that have no place in a sane Universe.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews