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Fleshbait
A young girl overwhelmed and drowned... by fish.
A paddling child swept out to sea... by fish.
Boats smashed and sunk... by fish.
As the horror spreads along the holiday beaches, so do the questions. Has chemical pollution affected the sea creatures, turning them into savage, motiveless killers? Or have the fish, so long hunted and killed for sport, turned against their tormentors?
Is this the final, apocalyptic revenge of a species?
A paddling child swept out to sea... by fish.
Boats smashed and sunk... by fish.
As the horror spreads along the holiday beaches, so do the questions. Has chemical pollution affected the sea creatures, turning them into savage, motiveless killers? Or have the fish, so long hunted and killed for sport, turned against their tormentors?
Is this the final, apocalyptic revenge of a species?
- GenresHorror
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
1 person is currently reading
142 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 26, 2025
The FISH are PISSED! Every sprat, mackerel and rainbow trout has had ENOUGH! Sick of hooks caught in their mouths and being netted by the thousands, the water dwellers are finally fighting back. Thanks to pollution and radioactivity in the water, their brains have rapidly expanded and their intelligence magnified.
Now more evenly matched with their human foes, the fish work together to drown swimmers under the sheer weight of their swarm. Sucker fish "kiss" unsuspecting victims to death with multitudes of "love bites." Though they lack strength individually, en masse they can conquer almost anything in their path.
Will the humans learn to respect their watery companions? Or will they resort to even worse barbarism to solve this new problem? Take one guess!
Despite the faceless characters, personality-free dialogue and poor descriptions, Fleshbait deserves credit for its unflinching commitment to a zany premise. It's not self-aware of its ridiculousness, unfortunately, but sometimes seriousness makes it funnier anyway.
Nearly every chapter includes a death scene, which us horror fans can appreciate even if the writing is lackluster at best. Prose-wise, it often reads more like the gist of a novel than an actual one. Maybe it was originally meant to be a screenplay? I could easily imagine the story as a decent 1980s horror flick.
There's a strong vegan sentiment and commentary on subconscious guilt about humanity's destruction of the environment and extinction-level fishing habits. In light of recent reports of orcas coordinating to destroy boats, even its wild premise is less out-there than it once seemed. For those who can be patient with the writing, there are worthwhile takeaways and some clever imagery.
Long out-of-print, of course, the book only survives thanks to secondhand copies still making the rounds. Hard to find for less than $50 at the moment. I'm sure the high price is only due to the uniqueness of the premise and great cover art, not because anyone has strong fandom for the story itself.
It is one of those books which I mostly hated reading but also can't stop talking about. A good reminder to all the lesser-skilled writers out there that a strong premise can overcompensate for weak prose. Here we are, still talking about Fleshbait nearly fifty years after the original publication date. Most books can only dream of that level of enduring interest.
Now more evenly matched with their human foes, the fish work together to drown swimmers under the sheer weight of their swarm. Sucker fish "kiss" unsuspecting victims to death with multitudes of "love bites." Though they lack strength individually, en masse they can conquer almost anything in their path.
Will the humans learn to respect their watery companions? Or will they resort to even worse barbarism to solve this new problem? Take one guess!
Despite the faceless characters, personality-free dialogue and poor descriptions, Fleshbait deserves credit for its unflinching commitment to a zany premise. It's not self-aware of its ridiculousness, unfortunately, but sometimes seriousness makes it funnier anyway.
Nearly every chapter includes a death scene, which us horror fans can appreciate even if the writing is lackluster at best. Prose-wise, it often reads more like the gist of a novel than an actual one. Maybe it was originally meant to be a screenplay? I could easily imagine the story as a decent 1980s horror flick.
There's a strong vegan sentiment and commentary on subconscious guilt about humanity's destruction of the environment and extinction-level fishing habits. In light of recent reports of orcas coordinating to destroy boats, even its wild premise is less out-there than it once seemed. For those who can be patient with the writing, there are worthwhile takeaways and some clever imagery.
Long out-of-print, of course, the book only survives thanks to secondhand copies still making the rounds. Hard to find for less than $50 at the moment. I'm sure the high price is only due to the uniqueness of the premise and great cover art, not because anyone has strong fandom for the story itself.
It is one of those books which I mostly hated reading but also can't stop talking about. A good reminder to all the lesser-skilled writers out there that a strong premise can overcompensate for weak prose. Here we are, still talking about Fleshbait nearly fifty years after the original publication date. Most books can only dream of that level of enduring interest.
October 27, 2009
When all of those animal nasty/nature runs amok stories were popular, writers and publishers were desperate for the ‘next big thing’ to rival Herbert’s Rats or Smith’s Crabs. We ended up with dozens of different creatures lining the shelves, and it was inevitable that we’d reach fish one day, so here we have the British-set FLESHBAIT.
These fish aren’t piranhas, though, or even sharks, just normal, mundane kind of fish, the kind that turn on their fishermen and rip them to pieces. What follows is a slim novel, packed with action, detailing the attempts of our heroes to tackle the underwater menace. Cue lots of screaming and beach-set “get out of the water!” scenes, with more than a nod to Jaws.
The authors do well to create some much-needed suspense in the murky depths, but for the most part Fleshbait is a missed opportunity. The writing is of a very poor standard, with cardboard cut-out characters and a distinct lack of empathy with anything that’s going on. It appears to have been sloppily written at a very high speed, with scant regard for dialogue or description. What we have left is a hollow thriller that promises plenty but delivers very little.
These fish aren’t piranhas, though, or even sharks, just normal, mundane kind of fish, the kind that turn on their fishermen and rip them to pieces. What follows is a slim novel, packed with action, detailing the attempts of our heroes to tackle the underwater menace. Cue lots of screaming and beach-set “get out of the water!” scenes, with more than a nod to Jaws.
The authors do well to create some much-needed suspense in the murky depths, but for the most part Fleshbait is a missed opportunity. The writing is of a very poor standard, with cardboard cut-out characters and a distinct lack of empathy with anything that’s going on. It appears to have been sloppily written at a very high speed, with scant regard for dialogue or description. What we have left is a hollow thriller that promises plenty but delivers very little.
June 7, 2019
An unsurprisingly terrible book. Evil trout? LOL
September 12, 2021
2.5 rounded up to 3.
Yes this was just ok. I wanted to really like it and show this was a good read, but it wasn't the greatest. I think for me it was a great idea, but it just wasn't written well, and towards the end I really did start to lose interest. I think the story just spiralled for me and sometimes the best stories have the simplest ideas, and this was just got a bit much.
Yes this was just ok. I wanted to really like it and show this was a good read, but it wasn't the greatest. I think for me it was a great idea, but it just wasn't written well, and towards the end I really did start to lose interest. I think the story just spiralled for me and sometimes the best stories have the simplest ideas, and this was just got a bit much.
September 13, 2022
Mark Nelson, a zoologist and Kathy Wilding, a marine biologist are at the epicentre of a radioactive spill which threatens to turn evolution on its head; mankind’s reign as the dominant species is in danger thanks to some muscled up and brain bursting aquatic creatures!
Set in the British county, Cornwell, Fleshbait poses the often asked heavily debated question of; What would fish do if the hook, line, and sinker were on the other gill?
And the answer?
Well, they’d murder every human they come into contact with, using their superior school of muscle to drown those air breathing, land-dwelling a##holes and then they’d take their remains to an underwater hideout to be kept as crustacean coated trophies until the meat was all eaten away, leaving the skeletons to blend in with the coral.
The story won’t appeal to the masses but it sure is entertaining, if only for the weird and wonderful characters – no, not the humans (honestly, they suck), I’m referring to Bobby, the dolphin who manages to keep a young and vulnerable deaf child out of harms way by safely nudging her to shore before a killer shoal can submerge her and take her to their evil lair deep beneath the waters surface.
Spoiler alert, Bobby, like his aquatic brethren doesn’t hang around much longer, thanks to the government’s answer to the fish threat by bombing the living hell out of every mass gathering of aquatic wildlife it possibly can.
Fleshbait is an unadulterated hate filled story of revenge with the creatures of this feature kicking a## and taking names until their super enhanced brains, muscles and voice boxes (they scream fear into the hearts of man all along the shoreline) explode in a pulpy fish chowder thanks to the ticking time bomb thrusted upon them due to radioactive exposure (or that of the government’s clean-up crew).
I might refrain from eating tuna for a while after reading this one.
This review first appeared on my blog: https://justaguywholikes2read.blogspo...
Set in the British county, Cornwell, Fleshbait poses the often asked heavily debated question of; What would fish do if the hook, line, and sinker were on the other gill?
And the answer?
Well, they’d murder every human they come into contact with, using their superior school of muscle to drown those air breathing, land-dwelling a##holes and then they’d take their remains to an underwater hideout to be kept as crustacean coated trophies until the meat was all eaten away, leaving the skeletons to blend in with the coral.
The story won’t appeal to the masses but it sure is entertaining, if only for the weird and wonderful characters – no, not the humans (honestly, they suck), I’m referring to Bobby, the dolphin who manages to keep a young and vulnerable deaf child out of harms way by safely nudging her to shore before a killer shoal can submerge her and take her to their evil lair deep beneath the waters surface.
Spoiler alert, Bobby, like his aquatic brethren doesn’t hang around much longer, thanks to the government’s answer to the fish threat by bombing the living hell out of every mass gathering of aquatic wildlife it possibly can.
Fleshbait is an unadulterated hate filled story of revenge with the creatures of this feature kicking a## and taking names until their super enhanced brains, muscles and voice boxes (they scream fear into the hearts of man all along the shoreline) explode in a pulpy fish chowder thanks to the ticking time bomb thrusted upon them due to radioactive exposure (or that of the government’s clean-up crew).
I might refrain from eating tuna for a while after reading this one.
This review first appeared on my blog: https://justaguywholikes2read.blogspo...
March 3, 2024
This is gloriously terrible and wholly preposterous. The only reason to seek out a copy is the fabulous jacket blurb. You get a hint of it on here, but nothing prepares you for the real thing. Fish...fish...fish...
September 4, 2019
Lazily written even by the standards of the time.
August 1, 2021
I really love this cover. The book however needs some work. I love the concept of fish getting radiation and getting revenge on fishermen and sinking fishing boats and schools of fish swimming into swimmers and killing them. It wasn't really scary but still worth a read if you like killer animals.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews