Squish-Squash

by Pol McShane

On a family camping trip in the Louisiana bayou, the only thing five-year-old Billy is concerned with is how many frogs he can catch. But his life changes with the snap of a jaw, when he is attacked and bitten in half by an alligator.
Billy survives, but is never found.

Twenty years later, tales fill the bayou. Tales of a legendary creature the residents call Squish-Squash.

Having already jumped out of a plane, gone cliff diving, and base-jumping, David Harlow and his partner, Cody, go camping deep into the swamps of the Louisiana bayou with their thrill-seeking friends. But they travel too far and become lost.
Soon, they find themselves face to face with the creature.
And the chase is on!

Genres: Horror

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Pol McShane is the author of more than a dozen books. He currently lives in the mountains of Colorado with his husband and their golden retriever.

Reviews

[Cooper Carmichael · Rating 1 out of 5]

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[Troy Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great original tale, an interesting cast of characters and a bayou backdrop, how can you go wrong? Pol McShane keeps the reader flipping pages deep into the night with this action packed tale.

[Daniel Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect creature feature popcorn movie…that’s a book! With his novel Squish-Squash, author Pol McShane has written my favorite kind of horror novel. It’s a short, fast read that you can picture as a horror movie in your mind as you’re breezing through the pages.

While this isn’t specifically a “gay” horror novel, the main couple in the novel is a gay couple (for a change!). Along with four (straight) friends, they head off into the depths of the Louisiana bayou for a camping trip…and soon discover there’s a hideous creature pursuing them.

Fans of creature features and backwoods horror will feel right at home with Squish-Squash. It has all the classic elements and follows the conventions of the subgenres. We get chapters seeing the world from the creature’s perspective. There’s infighting and drama between members of the group, and we get glimpses into their characters (and their issues) through flashbacks. There’s a little old lady living in the bayou who tells them the tale of “Squish-Squash,” complete with a catchy rhyme about him. There are suspenseful chases and intense siege scenes. And eventually, the hero (a gay guy, again, for a change) must face off against the creature.

Squish-Squash reads like a horror movie thrill ride. It’s the kind of novel you get to the end of and think, “I really need to check out more books by this author.”