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Texas Chainsaw Mantis
Praying Mantises have evolved into the dominant species on Earth, having wiped out humans years ago after a genetic experiment evolved the species into man-sized, super intelligent insects. But they don't just roam the planet aimlessly. The Mantises have taken over our jobs. Kept the generators running, the oil pumping, and the economy in place. They're people, just like us ...Except that they're cannibalistic, blood thirsty nymphomaniacs who love biting the heads off their partners while they mate.
Matthew is a high school history teacher. He does his best to educate the young mantises and tame the savage side of their nature, until the day he comes home to find his wife ready to mate. Anyone who knows anything about Mantises knows that mating is a death sentence for males of the species. But when Matthew's wife partially decapitates him during sex, he crawls out to the woodshed to die, only to find an old haunted chainsaw, possessed by the spirit of his home's dead human owner, who just happens to be an occult sorcerer and serial killer known as The Growler's Phantom. Now resurrected, Matthew vows revenge on his murderous wife, and her new husband Nicko as well as anyone else who gets in his path.
Part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part Evil Dead, pray this mantis doesn't find you next!
Matthew is a high school history teacher. He does his best to educate the young mantises and tame the savage side of their nature, until the day he comes home to find his wife ready to mate. Anyone who knows anything about Mantises knows that mating is a death sentence for males of the species. But when Matthew's wife partially decapitates him during sex, he crawls out to the woodshed to die, only to find an old haunted chainsaw, possessed by the spirit of his home's dead human owner, who just happens to be an occult sorcerer and serial killer known as The Growler's Phantom. Now resurrected, Matthew vows revenge on his murderous wife, and her new husband Nicko as well as anyone else who gets in his path.
Part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part Evil Dead, pray this mantis doesn't find you next!
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 17, 2015
10 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Strange
41 books188 followersKevin Strange is a two time nominee of the Wonderland Book Award for excellence in bizarro fiction, recipient of the 2014 editor's choice award in the Lewis and Clark college literary magazine The Peppermint Rooster Review and his short story THE TWINS was listed on TangentOnline.com's 2015 year end recommended reading list.
He is the author of 18 books, and the writer/director of 7 films. He loves schlocky B-movies, cult fiction and Iron Maiden records.
He is the author of 18 books, and the writer/director of 7 films. He loves schlocky B-movies, cult fiction and Iron Maiden records.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 1, 2025
Another strong showing from Kevin Strange. Action-packed, tons of betrayal and humor, mantis sex, and, who could forget, an angry, vengeful chainsaw-wielding mantis who is possessed by an entity that won't let him die. Yep, you read that right. Poor Matthew is a victim of circumstance, married to a politically-motivated female mantis, Zelda, who abuses him at every turn. And after she attempts to take him out after they mate, he doesn't die. And all hell breaks loose. The premise is great and the story is so pleasing to my immature side. I really loved all the political intrigue and such covered in a fairly unique way, too. Now I did disagree with the author on certain creative aspects of this book. I wish that this new world where the genetically altered mantises took over was more reflective of their true nature. For instance, why are they driving cars when they could fly? Maybe have some tidbits about a group exercise class where they keep their bodies completely still, but just rotate their heads. Or, better yet, since they speak like humans, have imperfect dialogue. Even possibly taking a page out of the Smurfs where they refer to everything as 'mantis.' For example, "Hey, we went outside to the parking lot and she started mantising me." Oh, oh, or a county disposal service to get rid of the dead males after the females behead them after making buggy love. Again, lots of fun possibilities there. But beyond some minor critiques, this was a really creative, bloody, fun-filled joyride through a scary, new world.
September 21, 2021
Absolute bonkers from start to finish. What’s not to love about a chainsaw wielding mantis? Hilarious!
July 13, 2016
The thing about Kevin Strange is that he's impervious to community acceptance. He's an admitted lonewolf. He likes it that way. He thrives on being his own man, from the day he became a filmmaker for his film distribution company, Hack Films, to his time as a publisher. He has always found his own slant on weird, and never settled for someone else's rules.
This continues with his first full length effort in a year or probably longer. Texas Chainsaw Mantis begins with a prologue centered on a serial killer known as the Growler's Hollow Phantom and the final days of humankind. That, alone, would be enough as a short story. But that is just the icebreaker for a much longer story about female predation of the insect variety.
Everyone knows it is customary of male mantises to be devoured by their female companions immediately after mating. There are only a few exceptions in Strange's world, and these few exceptions are known as breeders. It's considered highly taboo to not allow the female to bite your head off in this society (much like it now is in our everyday human society). Matthew is a history teacher who is one of the few remaining sources bridging the time between humankind and mantiskind. He and his wife, Zelda, are breeders.
One day, Zelda reveals her true colors when she reneges on their previous arrangement and opts to, in fact, bite his head off. Only Matthew survives the encounter, making a pact with the spectre of the Growler's Hollow Phantom and vowing revenge on the appropriate parties who goaded the career politician, Zelda, into betraying her husband.
What follows, I considered a mirror to modern humans, as we are becoming much like insects ourselves by killing all notions of affection, loyalty, matrimony, etc.
There are inevitable comparisons to Evil Dead to be made as Matthew replaces his frayed body parts with weaponry such as a haunted chainsaw and blades jutting from his back.
My only real gripe is that, at times, the mantis world could have felt more... alien? Granted, we're bound to share some similiarities with one another, but I felt it was a little implausible for them to continue to call Texas by its human name. This, I could overlook.
Something I should make note of is that, for a self published work, the dialogue is crisp and there are hardly any typos. Most self published books are chock full of glaring typos, but you can tell Strange took his time with this one. I've read several books from small press publishers that were chock full of typos, so this has to be applauded.
While this is is probably Strange's most imaginative work to date, if you're looking for rawness, brutality or controversy, I would recommend 'Inside an Asshole' from his collection Murder Stories For Your Brain Piece.
This continues with his first full length effort in a year or probably longer. Texas Chainsaw Mantis begins with a prologue centered on a serial killer known as the Growler's Hollow Phantom and the final days of humankind. That, alone, would be enough as a short story. But that is just the icebreaker for a much longer story about female predation of the insect variety.
Everyone knows it is customary of male mantises to be devoured by their female companions immediately after mating. There are only a few exceptions in Strange's world, and these few exceptions are known as breeders. It's considered highly taboo to not allow the female to bite your head off in this society (much like it now is in our everyday human society). Matthew is a history teacher who is one of the few remaining sources bridging the time between humankind and mantiskind. He and his wife, Zelda, are breeders.
One day, Zelda reveals her true colors when she reneges on their previous arrangement and opts to, in fact, bite his head off. Only Matthew survives the encounter, making a pact with the spectre of the Growler's Hollow Phantom and vowing revenge on the appropriate parties who goaded the career politician, Zelda, into betraying her husband.
What follows, I considered a mirror to modern humans, as we are becoming much like insects ourselves by killing all notions of affection, loyalty, matrimony, etc.
There are inevitable comparisons to Evil Dead to be made as Matthew replaces his frayed body parts with weaponry such as a haunted chainsaw and blades jutting from his back.
My only real gripe is that, at times, the mantis world could have felt more... alien? Granted, we're bound to share some similiarities with one another, but I felt it was a little implausible for them to continue to call Texas by its human name. This, I could overlook.
Something I should make note of is that, for a self published work, the dialogue is crisp and there are hardly any typos. Most self published books are chock full of glaring typos, but you can tell Strange took his time with this one. I've read several books from small press publishers that were chock full of typos, so this has to be applauded.
While this is is probably Strange's most imaginative work to date, if you're looking for rawness, brutality or controversy, I would recommend 'Inside an Asshole' from his collection Murder Stories For Your Brain Piece.
December 25, 2018
Kevin Strange's TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS is everything you'd expect of a Kevin Strange book. Its full on, whacked out, monsterous fun. There are no surprises and no punches pulled. This is Strange doing what Strange does.
Though it is everything you expect from the author, the action is still captivating. The plot is pretty crazy and the bug characters are still relatable. He did a very good job making you care about giant mutant bugs. Thats important, without that connection to the characters, the story would fall short.
If you have read Strange before, this is a garunteed win. If you haven't, this is a good place to start. TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS is a bat shit crazy that anyone can keep up with. And, fear not, there IS a giant monster made out of the bodies of small monsters, a KS trademark if there ever was one.
Though it is everything you expect from the author, the action is still captivating. The plot is pretty crazy and the bug characters are still relatable. He did a very good job making you care about giant mutant bugs. Thats important, without that connection to the characters, the story would fall short.
If you have read Strange before, this is a garunteed win. If you haven't, this is a good place to start. TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS is a bat shit crazy that anyone can keep up with. And, fear not, there IS a giant monster made out of the bodies of small monsters, a KS trademark if there ever was one.
February 9, 2016
All craziness aside, this is some seriously solid storytelling. Kevin Strange continues to sharpen his skills. The already twisted mating ritual of the mantis becomes something even more disturbing as it becomes an integral part of this imaginative book. Much of what happens within the pages is distinctly relatable to modern day society. I can also say I have now been schooled in Mantis 101. Texas Chainsaw Mantis is bizarro/splatter done right, full of insight and originality. Highly recommended.
September 15, 2021
4.5 stars.
This was everything I hoped it would be and more! I went into this book expecting at the very least an OTT splatter-fest accompanied by a substantial dollop of Troma-esque weirdness - needless to say I was satisfied in that department. As well as that though there’s such depth to this story and to the characters.
Each character I found interesting in some way and I certainly didn’t expect to become as emotionally invested in them the way I did. Matthew is a very relatable protagonist obviously excluding the fact that he’s a mantis, though he has just enough flaws to make him a fully rounded character. I loved how this story spliced multiple genres together (horror, science-fiction, comedy, tragedy), and could not predict at all what direction it would go down.
Kevin Strange’s interest and knowledge of praying mantises is fascinating to read about (the intro to this book is a cracking read in itself). Certainly cant wait to check out his other books and also give his movies a try!
This was everything I hoped it would be and more! I went into this book expecting at the very least an OTT splatter-fest accompanied by a substantial dollop of Troma-esque weirdness - needless to say I was satisfied in that department. As well as that though there’s such depth to this story and to the characters.
Each character I found interesting in some way and I certainly didn’t expect to become as emotionally invested in them the way I did. Matthew is a very relatable protagonist obviously excluding the fact that he’s a mantis, though he has just enough flaws to make him a fully rounded character. I loved how this story spliced multiple genres together (horror, science-fiction, comedy, tragedy), and could not predict at all what direction it would go down.
Kevin Strange’s interest and knowledge of praying mantises is fascinating to read about (the intro to this book is a cracking read in itself). Certainly cant wait to check out his other books and also give his movies a try!
December 17, 2017
Look-either you enjoy pulp fiction with Praying Mantises engaging in cannibalistic sex orgies or you don't.
Personally, I had to pull over and pound one out every 15 pages or so.
Would have made a terrific Big Monster movie.
Zany fun!
Weird Tales was never this weird.
Personally, I had to pull over and pound one out every 15 pages or so.
Would have made a terrific Big Monster movie.
Zany fun!
Weird Tales was never this weird.
January 24, 2016
No matter what you may think of Kevin Strange or his writing style the guy is doing exactly what he wants without any care or concern for the mainstream and you know what? Thank God for Kevin because I think Mantis may in fact be the very first splatter/bizarro/insect novel. It seems like the craziest idea, and I couldn't even imagine the time he spent researching the praying mantis. That is true dedication to the craft. You have elements here that take from so many influences and styles that even the most jaded horror fan will actually devour this book. If this didn't feature a praying mantis I bet more people would actually read this. It isn't the kind of story that most horror or even bizarro fans would touch, but you should.
Kevin plays this straight and gives his title character human characteristics. We know someone like Matthew. He's the guy that no one notices. The check out clerk at our favorite gas station, that weird waiter at that place we eat lunch everyday. On top of that he has a unique writing style that makes you forget that you're reading about bugs and you become sucked into the crazy story that actually features a world that has been taken over by praying mantises. At its heart is Matthew and his quest for vengeance. The key to all of this is greed. It trickles from the humans right to the mantis' themselves. This isn't by any means a light fluffy book. This is dark and brutal and I have to admit that it's without a doubt one of my favorite books..
This is one indie guy that actually cares about what he's doing. In Mantis we see a writer taking a huge gamble and it pays off. It takes balls to write a book like this and as a fan of splatterpunk and bizarro there's a lot of those elements to it, but in the end it's strictly a Kevin Strange novel. Totally unique and worth a few hours of your time.
Kevin plays this straight and gives his title character human characteristics. We know someone like Matthew. He's the guy that no one notices. The check out clerk at our favorite gas station, that weird waiter at that place we eat lunch everyday. On top of that he has a unique writing style that makes you forget that you're reading about bugs and you become sucked into the crazy story that actually features a world that has been taken over by praying mantises. At its heart is Matthew and his quest for vengeance. The key to all of this is greed. It trickles from the humans right to the mantis' themselves. This isn't by any means a light fluffy book. This is dark and brutal and I have to admit that it's without a doubt one of my favorite books..
This is one indie guy that actually cares about what he's doing. In Mantis we see a writer taking a huge gamble and it pays off. It takes balls to write a book like this and as a fan of splatterpunk and bizarro there's a lot of those elements to it, but in the end it's strictly a Kevin Strange novel. Totally unique and worth a few hours of your time.
August 22, 2016
FULL REVIEW PENDING.....
As usual, Strange has managed to mix bizarre with social satire and come out with TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS. I've read lots of Strange's books and I should no better, the man does nothing but amazing story telling in a world that is completely bizarre with a story line that is not only poignant but touching. And the gore...don't forget the gore.
As usual, Strange has managed to mix bizarre with social satire and come out with TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS. I've read lots of Strange's books and I should no better, the man does nothing but amazing story telling in a world that is completely bizarre with a story line that is not only poignant but touching. And the gore...don't forget the gore.
January 2, 2016
Kevin Strange takes a completely crazy concept and turns it into an amazingly fun ride. Insane in all the best ways. Read This Book!
September 9, 2025
2.5*
wut
wut
December 31, 2020
Mantis greed, jealousy and lust for power unwittingly combine with Oher Worldly Evil in this outrageous splatter/porn/insect guide.
Matthew Mantis is just like you and me, except he’s an intelligent, enormous, talking praying mantis. He was born in an egg sac, and, after narrowly escaping being eaten by his hundreds of brothers and sisters he went to school, got a job and comes home every night to a loving wife, who does her best not to devour his head after they engage in their “nuptials “.
I never like to give away very much when I review a book because I always love being surprised by the turn of events in a story. What I will
tell you is that Matthew, like the classic Hitchcockian Every Man(tis) is thrown into situations that are way, way over his head. Literally. At one point he battles a monster composed of rotting corpses that stands at least 60 feet tall.
The story, like real life, is a mix of genres. It’s got horror, splatter horror, science fiction even a little political and social satire. There are a few good twists and turns. Most of the humor comes when the author uses Mantis society to parody our own. I won’t go into graphic detail (and there are lots of that) but I will say that mantises are both extremely cannibalistic and super horny, so much so that when they give in to one of those urges they usually follow it up with the other. If you don’t have enough party subs at your mantis get-together, things can get really weird really quickly.
So I liked this book. It’s a good read and I recommend it to anyone who likes their entertainment bloody, funny and Strange.
Matthew Mantis is just like you and me, except he’s an intelligent, enormous, talking praying mantis. He was born in an egg sac, and, after narrowly escaping being eaten by his hundreds of brothers and sisters he went to school, got a job and comes home every night to a loving wife, who does her best not to devour his head after they engage in their “nuptials “.
I never like to give away very much when I review a book because I always love being surprised by the turn of events in a story. What I will
tell you is that Matthew, like the classic Hitchcockian Every Man(tis) is thrown into situations that are way, way over his head. Literally. At one point he battles a monster composed of rotting corpses that stands at least 60 feet tall.
The story, like real life, is a mix of genres. It’s got horror, splatter horror, science fiction even a little political and social satire. There are a few good twists and turns. Most of the humor comes when the author uses Mantis society to parody our own. I won’t go into graphic detail (and there are lots of that) but I will say that mantises are both extremely cannibalistic and super horny, so much so that when they give in to one of those urges they usually follow it up with the other. If you don’t have enough party subs at your mantis get-together, things can get really weird really quickly.
So I liked this book. It’s a good read and I recommend it to anyone who likes their entertainment bloody, funny and Strange.
April 10, 2022
mantisy goodness
It had everything; gore, humour and surprisingly hot mantis lovin. This would make an excellent movie and reminded me a lot of ash vs the evil dead for reasons that will become clear if you read it.
Great action and all round fabulousness.
It had everything; gore, humour and surprisingly hot mantis lovin. This would make an excellent movie and reminded me a lot of ash vs the evil dead for reasons that will become clear if you read it.
Great action and all round fabulousness.
September 30, 2024
Mantis-kind, it turns out, was simply the more highly evolved species.
So that was splatterpunk, huh? Gotta admit I expected to be more… shocked? Disgusted? Left weeping like a lost lamb and hiding in a corner wondering why the world had gone mad? But no, honestly I thought the extremely aptly named Kevin Strange's "Texas Chainsaw Mantis" was pretty much what it needed to be. A book about family! No wait, that's not right… In all seriousity, it was gory as all get-out and if you like killin', well, there's plenty there. But overall, if you're writing a book about the rise of mutated and highly intelligent praying mantises having wiped out all of humanity way before Chapter 1 even comes up, well, that's kind of how life in the big Bug City is gonna be. It's an eat or get eaten world out there y'all, so get ready to fight from the get-go.
There was nothing more savage, more ferocious than newborn praying mantises.
All kidding aside, for what can only be considered an utterly wackadoodle scenario, Strange handles it really well and with what I thought was a real ton of imagination. Let's see how much of this I can do from memory and without spoiling too many big reveals: the bugs rise up after an experiment gone wrong - at M.I.T. of all places - that was publicly masked and/or marketed to be a crop saver but was secretly intended for nefarious military purposes. So yeah, been there, done that, and we kind of asked for what happens by doing so. And then before you can snap your claws together - which is apparently both extremely fast and very deadly - mankind is, well, gone. Which we get to see through the eyes of two humans, one of whom just happens to be dimension-hopping serial killer who is - or better said was - looking to bring forth nethergods of great power and majesty (his words, not mine). So far it all sounds just like a normal Stephen King affair, am I right?
He was a killing machine made from death, resurrected by blood magic.
Well, as it tends to do, time passes and the bugs basically assume the same roles and behaviors of the humans they replaced. They drive our cars, live in our homes, teach in our schools and even look forward to cutting actual education budgets in favor of fielding football teams. Though there's one sticking point and that has to do with a trait these planet-ruling mantes brought with them from their "ancestors" and that's the whole "ok, now we've mated, it's time to kill dad" reproductive process, not to mention the killing spree that is in fact the birthing process where the wee newborn - and starving - buggers have to eat their brothers and sisters before they themselves are devoured. This seems to a lot of them upset because it is causing some population issues, both in terms of a skewed population and too many people trying to think their own free thoughts. Yep, you guessed it: fundamentalism has survived the apocalypse.
Murder and cannibalism were almost looked at as virtuous.
So yeah, one half of this mantiskind is up in arms or whatever you call their six legs because it (a)seems many of them are so-called God-fearin' Fundies that base their worship on what I suspect were copies of the Necromonicon even though it's never stated as such and (b) this is how things are supposed to be so neener neener how dare you question Our God. Let's just say they're definitely on par with the "droolers" of current human society that worship all kinds of fake prophets and orange-skinned felons and by golly, if you're gonna try to teach responsible mating and birth control to THEIR kids, well, there's gonna be issues. The other half then wants to introduce sensible and responsible reproduction including letting dad live past a few weeks after he loses his virginity, leaving mom alone to care for an extremely creepy house full of post-larval brats. Which of course is obviously just far too radical to be allowed to proceed without a lot of ugly hats and misspelled signs being waved about. And don't forget your Tiki torches either!
Your wife just tried to eat you and blackmail you, and here you are hoping to make nicey-nice with her.
Meanwhile, poor Matthew - the protagonist and even arguably main antagonist for a while in this book - has all kinds of weirdness happen to him in just the span of hours. He's fired from his job as a history teacher, his wife sets him up for happy sex fun times only to turn on him and give him the post-coital chop-chop treatment, and he's somehow overtaken by the spirit of the aforementioned serial killer who makes all kinds of RoboCop changes to his anatomy, including implanting a possessed chainsaw in his split open head. Hey, we had to work the chainsaw into the main story somehow, am I right? And during all this, Strange makes sure we're covered thoroughly with offal and viscera not to mention enough - um, how to phrase this for goodreads and Amazon? - genital secretions and seminal fluids to basically flood Cleveland with a porn-worthy 20-foot high tsunami of bodily emissions! No joke: think using a firehose or three to create the effect needed if this were being filmed! But I will say this: if you take nothing else away from this book you will know more than you did before about the sex lives of praying mantises. I'll never look at my own abdomen the same way again, that's for sure!
He found his own aedeagus swelling as the sweet smells stimulated his antennae.
Even with these MantisHub worthy asides, the overall adventure is very quickly paced, essentially turning into a "everyone vs. the demon horde" type of battle royale just as Matthew's bitch of an (ex-)wife is getting ready to accept her senatorial election victory (yeah, they still do the whole Congress, President, and White House thing, too). Without flashbacks, I don't even think the main scenes cover more than an hour or two but damn things go down in a blur and a splash and a few heavy downpours of blood for good measure. And again, if you take all this as it's intended to be taken - that is, these are not human people like you and I (mostly you) fighting the evil spells and resulting giant body-part beast but rather the manti - then really, it's not all that shocking. In fact, I understand why on several occasions, bystanders basically just shrug at "folks" and say, "Sorry, can't help, this is our way"! It's pretty well-written in that regard and except for a small, uncomfortable rash of editing issues (see for example "going forth" vs. "fourth in line"), I just basically sat down and happily read the damn thing without stopping!
Oh, for fuck's sake, kid! Get a grip! I'm a POLITICIAN!
There's also both an excellent epilogue (hurray for class nerds, we shall destroy you all!) as well as a decent short-story stapled to the end. And if you are like I was and just the descriptive "splatterpunk" is holding you back, then I highly encourage you to go into this with the spirit of fun and enjoyment in which it's intended. I mean, come on, both the words 'chainsaw' AND 'Texas' are in the title so you know it's bound to be one of the most bizarre things you'll come across! But for me, I enjoyed the hell out of this and will be out for more Strange again some day! Um, I am definitely going to think about rephrasing that, especially if my wife has been squirting pheromones throughout the house and hiding larva in the hall closet that will eventually rush out and eat me while the locals stand around and essentially clap… hm, this may have been even more plausible than I first thought…
So that was splatterpunk, huh? Gotta admit I expected to be more… shocked? Disgusted? Left weeping like a lost lamb and hiding in a corner wondering why the world had gone mad? But no, honestly I thought the extremely aptly named Kevin Strange's "Texas Chainsaw Mantis" was pretty much what it needed to be. A book about family! No wait, that's not right… In all seriousity, it was gory as all get-out and if you like killin', well, there's plenty there. But overall, if you're writing a book about the rise of mutated and highly intelligent praying mantises having wiped out all of humanity way before Chapter 1 even comes up, well, that's kind of how life in the big Bug City is gonna be. It's an eat or get eaten world out there y'all, so get ready to fight from the get-go.
There was nothing more savage, more ferocious than newborn praying mantises.
All kidding aside, for what can only be considered an utterly wackadoodle scenario, Strange handles it really well and with what I thought was a real ton of imagination. Let's see how much of this I can do from memory and without spoiling too many big reveals: the bugs rise up after an experiment gone wrong - at M.I.T. of all places - that was publicly masked and/or marketed to be a crop saver but was secretly intended for nefarious military purposes. So yeah, been there, done that, and we kind of asked for what happens by doing so. And then before you can snap your claws together - which is apparently both extremely fast and very deadly - mankind is, well, gone. Which we get to see through the eyes of two humans, one of whom just happens to be dimension-hopping serial killer who is - or better said was - looking to bring forth nethergods of great power and majesty (his words, not mine). So far it all sounds just like a normal Stephen King affair, am I right?
He was a killing machine made from death, resurrected by blood magic.
Well, as it tends to do, time passes and the bugs basically assume the same roles and behaviors of the humans they replaced. They drive our cars, live in our homes, teach in our schools and even look forward to cutting actual education budgets in favor of fielding football teams. Though there's one sticking point and that has to do with a trait these planet-ruling mantes brought with them from their "ancestors" and that's the whole "ok, now we've mated, it's time to kill dad" reproductive process, not to mention the killing spree that is in fact the birthing process where the wee newborn - and starving - buggers have to eat their brothers and sisters before they themselves are devoured. This seems to a lot of them upset because it is causing some population issues, both in terms of a skewed population and too many people trying to think their own free thoughts. Yep, you guessed it: fundamentalism has survived the apocalypse.
Murder and cannibalism were almost looked at as virtuous.
So yeah, one half of this mantiskind is up in arms or whatever you call their six legs because it (a)seems many of them are so-called God-fearin' Fundies that base their worship on what I suspect were copies of the Necromonicon even though it's never stated as such and (b) this is how things are supposed to be so neener neener how dare you question Our God. Let's just say they're definitely on par with the "droolers" of current human society that worship all kinds of fake prophets and orange-skinned felons and by golly, if you're gonna try to teach responsible mating and birth control to THEIR kids, well, there's gonna be issues. The other half then wants to introduce sensible and responsible reproduction including letting dad live past a few weeks after he loses his virginity, leaving mom alone to care for an extremely creepy house full of post-larval brats. Which of course is obviously just far too radical to be allowed to proceed without a lot of ugly hats and misspelled signs being waved about. And don't forget your Tiki torches either!
Your wife just tried to eat you and blackmail you, and here you are hoping to make nicey-nice with her.
Meanwhile, poor Matthew - the protagonist and even arguably main antagonist for a while in this book - has all kinds of weirdness happen to him in just the span of hours. He's fired from his job as a history teacher, his wife sets him up for happy sex fun times only to turn on him and give him the post-coital chop-chop treatment, and he's somehow overtaken by the spirit of the aforementioned serial killer who makes all kinds of RoboCop changes to his anatomy, including implanting a possessed chainsaw in his split open head. Hey, we had to work the chainsaw into the main story somehow, am I right? And during all this, Strange makes sure we're covered thoroughly with offal and viscera not to mention enough - um, how to phrase this for goodreads and Amazon? - genital secretions and seminal fluids to basically flood Cleveland with a porn-worthy 20-foot high tsunami of bodily emissions! No joke: think using a firehose or three to create the effect needed if this were being filmed! But I will say this: if you take nothing else away from this book you will know more than you did before about the sex lives of praying mantises. I'll never look at my own abdomen the same way again, that's for sure!
He found his own aedeagus swelling as the sweet smells stimulated his antennae.
Even with these MantisHub worthy asides, the overall adventure is very quickly paced, essentially turning into a "everyone vs. the demon horde" type of battle royale just as Matthew's bitch of an (ex-)wife is getting ready to accept her senatorial election victory (yeah, they still do the whole Congress, President, and White House thing, too). Without flashbacks, I don't even think the main scenes cover more than an hour or two but damn things go down in a blur and a splash and a few heavy downpours of blood for good measure. And again, if you take all this as it's intended to be taken - that is, these are not human people like you and I (mostly you) fighting the evil spells and resulting giant body-part beast but rather the manti - then really, it's not all that shocking. In fact, I understand why on several occasions, bystanders basically just shrug at "folks" and say, "Sorry, can't help, this is our way"! It's pretty well-written in that regard and except for a small, uncomfortable rash of editing issues (see for example "going forth" vs. "fourth in line"), I just basically sat down and happily read the damn thing without stopping!
Oh, for fuck's sake, kid! Get a grip! I'm a POLITICIAN!
There's also both an excellent epilogue (hurray for class nerds, we shall destroy you all!) as well as a decent short-story stapled to the end. And if you are like I was and just the descriptive "splatterpunk" is holding you back, then I highly encourage you to go into this with the spirit of fun and enjoyment in which it's intended. I mean, come on, both the words 'chainsaw' AND 'Texas' are in the title so you know it's bound to be one of the most bizarre things you'll come across! But for me, I enjoyed the hell out of this and will be out for more Strange again some day! Um, I am definitely going to think about rephrasing that, especially if my wife has been squirting pheromones throughout the house and hiding larva in the hall closet that will eventually rush out and eat me while the locals stand around and essentially clap… hm, this may have been even more plausible than I first thought…
January 19, 2021
Well this is a breath of fresh originalism. I love praying mantis! And to have a whole story around a psychotic praying mantis is wicked Killa. But it's got so many more layers than just the killer. I really enjoyed this book. I'll be looking for a lot more books by you Mr Strange!
July 26, 2016
**Warning, may contain what you consider to be spoilers**
The human race has been obliterated by praying mantises that have evolved into humanoid bugs. Praying mantises now rule the earth, even though they live like humans they're still wired to eat each other and the females still snap the heads off of their mating partners after sex. Matthew Mantis is a simple high school teacher and his wife is an overly ambitious politician who has made it her life's work to advocate for safe sex (meaning making it so the females don't kill after doing the nasty) birth control and now for male sterilization. Matthew doesn't poll well so his wife decides to kick her crusade up a notch by framing Matthew for sexual assault to justify his murder. Too bad for her that 25 years earlier their home belonged to a crazed maniac who practiced blood magic and her violent act of treachery is what causes the Texas chainsaw mantis massacre.
Kevin Strange knows way too much about praying mantis sex and has a thing for mantis spunk. There's so much mantis spunk squirting around I felt the need to duck a few times. I still haven't figured out how a society of praying mantises can live in a human-esque society but still be slaves to their baser instincts. How would they maintain their dominance as the leading species if they keep killing their young and each other because it's "their way". Anyhoo, I'm up for a praying mantis take over but only if Zorak is their leader. He can blink those noisy eyes at me anytime of the day.
The human race has been obliterated by praying mantises that have evolved into humanoid bugs. Praying mantises now rule the earth, even though they live like humans they're still wired to eat each other and the females still snap the heads off of their mating partners after sex. Matthew Mantis is a simple high school teacher and his wife is an overly ambitious politician who has made it her life's work to advocate for safe sex (meaning making it so the females don't kill after doing the nasty) birth control and now for male sterilization. Matthew doesn't poll well so his wife decides to kick her crusade up a notch by framing Matthew for sexual assault to justify his murder. Too bad for her that 25 years earlier their home belonged to a crazed maniac who practiced blood magic and her violent act of treachery is what causes the Texas chainsaw mantis massacre.
Kevin Strange knows way too much about praying mantis sex and has a thing for mantis spunk. There's so much mantis spunk squirting around I felt the need to duck a few times. I still haven't figured out how a society of praying mantises can live in a human-esque society but still be slaves to their baser instincts. How would they maintain their dominance as the leading species if they keep killing their young and each other because it's "their way". Anyhoo, I'm up for a praying mantis take over but only if Zorak is their leader. He can blink those noisy eyes at me anytime of the day.
February 28, 2016
Giant, humanoid praying mantises, a haunted chainsaw, and unusually erotic sex scenes. Not at all what I expected form a book entitled, "Texas Chainsaw Mantis." Kevin Strange has a way with mantises that is almost uncanny, as if he had at one point been raised by a group of them. This book was well written and over the top, but not to a point where it is comedic. Now, don't get me wrong, this book is great for laughs throughout--I mean, it's about giant insects with anxiety and political parties. All in all, this was a great read from start to finish and I can't wait to read more Strange books.
September 28, 2016
Holy shit. My first book by this guy and, man oh man, I was blown away. Imagine THEM!, The Deadly Mantis and Dead Alive all mixed together with bug sex, intrigue, bug sex, adultery, and even more bug sex. I don't know about you but for me, that recipe equals SUCCESS! Good story, good characters, great writing. You need this in your life.
September 6, 2016
This started out fun. Half way thru, got kinda dumb, not fun-dumb either. Didn't get much better after that.
The repetitive sex undermined the story. This is suppose to be Bizarro fiction, not a LSD induced bad letter to Penthouse Forum.
The repetitive sex undermined the story. This is suppose to be Bizarro fiction, not a LSD induced bad letter to Penthouse Forum.
January 7, 2016
Kevin is the greatest ever he writes such in depth and powerful stories they really make you sit down and think after you read them. I always love traveling on the strange highway.
March 29, 2016
Texas Chainsaw Mantis reads like a Troma film on meth. Part Evil Dead, Meet the Applegates, Dead Alive, and Soap Opera. Truly an entertaining read, and the ending was completely unpredictable.
July 23, 2017
Love his writing style !!
May 17, 2019
You may remember the giant green mantis Zorak from Space Ghost, well I have it on good authority that Texas Chainsaw Mantis is his favorite book. Zorak doesn’t blink much and I am told he didn’t blink at all until he finished this outside the box bizarro novel. The novel opens just after scientists have blundered experimenting with GMOs on a plethora of praying mantis who suddenly grow to giant size and attack the humans of earth. Tom Stockman a serial killer necromancer in Texas sees his wife Beth get her arm sliced off by one of these giant mantis. “The mantis above the archway hanging upside down just above her that she hadn’t even sensed (let alone seen) darted out lightning-fast - so fast that all Tom saw was a green blur. Then Beth was in the air, gripped up into the huge foreclaws of a praying mantis at least six feet long with claws the size of the scimitars Tom loved from old Sinbad movies.” Tom using a coat rack is able to back the mantis off long enough to take off running with her to his secret underground murder room. Unfortunately when Beth sees the contents of his kill room and realizes who her husband really is she decides to take her chances with the horde of praying mantis on the surface. Her trying to get out allows the mantis in and well splatter but he does manage to leave behind an enchanted chainsaw. Fast forward twenty-five years and the mantis people dominate the earth driving cars doing human jobs mimicking human society kind of like the romans after defeating the greeks copied their culture the mantis might of even had human tutors for their children had they not eaten them all. A school teacher mantis named Matthew ends up taking refuge in Tom Stockton’s old murder room after his wife cleaves his head in two. There Matthew is healed from his mortal wound through the enchanted chainsaw which becomes part of him. “The chainsaw grew out from the middle of his head like a great beak or horn. … He was a killing machine made from death, resurrected by blood magic.” His exoskeleton is now about as undentable as Knight Rider’s Pontiac Trans Am although KITT never had a chainsaw embedded in its hood or at least not on any of the episodes I watched. One of the things the narrative made me think about is how much insects and humans are controlled by pheromones, genetics, and our basic wiring and some of the time we can be in robotic thrall to these basic boilerplate systems. In the author’s note Kevin Strange tells of his experience with praying mantis as a child and how “I always hoped at least one of them lived his life in my house, feeding off spiders and whatever else he could find, growing up to be a badass little insect monster. This book is dedicated to him.” While reading this bizarro masterpiece I kind of pretended the “badass little insect monster” could be found somewhere in the short story about wrestling that is tacked on after the end of this novel in some editions, just trying to give the book congruity after all. Perhaps it wasn’t just my imagination that spotted a small green blur of movement over by the turnbuckle.
November 27, 2017
I can only give this book 2 stars because of the ending. The book was great up until the ending. I was really loving it. Sat and read it all in one sitting because it was so good I just couldn't put it down. But then when the book should have ended, it didn't. He felt the need to tack on a few extra pages that just come out of nowhere and retroactively ruined the entire story for me. A story I had just spent the night loving every minute of... It was disappointing that he couldn't leave well enough alone.
June 14, 2019
Uno de los libros de bizarro con los que más he reído. Ser mantis macho es una putada pero es que el prota de esta novela está jodido por todos lados. Una cafrada muy entretenida. Había leído antes una historia del autor en strange fucking stories y está claro que no me ha decepcionado.
April 27, 2018
I'm going to say that this is absolutely one of his best books. I would definitely suggest reading it.
August 19, 2023
so I'm super down with the whole "chainsaw mantis goes on killing rampage" thing. but why is the plot centered around a racist necromancer and a liberal politician who gets votes by falsely accusing men of r*pe? incredibly sus in the vibes department.
August 7, 2024
There's cheating spouses, hot rawdog insect sex, serial killers and old gods. Multidimensional sorcery, politics (turns out Seth Brundle was wrong, insects really dig politics)... And a big effin' chainsaw.
One of the strangest stories I've ever read, but far better constructed and executed than I expected given the subject matter. Give it a go, it's definitely one of a kind.
One of the strangest stories I've ever read, but far better constructed and executed than I expected given the subject matter. Give it a go, it's definitely one of a kind.
October 18, 2016
This is my third Kevin Strange book completed. I really enjoyed this story, so much so that I didn't hesitate to fork out the extra money for a second copy when my original got lost in the world. That being said there were some directions I think Strange could have gone down that for me would have made it a Five Star book. Still a very strong story and to me, he's an author I consider influential on my own writing. 4.5 stars.
March 27, 2018
Back when I first became aware of bizarro fiction as a term for the stuff I already enjoyed reading and writing, I spent some time looking up interesting things to read from both well known and lesser known writers of the genre. On of them was Kevin Strange, and I found out about him through an episode of the Bizzong podcast, where he was interviewed about his new book. This is that book, and it is glorious. It has it all, sci-fi elements, the supernatural, anthropomorphism, political satire, gore, and outrageous sex scenes. The back of the book makes it sound crazy but it’s really just half of it.
It’s been quite some time, years even, since I read a book of this length in a single day. But this book I had to keep reading until the end, stopping only to eat a bit.
At the end of the book there is a short story about an old wrestlers final match. A bit more down to earth than the main story of the book but it’s not your average sports story either and I’d give it the highest score as well.
It’s been quite some time, years even, since I read a book of this length in a single day. But this book I had to keep reading until the end, stopping only to eat a bit.
At the end of the book there is a short story about an old wrestlers final match. A bit more down to earth than the main story of the book but it’s not your average sports story either and I’d give it the highest score as well.
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