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Orgy of the Blood Parasites
When student animal rights activists break into the university lab, they release rabbits. The virus these rabbits contain produces an army of mutants with superhuman strength and an insatiable bloodlust. As their numbers grow, the chemical company responsible tries to stop the mutants.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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160 people want to read
About the author
Jack Yeovil
21 books61 followers"Jack Yeovil" is a pseudonym used by author Kim Newman.
Newman's pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Newman's pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 16, 2018
A communicable viral parasite takes over a college campus and turns its victims into monstrosities craving sex and violence. "Jack Yeovil" is the nom de plume of distinguished editor and author Kim Newman who generously churns out buckets full of sex, violence, and monsters galore for this blood fountain of body horror. This fast-paced and very gory satire sends up college norms and horror tropes and secretive cravings for monstrous sex and violence. No one is safe, not even our heroic albeit sex-crazed professor nor his violence-craving 8 year old monster-son. All shall be squashed like overripe tomatoes by the talkative weaponized virus created by a monstrous biochemical multinational corporation; both view sex and violence-craving humans as expendable subjects and targets. The virus itself becomes the most compelling character as it shoots out of a scientist's brain, splattering onto the ceiling, reforming itself using all organic and inorganic materials within reach, transforming into a giant gelatinous ichor-spewing monstrosity craving sex and violence and other human needs. Go virus go, you glorious sex and violence craving monster you, reach for your dreams, you can do it, I believe in you!
August 16, 2021
Here's a better image of the 1994 Pocket Books (UK) mass-market. One of my all-time favorite horror movies (actually it's more of a horror comedy) is Night of the Creeps (1986), so a novel about college students dealing with a fast-spreading virus that turns its victims into bloodthirsty mutants should be right in my wheelhouse. (BTW, Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for horror author and film critic Kim Newman.)
10/21/16 Update: Okay this was nothing like the cheesy fun of Night of the Creeps. This was just all-out mayhem. And sick, sick, sick. Which is fine by me, only I never really got enough of a handle on any of the myriad of characters to care all that much. I could barely keep them all straight in my mind. Still, it was worth the read just for the pure disgusting outrageousness of it all.
April 8, 2024
Orgy of the Blood Parasites is maybe the best title for a book I have seen in a long time. It's written by Jack Yeovil which is a pen name for Kim Newman a British writer and journalist.
The premise is interesting where a bunch of college students break into a lab on campus to release the animals from captivity. The rabbits however have been used for experiments and contain a blood parasite which if a human is bitten causes extreme side effects. The parasite/virus creates a super monster of all the souls it has ingested taking on their knowledge and power.
Overall this was good but nothing great. It definitely had some good gore and deaths but also had some low points making it drag in places. The thing for me personally which was hard was there were so many characters and I was constantly struggling to remember who was who.
Worth checking out for sure but dont expect a hidden gem.
The premise is interesting where a bunch of college students break into a lab on campus to release the animals from captivity. The rabbits however have been used for experiments and contain a blood parasite which if a human is bitten causes extreme side effects. The parasite/virus creates a super monster of all the souls it has ingested taking on their knowledge and power.
Overall this was good but nothing great. It definitely had some good gore and deaths but also had some low points making it drag in places. The thing for me personally which was hard was there were so many characters and I was constantly struggling to remember who was who.
Worth checking out for sure but dont expect a hidden gem.
January 26, 2021
Orgy of the Blood Parasites is a 1994 horror novel written by Jack Yeovil, an alias of author Kim Newman's (Anno Dracula), published by Pocket Books in 1994. Named after the working title of David Cronenberg's film, Shivers (1975), the plot of Orgy of the Blood Parasites observes the chaos caused when a group of student environmental activists for STWAA (Stop the War Against Animals) becomes embroiled in a plot with a group of environmentally conscious mercenaries to infiltrate an on-campus research lab in order to release the testing subjects (animals). Unbeknownst to them, the animals are afflicted with a horrifying infection causing various mutations, which makes quick work of rendering the school grounds a battlefield, aided by the appearance of government specialists determined to control the spread with lethal force.
"𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞."
"𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥."
The cast consists of dozens of characters with sparse descriptors—an absolute failure of evocation of both appearance and personality on the author's part. No effort is made in detailing these characters outside of surface-level observations. You have Monica Flint, redhead, President of the University Students' Union, and feminist, who doesn't like her fellow feminist activist, Corinne Bruckner or "Cazie," because "one of the things feminism underestimates is women's potential for not getting on with each other." Brian Connors, a lecturer at the University, spends the book's entirety reminiscing over the many of his students he's conquered sexually—accountability for this predatory behavior is phantom; if anything, it feels as if a creepy peace is reached with the fact. Derm, whose only description I found in the book to be "the big-shouldered black guy.," is another. Corinne Bruckner is described as having a "white face and Louise Brooks haircut" on top of having "Jamie Lee Curtis thighs." Her father is referenced early on to be guilty of "corporate rape," only to have the author write in an inconsequential (to the plot) revelation near the end of the book regarding child sexual abuse as if that would shed light on the anarchic acts carried out later by the character. This is the only time Orgy of the Blood Parasites is anything close to disgusting—the book isn't even good for gore. Sentences blur together with sickly strings of ill-fitting adjectives and nouns, but you'd have a hard time forming a smooth moving mental image of what's happening on paper. The rules and properties of the infection are always changing. One character was introduced with having thought into existence an organically combustible gas engine attached to a chainsaw in place of his arm, which would have been great if, you know, it's used in a spectacularly violent way or if the manner in which he grew it was described in flesh-tearing detail.
"𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐲𝐞'𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."
"𝐀 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 '𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞' 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞."
For those curious still and who don't wish to pay collector's prices for the mass market paperback, Orgy of the Blood Parasites was also bundled in an edition called Bad Dreams, published by Titan Books in 2014, where it's retitled Bloody Students—much more apt as the book never once reaches the sensationalistic promise made with a title such as the one being reviewed. Included in this bundled edition is an afterword containing insight into how Orgy of the Blood Parasites was written, with the answer being 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺. Orgy of the Blood Parasites is meandering, simplistic to a fault, and reads like a first draft manuscript given a thin, sparse layer of editorial varnish. In short, terrible, and it would better serve you to get your body-horror fix by just watching or reading literally anything else with a body count.
"𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞."
"𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥."
The cast consists of dozens of characters with sparse descriptors—an absolute failure of evocation of both appearance and personality on the author's part. No effort is made in detailing these characters outside of surface-level observations. You have Monica Flint, redhead, President of the University Students' Union, and feminist, who doesn't like her fellow feminist activist, Corinne Bruckner or "Cazie," because "one of the things feminism underestimates is women's potential for not getting on with each other." Brian Connors, a lecturer at the University, spends the book's entirety reminiscing over the many of his students he's conquered sexually—accountability for this predatory behavior is phantom; if anything, it feels as if a creepy peace is reached with the fact. Derm, whose only description I found in the book to be "the big-shouldered black guy.," is another. Corinne Bruckner is described as having a "white face and Louise Brooks haircut" on top of having "Jamie Lee Curtis thighs." Her father is referenced early on to be guilty of "corporate rape," only to have the author write in an inconsequential (to the plot) revelation near the end of the book regarding child sexual abuse as if that would shed light on the anarchic acts carried out later by the character. This is the only time Orgy of the Blood Parasites is anything close to disgusting—the book isn't even good for gore. Sentences blur together with sickly strings of ill-fitting adjectives and nouns, but you'd have a hard time forming a smooth moving mental image of what's happening on paper. The rules and properties of the infection are always changing. One character was introduced with having thought into existence an organically combustible gas engine attached to a chainsaw in place of his arm, which would have been great if, you know, it's used in a spectacularly violent way or if the manner in which he grew it was described in flesh-tearing detail.
"𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐲𝐞'𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."
"𝐀 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 '𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞' 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞."
For those curious still and who don't wish to pay collector's prices for the mass market paperback, Orgy of the Blood Parasites was also bundled in an edition called Bad Dreams, published by Titan Books in 2014, where it's retitled Bloody Students—much more apt as the book never once reaches the sensationalistic promise made with a title such as the one being reviewed. Included in this bundled edition is an afterword containing insight into how Orgy of the Blood Parasites was written, with the answer being 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺. Orgy of the Blood Parasites is meandering, simplistic to a fault, and reads like a first draft manuscript given a thin, sparse layer of editorial varnish. In short, terrible, and it would better serve you to get your body-horror fix by just watching or reading literally anything else with a body count.
August 10, 2012
My favourite horror novel, hands down. Yes, a definite terrestrial SF twist but it absolutely flys. Why this has not been made into a movie (and 'B-grade' would be just as much fun) is absolutely beyond me! This is a 21st century scriptwriter's dream.
July 12, 2013
I should not fear rabbits
Bunnies are not scary things
Yeovil makes them so
Bunnies are not scary things
Yeovil makes them so
March 16, 2022
125 is cool. That is it; that is all.
There are so many named characters for no reason. It’s unnecessary to give names to a bunch of characters who die and are forgotten or only brought up 50 pages later to die. This complicated even more by the shitty characters where women are smart or slutty. Men are omniscient players or wimps. The book is broken into large sections and character povs. Each one of these new povs is introduced by a sentence that begins with the new pov character’s name. Great writing. Classic dose of incel insecurity racism. Cronenberg would have cringed.
There are so many named characters for no reason. It’s unnecessary to give names to a bunch of characters who die and are forgotten or only brought up 50 pages later to die. This complicated even more by the shitty characters where women are smart or slutty. Men are omniscient players or wimps. The book is broken into large sections and character povs. Each one of these new povs is introduced by a sentence that begins with the new pov character’s name. Great writing. Classic dose of incel insecurity racism. Cronenberg would have cringed.
July 18, 2019
Wow, just wow!
This is probably the nearest thing you get in written format to B-movie video nasties. And that is why it is so hard to put down.
Black humour, gore, horror and scifi all bundled into this relatively thin paper back. You can burn through it in an evening... But it is one you go back to from time to time.
Not the best writing but is so much fun. A great way to fill an evening and not something you forget easily.
This is probably the nearest thing you get in written format to B-movie video nasties. And that is why it is so hard to put down.
Black humour, gore, horror and scifi all bundled into this relatively thin paper back. You can burn through it in an evening... But it is one you go back to from time to time.
Not the best writing but is so much fun. A great way to fill an evening and not something you forget easily.
November 2, 2024
This was such a fun read and had everything you could want from a B-grade horror:
- Laugh-out-loud funny
- Intense gore
- Ridiculous one-liners
- Unnecessary sexual degeneracy
Told from multiple POVs, even a short passage from the POV of an infected rabbit! A little bit slow going in the middle and the plot kind of lost its way a bit but the Epilogue was perfection.
- Laugh-out-loud funny
- Intense gore
- Ridiculous one-liners
- Unnecessary sexual degeneracy
Told from multiple POVs, even a short passage from the POV of an infected rabbit! A little bit slow going in the middle and the plot kind of lost its way a bit but the Epilogue was perfection.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews