Curse of the Tarantula

by Mike Segretto

During the 1940s, dapper British thespian Burton Lazlow was one of the top monster movie stars in Hollywood, appearing as the dreaded "Tarantula" in a string of successful pictures. But that was twenty years ago. Now it's the ‘60s, and the best he can do is get humiliating work in fast food commercials and silly American sitcoms, forever forced to don the phony fangs and monster make-up that made him famous. His wife having left him, his career in the loo, and himself an alcoholic with a tendency to hallucinate, Lazlow commits an act that forces him to flee Hollywood for his homeland where the Swinging London era is just dawning.

Curse of the Tarantula is an acid-spiked black comedy from Independent Book Publisher Award nominee Mike Segretto.

Genres: Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2008

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish Segretto would go back to writing fiction. I love his ability to ladle on ridiculous and over the top stuff in a way that somehow remains in the realm of credibility. All of his fiction just goes for it.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A campy novel about a B Movie actor who hit it big 20 years ago, and a look at what hes become now... struggling to keep the money coming, binge drinking, working any ole job his agent can get him, alienating his wife by staying up late at nite watching reruns of the films that made him famous, and still holding a grudge against his arch-enemy.

Its a sad, fun ride as we watch him bounce from one unlucky event to another. Running from Hollywood to London, getting beat up, banged down, crated up, locked up, drugged up ( a scene that left my skin crawling....ewwwww)... and then a moment of clarity that takes you right up to the fine line of sanity vs insanity.

This novel moves you at breakneck speeds. Once you start, you wont be able to stop. Mike Segretto does a great job of making the reader feel sorry for the main character, a man who, under normal cirumstances, should be abhored and spit upon!

One Hilariously Fucked Up story.