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Locusts
Alan Alton and family move into the Shropshire hills to run a smallholding. One item that they take with them is completely forgotten in the hassle, namely a crate of peaches sent by an American relative, which also happens to contain a few Pennsylvanian locusts. Joining these are more locusts which flew north into the country due to the prolonged heatwave. Soon these few reproduce into many, into huge swarms which start devouring whatever they can find, and Britain wakes up to a state of emergency.
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
4 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Guy N. Smith
175 books297 followersI was born on November 21, 1939, in the small village of Hopwas, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. My mother was a pre-war historical novelist (E. M. Weale) and she always encouraged me to write.
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 29, 2019
Murderous mayhem and relentless violence ensue in this insectile horror featuring a locust reaping havoc in plague like fashion across the English countryside.
Action packed, and gore aplenty, the plot was let down a little by an abrupt ending and intermissions featuring characters who appeared for the sole purpose of being killed off in the most macabre manner.
Despite some shortcomings I genuinely enjoyed this book.
Action packed, and gore aplenty, the plot was let down a little by an abrupt ending and intermissions featuring characters who appeared for the sole purpose of being killed off in the most macabre manner.
Despite some shortcomings I genuinely enjoyed this book.
January 30, 2022
Unfortunately, Guy has Made a shear mess of things in this book. It's not only the locusts that brings famine here, it's Guy himself. The characters. The settings. The all around plot, which is in my opinion is similar to Night Of The Living Dead. Just substitute locusts for zombies.
The only saving grace is the locust attacks. Few and far between. Still pretty good. This book, even at 230 pages was still way to long.
The only saving grace is the locust attacks. Few and far between. Still pretty good. This book, even at 230 pages was still way to long.
October 16, 2011
The best Guy N Smith book I've read (so far) - and that includes the ones I read many years ago before I 'rediscovered' him recently. I felt the scenes of locust devastation and people under siege in their own homes were vivid and extremely well done and the whole scenario and storyline(s) excellent. I'd actually had this book on my shelf for some time and, for some reason, had avoided reading it. I'm so glad I finally did. A highly recommended read for those of you with a taste for 'disaster' novels or who just like a good read. It would also make an excellent film, if anyone in the business happens to be reading :)
April 14, 2023
This book is a bit of a mess to be honest. The locust kills were gory and satisfying but seriously random, to characters we only just met a few pages ago. The plot is disjointed and all over the place and I never really felt satisfied that I was reading a good story.
The main characters, Alton family, were unlikable and the story focused more on their marital problems then anything else. The fact that the husband, Alan, was more intent on screwing his sexy neighbor for lengthy portions of the novel was problematic in itself.
Still, some of the gruesome horror set pieces involving locusts and fire we pretty awesome and together with the awesome cover I have to give this creature feature 3/5.
The main characters, Alton family, were unlikable and the story focused more on their marital problems then anything else. The fact that the husband, Alan, was more intent on screwing his sexy neighbor for lengthy portions of the novel was problematic in itself.
Still, some of the gruesome horror set pieces involving locusts and fire we pretty awesome and together with the awesome cover I have to give this creature feature 3/5.
December 17, 2021
3.5 out of 5
I like this, I was expecting your typical creature feature story when reading this, but it has an interesting mix of creature feature and natural disaster feel to it.
The book is a bit slow at first, with the locusts starting out as more of an inconvenience than a horror, but as the book goes on their impact get bigger.
This is my first Guy N Smith book, so I don’t know how it compares to his other works like the Crabs series, but I liked it.
I like this, I was expecting your typical creature feature story when reading this, but it has an interesting mix of creature feature and natural disaster feel to it.
The book is a bit slow at first, with the locusts starting out as more of an inconvenience than a horror, but as the book goes on their impact get bigger.
This is my first Guy N Smith book, so I don’t know how it compares to his other works like the Crabs series, but I liked it.
May 16, 2019
It's the usual Guy N. Smith potboiler. During the longest heatwave in UK history locusts ravage the land, eating hobos, Scotsmen, nymphomaniacs and other stock GNS characters. Will Britain pull together and defeat the insect menace? Or will the Biblical plague sweep unhindered across Albion, destroying council halls and crofters sheds alike? Could you find a better book to read? Yes. The answer is yes. Certainly yes.
July 9, 2016
its very much a book about locusts killing lots of things, as visceral and as ridiculous as a 1970s horror movie
February 26, 2019
Originally posted on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.
" It seems the start of a glorious summer as Alan Alton and his family settle into their new home in the Shropshire hills. Then the insects starts to appear. First there’s one… then hundreds…. thousands…. millions. A smothering tide of destruction covers the land. As the heat-wave continues week after week, the horde of invaders grows- a hideous, red eyed devastation spreading across town and country. Biting, stripping, devouring everything – and everyone – in their path! Britain is being eaten alive…"
The Locusts starts off not exactly great. We are introduced to the two main characters, Alan, and his wife Sheila. I say the book starts off not so great because these two characters are hugely unlikable! Alan is pushy, has to have his way, and is a real jerk. Sheila is kind of bitchy and screechy. Both of them don’t seem to really like each other and are ready to kill each other. It doesn’t take long for both of them to start thinking of leaving the other. Alan goes so far as to fantasize about the hot neighbor and eventually sleep with the woman. Sheila just becomes bitchier and bitchier, snapping at everyone while threatening to leave Alan, but never pulling the trigger. Their relationship is uncomfortable and not very fun to read for 90% of the book. They argue often and make tons of passive aggressive snipes at each other. Pretty much the whole time I’m just hoping they both will be killed and eaten by the locusts.
Once you get past the two unlikable main characters and their crappy behaviors, the book is highly entertaining! You have a huge swarm of killer bugs devouring England. So many locusts that it is literary suffocating to be caught outside among them. They crawl in your nose, down your throat, up your…. uh, yeah, THERE. There are many glorious deaths and massive carnage caused by the little buggers. Soooo many people die in pretty spectacular ways. There was no shortage of blood, guts, and gore.
Locusts does not make you wait a long time for things to go sideways. It gets pretty straight to the point fairly quick. The bugs show up. The bugs eat things. The bugs kill people. There is a very quick set up and BOOM. The locusts are on the scene causing death and destruction. I love it when a book gets right to the point like that.
There is a little bit of animal death in the book, which is something I always frown at and like to warn others about. It wasn’t a lot, and it mostly happened off page, which is much more tolerable. Whenever ferrets, rabbits or greyhounds show up in a book, I am always super happy. I love when animals I’ve had as pets show up in the books I read! This book had a pet rabbit that belonged to the main family. As soon as the rabbit first appeared at the beginning of the book, I was just like UH OH. D: Please don’t eat the rabbit, please don’t eat the rabbit, please don’t eat the rabbit…. Guy gets a big thumbs up from me for having the family saving the rabbit from Locusts at the end. ❤ YAY!
This book was very entertaining and filled with crazy. It jumped straight into the action and did not stop until the very last page. There was a lot of death and destruction all over England. There was some animal deaths but it was a little bit easier to read because it mostly all happens off page. My only real complaint about the book is that the two main characters were just not very likeable pretty much the whole time. Even with irksome main characters, this book about killer bugs was a lot of fun to read.
" It seems the start of a glorious summer as Alan Alton and his family settle into their new home in the Shropshire hills. Then the insects starts to appear. First there’s one… then hundreds…. thousands…. millions. A smothering tide of destruction covers the land. As the heat-wave continues week after week, the horde of invaders grows- a hideous, red eyed devastation spreading across town and country. Biting, stripping, devouring everything – and everyone – in their path! Britain is being eaten alive…"
The Locusts starts off not exactly great. We are introduced to the two main characters, Alan, and his wife Sheila. I say the book starts off not so great because these two characters are hugely unlikable! Alan is pushy, has to have his way, and is a real jerk. Sheila is kind of bitchy and screechy. Both of them don’t seem to really like each other and are ready to kill each other. It doesn’t take long for both of them to start thinking of leaving the other. Alan goes so far as to fantasize about the hot neighbor and eventually sleep with the woman. Sheila just becomes bitchier and bitchier, snapping at everyone while threatening to leave Alan, but never pulling the trigger. Their relationship is uncomfortable and not very fun to read for 90% of the book. They argue often and make tons of passive aggressive snipes at each other. Pretty much the whole time I’m just hoping they both will be killed and eaten by the locusts.
Once you get past the two unlikable main characters and their crappy behaviors, the book is highly entertaining! You have a huge swarm of killer bugs devouring England. So many locusts that it is literary suffocating to be caught outside among them. They crawl in your nose, down your throat, up your…. uh, yeah, THERE. There are many glorious deaths and massive carnage caused by the little buggers. Soooo many people die in pretty spectacular ways. There was no shortage of blood, guts, and gore.
Locusts does not make you wait a long time for things to go sideways. It gets pretty straight to the point fairly quick. The bugs show up. The bugs eat things. The bugs kill people. There is a very quick set up and BOOM. The locusts are on the scene causing death and destruction. I love it when a book gets right to the point like that.
There is a little bit of animal death in the book, which is something I always frown at and like to warn others about. It wasn’t a lot, and it mostly happened off page, which is much more tolerable. Whenever ferrets, rabbits or greyhounds show up in a book, I am always super happy. I love when animals I’ve had as pets show up in the books I read! This book had a pet rabbit that belonged to the main family. As soon as the rabbit first appeared at the beginning of the book, I was just like UH OH. D: Please don’t eat the rabbit, please don’t eat the rabbit, please don’t eat the rabbit…. Guy gets a big thumbs up from me for having the family saving the rabbit from Locusts at the end. ❤ YAY!
This book was very entertaining and filled with crazy. It jumped straight into the action and did not stop until the very last page. There was a lot of death and destruction all over England. There was some animal deaths but it was a little bit easier to read because it mostly all happens off page. My only real complaint about the book is that the two main characters were just not very likeable pretty much the whole time. Even with irksome main characters, this book about killer bugs was a lot of fun to read.
September 8, 2018
This book sends a great ecologic message; Don't kill or torture the innocent insects.They could destroy us if they started a revοlution against humans.They are tiny and unprotected, it's wrong to make them suffer...
The 2nd message is that it's better to leave nature free to go it's way and people don't have to intervere(the natural solution was more efficient)
The 3rd message is against politicians who take advantage of the country's terrible situation to persuade people that they "saved" them...
The last message is religious.The author is sarcastic against people who only visit the church when in times of trouble,fear and helplessness.Also, the author might be a believer because the miracle happened when the priest started praying...
The characters weren't very well developed.Pat Emmerton is extremely annoying (I really enjoyed the end she had)The book kept my interest till the end, a bit believable story.Much action,very vivid scenes and descriptions.The porn parts of the book were unnessecery in my opinion.I'd rather more intrigues than so much sex action.Also I'd rather Pat was more difficult in order to maintain the suspence...That's why I give it 4/5. ⭐
The 2nd message is that it's better to leave nature free to go it's way and people don't have to intervere(the natural solution was more efficient)
The 3rd message is against politicians who take advantage of the country's terrible situation to persuade people that they "saved" them...
The last message is religious.The author is sarcastic against people who only visit the church when in times of trouble,fear and helplessness.Also, the author might be a believer because the miracle happened when the priest started praying...
The characters weren't very well developed.Pat Emmerton is extremely annoying (I really enjoyed the end she had)The book kept my interest till the end, a bit believable story.Much action,very vivid scenes and descriptions.The porn parts of the book were unnessecery in my opinion.I'd rather more intrigues than so much sex action.Also I'd rather Pat was more difficult in order to maintain the suspence...That's why I give it 4/5. ⭐
October 1, 2023
I love a good swarm horror, so was looking forward to this one... Locusts have taken root in rural Shropshire, and spread across the midlands, wrecking and eating everything in their path, even getting a taste for human flesh... As expected, Guy N. Smith has some nasty moments when the locusts get going and these are the best bits of the book.
Unfortunately, like in Bats Out of Hell, the main character is a complete dick and I was hoping he would fail. With a wife who hates the countryside and insects, he decides to move to the middle of nowhere and then buy his son a load of insect pets. He then falls for the sexy stable owner next door and spends more time thinking about her than the swarms of locusts attacking his family.
But if you like the idea of locusts ripping apart the midlands, interspersed with Riders style sex scenes, then this is the book for you.
Unfortunately, like in Bats Out of Hell, the main character is a complete dick and I was hoping he would fail. With a wife who hates the countryside and insects, he decides to move to the middle of nowhere and then buy his son a load of insect pets. He then falls for the sexy stable owner next door and spends more time thinking about her than the swarms of locusts attacking his family.
But if you like the idea of locusts ripping apart the midlands, interspersed with Riders style sex scenes, then this is the book for you.
August 1, 2024
Not the most scariest of insects.
So we are in England, Locusts invade and a man isn't happy with his wife and is thinking about the hot horse owner down the road while a tramp has some locusts crawl up his bum. Oh, the English government is useless, so nothing new really.
I love the 70s/80s pulp horror so I did enjoy the book when the Locusts attacked but the whole story around the attacks was weak, I don't understand the pointless "romance" of the neighbor which went nowhere and the little boy was a moron.
Enjoy the 70s monster horror of it, not the overall story.
So we are in England, Locusts invade and a man isn't happy with his wife and is thinking about the hot horse owner down the road while a tramp has some locusts crawl up his bum. Oh, the English government is useless, so nothing new really.
I love the 70s/80s pulp horror so I did enjoy the book when the Locusts attacked but the whole story around the attacks was weak, I don't understand the pointless "romance" of the neighbor which went nowhere and the little boy was a moron.
Enjoy the 70s monster horror of it, not the overall story.
November 2, 2023
Much better than Snakes.
The best Guy N Smith book I've read so far.
The best Guy N Smith book I've read so far.
December 31, 2020
Another classic tale of animal invasion. The 70s attitudes to sex and relatipnshops provided a rich comedy into the mix!
August 23, 2021
A fun read with all the things we know and love from Guy N Smith try hat doesn’t hold back with the kills and the chaos that ensues in England when a swarm of Locusts goes on a rampage.
December 30, 2025
Good fun, very pulpy. Some very creative deaths in this story. Will check out more from this author
April 26, 2025
I first read Guy N. Smith’s 1979 eco horror novel Locusts in circumstances weirdly similar to the book: during an unusually hot summer in the Shropshire hills, in fact just an approximate couple of miles from the granary where the Alton family moves in at the book’s opening. Alan’s an ex-veterinary hoping to make a living off his little country holding. Sheila’s following him in the venture albeit begrudgingly, their marriage hanging precariously in the balance. For their son David, very much his father’s son, this new life is nothing short of amazing, full of promising adventures. The freak arrival of gigantic swarms of locusts will make short work of their dream, enfolding first the area and soon enough most of Britain, with destruction, mayhem and death.
The quality of Guy N. Smith’s work can be vastly variable but here, we find the man in top form. The general story may well be über conventional, with its plethora of secondary stock characters born only to be dispatched, but Smith gets to work with such aplomb that the whole thing is fairly engrossing. His set pieces are vividly rendered and occasionally so spectacular that they pack the type of savage wallop that you’ll remember much longer that the admittedly disposable plot. In this opus, Smith’s style is a lot more controlled than his more basic offerings and as a result instils a real momentum to the general pandemonium.
Dialogues are lively and cringe-free and Smith’s research on locusts are generally well used. There’s the occasional expository interchange that sounds a bit unseemly but that’s really not important. What really matters is that Smith delivered the goods - and plenty of them - with such fearlessness and contagious bonhomie that it left me shaking my head wandering “is this right?” while smiling. It’s all apocalyptic thrills and good times, don’t you know?
The quality of Guy N. Smith’s work can be vastly variable but here, we find the man in top form. The general story may well be über conventional, with its plethora of secondary stock characters born only to be dispatched, but Smith gets to work with such aplomb that the whole thing is fairly engrossing. His set pieces are vividly rendered and occasionally so spectacular that they pack the type of savage wallop that you’ll remember much longer that the admittedly disposable plot. In this opus, Smith’s style is a lot more controlled than his more basic offerings and as a result instils a real momentum to the general pandemonium.
Dialogues are lively and cringe-free and Smith’s research on locusts are generally well used. There’s the occasional expository interchange that sounds a bit unseemly but that’s really not important. What really matters is that Smith delivered the goods - and plenty of them - with such fearlessness and contagious bonhomie that it left me shaking my head wandering “is this right?” while smiling. It’s all apocalyptic thrills and good times, don’t you know?
July 31, 2021
A pretty sick cover. Locust on the rampage devouring nature and humans. Some really gruesome kills and a country under siege.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews