it seems as if this quasi-young adult, sorta post-apocalyptic, kinda zombie-horror, new-fangled Lord of the Flies type novel published in 1995 is somewhat of a cult classic. i think it completely deserves that status and wish it were even more well-known. i have rarely seen it referenced, but given how it straddles different sorts of subgenres, i suppose that is understandable. still, it deserves more attention. at the very least, if you are a fan of any of those subgenres i mentioned, this should be considered as particularly interesting reading material.one day in April, 17-year old Nick Aten ("yeah, it rhymes with Satan") learns to his extreme surprise and displeasure that everyone age 20 and over has had their mind switched over to something more sinister, more herd-like. in essence, adults have become bloodthirsty, zombie-like beings with minimal intelligence and whose main priority appears to be to capture and quickly, brutally, horribly kill their own children. lesser priorities for these transformed adults is the killing of any other children that may cross their path and the building of odd geometric patterns that they form out of their children's belongings, their children's bodies, and their own dying bodies as well. but above all, their main mission remains to kill their own kids - to the point of tracking them down and hunting them with some kind of uncanny homing instinct. Nick starts out in a kind of state of shock (rather understandable) but quickly learns to survive, picking up and protecting a few fellow kids on the way, including the obligatory love interest. he is an amiable and amusingly laddish protagonist: recently graduated, with some skills in the fixing of cars, but whose main priorities in life are hanging out, drinking lots of beer, contemplating girls, and planning further engagements with his ongoing rival Tug Slatter within their suburb of Doncaster. the first quarter of the book details Nick & company's sometimes panicky, sometimes steady-handed attempts to drive around and figure things out. the rest of the novel becomes a study in contrasting ways to build communities, as Nick finds himself an increasingly important part of several different kid communes, each of which has reacted to the global disaster in different ways.the writing is plain, unadorned, at times crude. Clark's greatest skill may be in simply making this all seem real - i did not have to carefully suspend disbelief to enjoy it. despite the atrocities being committed and the horrible ways that kids die, this is not the kind of novel that goes into graphic detail about those kinds of things - visceral, splattery horror elements are rather slight; brief descriptions are the norm. sadistic and rape-y behavior from some particularly bad kids are noted and reacted against by the young heroes, but they are not dwelt upon by the author in a leering way. mainly Blood Crazy is a fast-paced page-turner, one of those books that you may find yourself skipping ahead a bit to see if any characters die or if anything especially terrible will happen next, if you are the sort of reader who worries about that kind of thing (i certainly am).the explanation of why this is all happened to the adults is, for me, what lifts this novel into 4-star material. there is a rather mind-blowing rationale for it all, one that includes the idea that God is simply a projection of our unconscious, in some ways a Jungian symbol that we are all genetically predisposed to believe in. i did not expect to read that in this book! the explanation/revelation occurs during an info-dump that is over 25 pages long. from reviews i've read, this sequence is intolerable to many readers. Clark does try to tart up the dryness of this passage by having it delivered during a sexy massage ("Now turn over, I'll do your front"..."You know I'm getting as much pleasure from this as you are") by a sweet young lady who had just spent the previous few days drugging up our hero and pretty much raping him night after night (upon learning this, Nick is at first irritated but then basically shrugs it off - he has bigger things to worry about). to me, this entire sequence was completely absorbing. it reminded me of the themes and interests of criminally-underrated author Colin Wilson, particularly in his novels The Mind Parasites and The Space Vampires (basis of the laughable movie Lifeforce), and his excellent young adult Spider World series. any info dump that reminds me of Colin Wilson is a good thing. and any info dump that actually expands my mind and challenges my preconceptions of evolution is an even better thing.
It's Saturday. Going shopping? For a meal? To the movies? Everything nice and normal, right?By Sunday, civilization is in ruins. Adults have become murderously insane - literally. They're infected with a crazed uncontrollable urge to kill the young. Including their own children.THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS...Time again to raid my bookshelves and dig out another classic novel that I haven't touched for many years.Blood Crazy by Simon Clark was originally published back in 1995 and as soon as I started reading it I knew it was something that was going to stay with me for a long time. Much like my fascination with zombies, I am both disturbed yet drawn to fiction that covers the end of the world.When we are first introduced to seventeen year old Nick Aten he is a bit of a slacker. He lives in a quiet suburb of Doncaster and having left school with no qualifications, he is really only interested in drinking beer, having a good time and getting into fights with his life-long nemesis, Tug Slater.With a flick of a mental switch, overnight everything changes. Every human over the age of 20 develops a psychopathic urge to kill anyone under 20, including their own offspring. Nick is forced to grow up quickly as he is thrust into a battle for survival.Nick eventually finds himself part of a community of survivors hidden deep in the remote English countryside. Initially there is a sense of order and hope that the worst is over but it’s not long before the rot starts to set in. The way the kids treat one another is as bad, and in some ways worse, than anything that the adults do. In the same vein as Lord of the Flies, Blood Crazy explores the dynamic of the survivors group and the power struggles that erupt within.Through Nick’s travels we also get insight into the other communities of survivors. I loved that as time passes the groups start to develop their own mythologies and traditions to explain away the apocalypse that has occurred.Though Nick is the main character my personal favorite was Tug Slater. He is a natural born survivor. Like a bad penny, he keeps turning up just to make Nick’s life that little bit more unpleasant. He is a tattooed thug who delights in making everyone else’s life miserable. Slater is just plain nasty. Can you think of anything worse? The human race appears to be coming to an end and you have to go through it all with someone who really hates your guts and would be happy to see you dead.The novel has a wonderfully dark tone. From the first page Clark is dropping subtle hints that something terrible is about to happen. There is a palpable sense of menace and the suggestion of horror just beneath the surface of normal everyday events makes this novel difficult to put down. Parents attacking and killing their own children makes this seem a very personal and intimate apocalypse. I could have easily read the entire thing in one sitting but I was keen to eek it out and enjoy the experience.I’ll be honest and admit that even after all these years Blood Crazy is still one of my favorite books. I find it compelling from beginning to end. Clark’s story is action packed, horrific and thrilling but it also has so much more to offer. It raises some thought provoking questions about religion, the human condition and the nature of self. When the big reveal finally happens, and the reader gets an explanation about what caused the change in all adults, it is both deceptively simple but hugely complex all at once. I'm always impressed with fiction that manages to make me think and question my world view.Clark is a fantastic author and he really knows how to write the end of the world. He touches upon similar apocalyptic ground in the equally epic King Blood and Night of the Triffids, which I have a sneaking suspicion I will be re-reading again soon. If you are a fan of apocalyptic fiction and you have never read any of his books before I strongly advise you to seek them out. I am sure you will not be disappointed. Oh and if Simon Clark ever reads this – please write a sequel to Blood Crazy.
What do You think about Blood Crazy (2001)?
To begin with, the good points: the concept is interesting, and the first half of the novel is well-paced, with generally witty dialogue and a genuine sense of tension, that grows as you experience, through the protagonist’s eyes, the horror of the situation in which he has found himself. The descriptions of gore are usually solid, even if the narrative can be awkward at times.Negatively, there’s a lot to say. The aforementioned awkwardness of the narrative usually springs from when the protagon
—Sophie
This book came out over 10 years before Cell and I really wonder if Stephen King read it before writing that one. Very very similar, even down to the basic plot and the major metaphor of the crazies equaling birds, and "flocking." Or maybe King was playing a subtle homage to Simon Clark--would not be surprised if that was the case. A book I read in one giant session because I could not put it down. I've decided that Clark is one of those writers that spectacularly smashes it out of the park or completely misses (I hated Rage of Echoes--which I read first--and didn't realize that awful awful book was him until I was looking for more of his books to read). Very good apocalyptic book! One day all the adults across the world snap and are compelled to murder their children, or anyone under the age of 19. Has a lot of what I now see as standard Clark themes (this was his second book)--the reluctant predestined hero; the psychotic thug who isn't quite as bad as he appears; plucky female sidekick; hordes of nigh-unstoppable monsters and insane, evil survivors.Occasionally Clark overthinks things. I sort of grew tired of the many, many pages of random people's hypotheses of what happened--evolution? consumption? aliens? nerve gas or something in the water? religion? I think vast chunks of that could have been cut out. Also am a little confused on the main character's long journey back home. Still unclear on how he wound up so far away. Other thing is that for the most part he didn't do a very good job of fleshing out secondary characters. Except for how they die...so reading about the gruesome account of so-and-so's terrible death didn't have much meaning to me because I was never really attached to them. Would have been better if he had cut out like 40 or 50 pages of speculation and replaced all that with paragraphs describing or with more happy interactions of all the doomed kids. But these are just minor improvements that could be made. Will definitely read again some rainy day and buy copies to gift to people.
—Colleen
I paid a pretty penny for a somewhat beat-up copy of this book and I'll tell you...I'd have paid three times as much knowing what I know now about Blood Crazy. It's 28 Days Later, Lord of the Flies, Jung's The Undiscovered Self, Origin of the Species, and Braveheart expertly collided with the force of a ten megaton bomb. The novel begins with confusion and plenty of gory action, as 17-year-old Nick Aten (rhymes with Satan) begins to notice strange goings on. The adult population has become murderously insane, preying on anyone under the age of 20. There's plenty of fear and close calls as Nick collects other teens on his desperate journey to safety. The group stumbles on a community of other kids and teens looking to rebuild society from scratch by organizing, scavenging, and defending against the hordes of adult attackers. Many good zombie/apocalyptic novels include elements similar to these and come to satisfying, if not at times hopeless, finales. Instead, Simon Clark sends Nick Aten further, on a hero's quest nothing short of Tolkienesque in its breadth and duration. Without spoiling this novel for readers who end up spending some decent coin for this read, know that there is much substance lurking once the reader has gotten the details of the apocalypse out of the way. This book offers the gift of hope to its characters...and readers...and gives us good reason not to trust anyone over the age of TWENTY!
—Trevor
