Fungoid by William Meikle

DarkFuse, 2016

ISBN: 9781940544748

Available:  paperback, ebook

The end of the world starts with a rainstorm. Within the rain droplets are small fungoid spores. Every living thing they fall upon develops a fast-spreading infection that immediately reduces them to a itching, writhing mass of bleeding flesh as they scratch, and scratch, and scratch, to try to relieve themselves of the painful itch. Soon, the infection takes a more devious form, able to acclimate to anything the human population devises to protect themselves. The fungus is evolving.

This is a fast-paced read, full of suspense, intriguing characters, science, and a planet-wide apocalypse. It goes back and forth from the perspective of different characters with different motivations. Shaun is trying desperately to get to his family and will stop at nothing to do so. Rohit, a mycologist, observes firsthand what the infection does to the human body when a student voluntarily wanders outside when the droning sound of the fungus gets to him. The reader also sees what happens to a person’s mind from the perspective of one of the infected as it takes hold of Jim, and won’t let him go.

I think the only criticism I have is in regards to the way Rohit’s research of who may be responsible for the global catastrophe is presented. He goes to the university library’s databases, which is good, and discovers the list of who accessed the article previously. We librarians guard our patrons’ usage information with a passion, so this information wouldn’t be openly available. Otherwise, this book was fantastic. Meikle is a great storyteller, and I am most familiar with his Carnacki stories. In fact, there is a nod to the great detective of the supernatural in this book. Recommended.

Contains: some body horror

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker