Bedbugs makes a fine addition to your urban horror library.

From the mind of Android Karenina co-writer Ben H. Winters comes one of the scratchingest urban horror novels I’ve ever read.  The book is called Bedbugs, and just thinking about it is making me want to rend my skin open with my fingernails.  Susan Wendt is a struggling painter.  At least, she calls herself a painter.  She quit her job in law to stay home and work on her art, while her husband Alex works hard to support the family.  When Susan’s need for more space pushes the family out of their Union Square apartment and into the perfect Brooklyn apartment on 56 Cranberry Street, Susan believes that her career as a painter will take off.  That is, until she finds herself with three little bedbug bites on her arm.  Meanwhile, Alex and daughter Emma are spotless and itch-free.  Is Susan going mad?  Read my full review of Bedbugs at Den Of Geek.

One of the great things Quirk has been doing with their books is their book trailers, and Bedbugs is no different.  Rather than getting a traditional trailer, the book trailer for Bedbugs is an awesome faux real-estate ad video, extolling the virtues of the lovely 56 Cranberry Street.  Aside from the marketing, the book itself is great.  Susan’s increasingly fragile mental state and litany of insect bites are covered with unpleasant accuracy and depicted with great skill and style.  The book’s use of real-life brands adds to the realism, as does the awesome descriptions of the people and places that surround Susan.  Plus, it’s bedbugs, and they’re everywhere and terrifying.

Bedbugs is a great book, gang.  It’s like a combination of the body horror of David Cronenberg and the urban horror of Rosemary’s Baby.  I highly recommend it.

Tags: Quirk, Irreference, Quirk Books, Bedbugs, Ben H. Winters, Bedbugs review, horror, urban horror, bed bugs, Den of Geek, book review, horror novel, novel review, Android Karenina, 56 Cranberry Street, book trailers, viral videos, youtube, fake real estate ads, body horror

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