First published back in July of 2020, extreme horror author Matt Shaw’s novella ‘Pest’ was penned in direct response to the revelation of a real life sex-pest’s antics within the horror community.
DLS Synopsis:
He had plans for tonight. Admittedly, those plans weren’t all that different from any other night. With his wife away on a business trip, he had the place to himself. So, he was online. Scouring pages on social media. Hunting out another woman to drop one of his special messages. Start off an impromptu conversation of his own making. No beating around the bush, like it or not, he would direct exactly how their interaction would commence. From there it could go one of a few ways. Although if he was honest with himself, it usually ended with them blocking him. Not that it mattered. He’d get his thrill. Have his little fun. Take from it what he wanted, whether they asked for it or not. To be fair they never asked him for any of it. Not outright anyway. But that didn’t stop him. He delivered the goods all the fucking same.
He had a wife, but that didn’t really come into the equation. She was just property at this stage of their relationship. Akin to an old t-shirt you have from your younger days, which you just haven’t the heart to throw away. He of course needed more than that. He needed his thrill. He needed to get his kicks.
Tonight’s lucky victim had him excited with holiday photos of her in a two-piece bikini. One photo particularly had her poking her sexy little tongue out in an oh so suggestive way. Suggestive to him anyway, despite what her actual intentions in the photo had been.
He’d start off the same as he always did. Get himself hard, get himself lubbed up and ready for action, then he’d drop her an impromptu message. Well, not so much a message, more a visual aid of exactly what how horny this bitch had gotten him.
The first dick pic was followed up with a short, snappy question. “You like it?”
Although this time the response wasn’t the usual reply. She had questions of her own. Before he knew what was going on, they were engaged in some back-and-forth banter. Was she toying with him? Fucking with him? This girl couldn’t actually be interested in a sweaty, fat fuck like him?! Although that thought didn’t stop him. It just increased the ‘show and tell’ he’d continue subjecting her to.
Although still she’d carried on talking to him. Carried on questioning. Started flirting with him even. What the fuck was going on? What was up with this bitch? Did she actually want some of his meat? Holy shit, he’d been doing this shit for a long time now, subjecting hundreds of women to images of his stumpy little cock. Why was this bitch actually paying some interest? Why wasn’t she pretending to be revolted like all the other women?
Shit, he might actually be in here. He might actually get himself some action. The thought alone was enough to make him cum. But better hold off. This thing was developing fast. Fuck, would she actually go through with what she was suggesting?
Now he was nervous. Now he was suspicious. It was easy when you were hiding behind a monitor. But this girl wanted more. This girl actually wanted to meet with him. In the fucking flesh…
DLS Review:
Back in July of 2020 the horror community was made aware of the sleazy exploits of a certain author. A somewhat uncouth, sweaty slob of an author who will unfortunately remain unnamed in this review, for a need to protect the website from any legal repercussions.
You see, this relatively unheard of ‘extreme horror author’ had been brought to the attention of social media when one of his victims revealed what he’d been getting up to. Screenshots of a video showing him furiously masturbating his meagre manhood, which he’d randomly sent to a number of women in instant messages. Unsolicited sexual advances which weren’t exactly a welcome sight from the receivers. The coward of course went straight into social media hiding. Deleting his account, and cowering in a pit of his own self-induced shame.
No apology followed. No admission of guilt or sense of any remorse. He disappeared for a month or so, then returned as if nothing had happened, other than going through a “tricky patch in his life”.
That doesn’t sit well with many folk. Least of all, a certain charismatic anti-hero author, who’s not exactly known for veering away from somewhat risqué subject matters. So, by way of outing the sleazy fucker in a way that would linger on longer than any social media post, Mr Shaw gave this creep a starring role in a new novella. Ladies and gentleman, I give you ‘Pest’.
You undoubtedly have a good idea already with what sort of tale this is likely to be. A sort of ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ (1978) comeuppance for the social media era. Yeah, the plot is an incredibly singular one, but that’s honestly all it needs to be. It’s quite a short novella, so anything more behind the story structure would just clutter the delivery. It needs to be fast-paced, bold, unrestrained and unquestionably direct in its point. Shaw delivers all this with gleeful gusto.
Let’s not pretend we don’t all enjoy seeing some arrogant, self-imposing sex-pest get put in their place. The karma of it sits quite nicely on the soul. Gives you a sense of justice to see the creep isn’t going to simply get away with their vile and utterly unwanted exhibitionism. Furthermore, Shaw clearly takes delight in this as well, describing the unpleasant physical and social traits of our pest-of-villain with not holding back one iota. The thing is, if you know the author who inspired this little masterpiece, you’ll know Shaw’s not really working with fiction here. He’s depicted the real-life pest to an absolute tee.
Ultimately what you have here is a one-sitting read that’ll sit perfectly on your gut when you see the story through to the inevitable finale. Justice is served in more ways than one. It’s tightly written, doesn’t fuck around with any padding whatsoever, and ploughs forth like an author on a mission. Damn satisfying reading.
The novella runs for a total of 140 pages.
This review is dedicated to Tim Miller.
© DLS Reviews
