First published back in September of 2024, US author Wrath James White’s novella ‘The Bug Collector’ was released as a signed limited-edition hardcover, as well as in trade paperback and ebook formats.
The below review is for the limited-edition hardcover version.
DLS Synopsis:
Joey stalked along the streets of Las Vegas, trying to avoid the gaze of any passersby. He looked like the undead. Years of exposure to humanity’s rich bounty of venereal infections had ravaged his once handsome face. Bleeding scabs and pus-filled blisters littered every inch of his features. His nose had been lost to syphilis several years ago. Only an unctuous chasm, moist with snot remained.
At this point in Joey’s life, death wasn’t an unpleasant thought. He was tired. His emasculated body pained him. His fetish had destroyed his health and ruined his life. He was a victim of his own paraphilia. This is what it was to be a bug collector.
It hadn’t always been this way for Joey. As far as he was aware, he still owned a nice house in Seven Hills and a two-year-old Range Rover which might still be parked in the garage of one of the casinos along the strip.
Until three years ago he’d had a successful career writing computer code. However, since then his obsession had taken over every aspect of his existence and driven him to madness.
He still had thousands in his bank account, but that didn’t matter. His life was over. He now dwelled in the dark alleys, sewers, and gutters with the indigent and the insane. This was what it had come to. This was the path he had chosen for his life.
However, his fetish was not one which didn’t affect others. He was a bug collector, but in doing so, he was inadvertently a spreader too. With seeking out another infection, through his hunt for more rot and decay, others would be subjected to his catalogue of infections. One such person was Tina, a beautiful dreadlocked street whore who he’d call upon from time to time.
But when Joey infected her with a vicious cocktail of STIs and STDs, the destruction on Tina’s life was catastrophic for her. Now she wanted revenge. But first, she wanted answers. She wanted to know why he’d done this to her. Then she’d bring an end to his bug collecting days, once and for all…
I first became exposed to (or should I say aware of) the fetish of ‘Bug Collecting’ through an article on Shannon Larratt’s Modblog within the BME site back in 2008. It was essentially an interview with a French man who goes by the name of Wanda “La Pute”. The interview opened my eyes to the depths of depravity some are willing to venture into, in an endless search to satisfy their darkest fetishes.
I remember at the time the BME article both fascinated and repulsed me. It made my skin crawl and physically sickened me to the very bottom of my gut. I simply couldn’t comprehend why someone would actively and purposefully, seek out to infect their own body with STIs and STDs. Why they could want to knowingly and inevitably kill themselves through such utter degradation. Wanda was a real-life example of such a person. An example of a fetish that exists and is acted upon by devotees of such extremities. There’s no kink shaming here, but…FUCK…I’m at a loss for words!
So, that’s the subject of extreme horror author, Wrath James White’s novella ‘The Bug Collector’. Essentially, about a bug collector, told through the eyes of the fetishist. Because of the subject matter, and the fact Wrath doesn’t pull any punches with his writing whatsoever, you absolutely have to expect a truly vile and hard-to-swallow read. This is extreme shit. Perhaps on a par with Samuel R Delany’s ‘Hogg’ (1995). I fucking kid you not!
The story starts off following our antihero/antagonist (I don’t know how the fuck to describe him!) as he has a sexual encounter with a diseased aging tramp. For this sordid scene of depravity, Wrath details the back-alley endeavour in such graphic detail, you’ll be hard-pressed not to want to vomit.
If that hasn’t tied your stomach up in knots already, then the graphic illustrations by Jim Agpalza, which accompany many of the scenes in the story, will likely finish you off. Please note, when I say ‘graphic illustrations’ I really mean graphic as hell. Agpalza is a veritable master of black & white pen and ink pieces to illustrate extreme horror stories. His work is a regular in Jack Bantry’s ‘Splatterpunk Zine’. However, it must be said, the illustrations included within this novella are something else.
Anyway, back to the story…so, after our bug collector, Joey, has had his dumpster soiree with this disease-riddled hag, he’s attacked and kidnapped by the aforementioned pissed off street whore, Tina, who’s tracked him down to reap her revenge on him.
What follows takes up the brunt of the novella and involves Joey essentially telling his life story to Tina, as she gradually and brutally tortures the fella. Oh, and when I say tortures, I don’t mean a little light spanking. We’re talking full blown sadistic body destruction. In fact, Wrath gives fellow extreme horror author Monica J. O’Rourke a nod of recognition, as the inspiration for one of the more vicious acts brought upon Joey’s already fucked up body.
So, what have we got overall? Well, it’s a story that’ll probably haunt you for some years to come. Wrath’s an author who’s able to describe scenes of brutality incredibly effectively. To the point where you can almost feel the assaults yourself. Wrath is also a dab hand at delivering the finer details of visceral grossness. The sort of stuff that’ll turn your stomach as you mind is made to picture these vile scenes of degeneracy. This novella delivers both brutality and vivid grossness in absolute abundance.
If extreme body horror’s your gravy, then you’re going to want to expose yourself to this tale. Although even the most veteran of extreme horror readers will likely find this one a tough one to swallow. The ‘Trigger Warnings’ Wrath provides are very real. The story wades through a quagmire of difficult subject matters which are far from easy to absorb, without feeling some degree of corruption infiltrating your being. Again, if you’ve already read Delany’s ‘Hogg’ (1995), then you’ll maybe have a baseline for stomaching such abhorrence. Nevertheless, you are fucking warned.
The novella runs for a total of 113 pages.
© DLS Reviews
