October 3, 2024
Huge congrats to author Tanya Pell! Vulture named CICADA—the fourth entry in our Killer VHS Series—one of the…
“Seething with a feminine rage that builds to a deafening roar, Tanya Pell’s CICADA terrifies with reinvigorated small town horror tropes while delivering that wonderfully familiar VHS horror flick camp. A real bitch of a novella.”
—Rae Wilde, author of I Can Fix Her
Ash is stranded at a rural horror film festival about a giant killer cicada and can't decide what's worse, the movie or her idiot boyfriend, until she realizes she's starring in the bloody sequel when people start dying and the locals won't let them leave.
“You ever hear of this movie? You’ll love it. No, don’t ask me where I got the tape. Tanya Pell’s CICADA feels like that, a debut that shocks and delights, a found-footage gem to be handed around the friend group, each play making the scanlines a little fuzzier, each rewind to relish in that gnarly kill making the book’s monsters a little more real. Creepy and fun, struck through with true genre savvy.”
—Adam Cesare, author of Clown in a Cornfield and Influencer
“Got under my skin to tickle and terrify in equal measure. Tanya Pell’s wickedly creepy—and funny!— debut reads like John Carpenter had a bug baby with Guillermo del Toro. If you love small-town creature features and found-footage flicks, you’re in for one heck of a treat. Just be sure to wear bug spray while reading.”
—Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll
“Seething with a feminine rage that builds to a deafening roar, Tanya Pell’s CICADA terrifies with reinvigorated small town horror tropes while delivering that wonderfully familiar VHS horror flick camp. A real bitch of a novella.”
—Rae Wilde, author of I Can Fix Her
“If CICADA was a movie, it would be directed by Paul Verhoeven, sitting perfectly in its shiny VHS box next to Arachnophobia and Starship Troopers. A B-movie, creature feature in written form which will give you the heebie jeebies and never want to venture into the forest again.”
—Janine Pipe, author of Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers
Tanya Pell’s horror debut CICADA releases in Sept. ’24 through Shortwave. An HWA member, her short fiction can be found in MOTHER KNOWS BEST, OBSOLESCENCE, Shortwave Magazine, and Well, This is Tense. She is represented by Marcy Posner at Folio and FolioJr.
A series of books where movie monsters come to life and old VHS tapes summon long-buried evils. You’ll probably survive, as long as you remember to be kind and rewind.
View the Killer VHS Series.
