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The Fungus cover art

The Fungus

By: Harry Adam Knight
Narrated by: Ian Pringle
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Summary

When a brilliant scientist seeking to solve the problem of world hunger tries to create giant mushrooms through genetic manipulation, what could possibly go wrong?

The mutated spores escape the lab and spread across all of England. Toadstools grow to 20 feet tall, and a case of athlete's foot can mean a grisly and horrible death.

But those who die quickly are the lucky ones. Those who survive infection by the fungus will be transformed into something unthinkably monstrous...

With a perfect mix of nightmarish horror and black humor, Harry Adam Knight's cult classic The Fungus (1985) will grow on you.

©2018 Harry Adam Knight (P)2019 Valancourt Books LLC

Critic reviews

"A spectacularly gruesome nasty, written with inventiveness, grisly wit, and considerably more intelligence than almost any of its competitors." - (Ramsey Campbell"

 "Loud, scary, silly, sick fun ... you will never again go near mushroom soup." (Kirkus Reviews)

"A first-rate and vivid thriller." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Fungus

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Listener received this title free

The Day Of The Truffles

Mycological body-horror adventure rooted in Thatcher-era Britain. With an ichor-stained tongue poked firmly into an ulcerated cheek, this recently disinterred pulp novel from 1985 spans the gaps between the catastrophe fiction of John Wyndham, the sexually-explicit shocker staples of the '70s and '80s, and the post-Apocalyptic neo-zombie fare of '28 Days Later' and 'The Girl With All The Gifts' (the latter even shares the same climactic locale of a tumescently fungoid BT Tower). Credited to Harry Adam Knight, this book was actually one of several co-written by the late John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle. Brosnan was a well-known film critic of the era and this background is evident in the lurid B-movie thrills and cinematic narrative structure to be found here. A more ambitious book might have made clever play on the implicit political satire, but instead this rattles along with the gimlet-eyed efficiency of a John Carpenter flick. Despite the schlocky grindhouse stylings, the book is entertainingly written, with the pseudo-science well-handled and plenty of vivid imagery throughout; just don't expect consistent characterisation or contemporary sensitivities to be spared.
All said, what really elevates this is Ian Pringle's top-notch narration. For those that care about such things, his intonation is similar to Julian Rhind-Tutt, which suits the novel perfectly; he even makes the frequent, gratuitous sex scenes far less cringeworthy than they deserve. Excellent work that man!
Oh, and fantastic cover art.

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more

more of this please audible.
Can we get some more 80's horror please, Guy N Smith for starters.

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Fungus Gone Wild

Classic '80s horror. So glad this book got a audiobook release. The narrator did a great job.

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An absolute cult classic masterpiece

The story begins wildly and how the fungus starts to spread was told with great detail. How the fungus took over people with all possible disgusting ways was gross to imagine. I love this book and this author became my favourite. I now have to read all his other books :]

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Trashy body horror but excellent narration

I enjoyed a lot of this book -- the pulpy setting, gleeful gore and over-the-top fungal horrors. There was a bit too much gratuitous rape and wafer-thin characterisation (especially for the women!) for me to fully enjoy it. It was a product of its time, I suppose - the glimpses of current affairs c.1985 grounded the action in he wider world quite well (apartheid, the Troubles Margaret Thatcher et al). The narrator did a brilliant job and really elevated the story.

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Genuinely terrible.

Poorly written across the board. Characters are all massively unlikeable. Nothing makes you want the story to be driven forward. Waste of an audibl credit.

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Good clean fun(gi)

Back in the days when scientists were referred to as 'boffins', and science could be relied upon to save the day; when you still had to look up the word 'pandemic' in the dictionary, and the general public hadn't yet heard of Swine flu, or Bird flu, H1N1, Sars, Ebola or Marberg... This gave me the same creepy-crawly nasty feeling as James Herbert's "The Rats" but with a lighter touch, and more humour. Would highly recommend spending one of your precious credits for a really enjoyable and satisfying trip back in time...

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A great read!!

Rediscovered this book recently, having read it for the first time many years ago. A fun, sick and eerie story that picks up a steady, relentless pace and shows the true horror of just what could go wrong. Easy to read and easy to listen too, A good story!

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Death by mushrooms

There is just something nice and simple about horror story's from the 70's and 80's a nice simple tale
not to complex not to many twists just a few good hours of fun.

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Brilliant I really liked it

A beautiful book, lot of horror mixed with irony, a fact also helped by a very good narrator.
It really look like the author has spent time learning about fungus.
Pity a lot of people calls it sexist only because a couple of evil character are women (and as every other asshole character in this book, they get what they deserve).
As much as men, women should be held accountable for their own actions.
I wish more writers may have the courage to have such "extreme" view in these times (2022).

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