by @Leviathan15, curator of HOWLS Book Club nominees for March 2024’s “Tiny But Mighty” category
This list aims to terrify, delight, and inform, all at the same time. I’ve picked five nonfiction books about tiny terrors that plague (pun completely intended) our world. Some of our favorite authors have been influenced by these real-life horrors to write memorable and chilling tales. Perhaps you’ll be inspired too… or just have some great facts to share at your next cocktail party.
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
The most fatal virus known to science, rabies-a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans-kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. In this critically acclaimed exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes. (StoryGraph)
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This book was the inspiration behind this list! I just finished it and it’s captivating. It’s packed with historical anecdotes ranging from medieval times to modern day (did you know there was a rabies outbreak in Central Park, NYC in 2009?). One section blends history with speculation about how rabies may have influenced the lore of vampires, werewolves, and zombies. The authors discuss rabies’ appearance in non-horror literature as well. If you loved 28 Days Later or Cujo, this might be the book for you!
Bookshop* | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Amazon
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and the darkest shadows of science. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer takes readers on a fantastic voyage into the secret universe of these extraordinary life-forms–which are not only among the most highly evolved on Earth, but make up the majority of life’s diversity. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the parasite-riddled war zone of southern Sudan, Zimmer introduces an array of amazing creatures that invade their hosts, prey on them from within, and control their behavior. He also vividly describes parasites that can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead. This comprehensive, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us all about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe–the laws of Parasite Rex. (StoryGraph)
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I read this book years ago and think about it often– time for a reread! Zimmer discusses a wide range of parasites, from the common to rare, in a lively and gripping way. Fans of Alien, Parasite (by Mira Grant) and Animorphs, you might like this one!
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I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light–less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are.
The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people.
Many people think of microbes as germs to be eradicated, but those that live with us–the microbiome–build our bodies, protect our health, shape our identities, and grant us incredible abilities. In this astonishing book, Ed Yong takes us on a grand tour through our microbial partners, and introduces us to the scientists on the front lines of discovery. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it. (StoryGraph)
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We can’t go down a creepy crawlies list without talking about bacteria! Though perhaps not the most frightening book on this list, this promises to be educational and quirky, and applies to everyone– after all, we are full of bacteria, for better or for worse. If you liked Between Two Fires and other books about bubonic plague, this could be your pick!
Bookshop* | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Amazon
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake’s vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the “Wood Wide Web,” to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.
Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works. (StoryGraph)
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(How can you resist the author’s fabulous name?) Fungi have become quite popular as a recent horror topic– there was even a panel discussing it at Stokercon 2023. Fungi are so unique and bizarre; who wouldn’t want to know more? If you love The Last Of Us or several recently published novels that I don’t want to spoil here (IYKYK), pick this book!
Bookshop* | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Amazon
The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum
Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of the very best mystery fiction, shares the untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. In The Poisoner’s Handbook Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.
Drama unfolds case by case as the heroes of The Poisoner’s Handbook—chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler—investigate a family mysteriously stricken bald, Barnum and Bailey’s Famous Blue Man, factory workers with crumbling bones, a diner serving poisoned pies, and many others. Each case presents a deadly new puzzle and Norris and Gettler work with a creativity that rivals that of the most imaginative murderer, creating revolutionary experiments to tease out even the wiliest compounds from human tissue. Yet in the tricky game of toxins, even science can’t always be trusted, as proven when one of Gettler’s experiments erroneously sets free a suburban housewife later nicknamed “America’s Lucretia Borgia” to continue her nefarious work.
From the vantage of Norris and Gettler’s laboratory in the infamous Bellevue Hospital it becomes clear that killers aren’t the only toxic threat to New Yorkers. Modern life has created a kind of poison playground, and danger lurks around every corner. Automobiles choke the city streets with carbon monoxide; potent compounds, such as morphine, can be found on store shelves in products ranging from pesticides to cosmetics. Prohibition incites a chemist’s war between bootleggers and government chemists while in Gotham’s crowded speakeasies each round of cocktails becomes a game of Russian roulette. Norris and Gettler triumph over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice during a remarkably deadly time. A beguiling concoction that is equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner’s Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten New York. (StoryGraph)
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We can’t leave toxins off this list! Though more specific and less general, this book sounds captivating and a potential favorite of those who love reading about forensic science and history. For fans of Arsenic and Old Lace, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and other whodunnits, this could be your selection!
Bookshop* | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Amazon
And The Winner Is…
Out of these five books, HOWLers voted to read Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. Discussion starts on March 11, and you can join in by joining the Discord!
Our Kickstarter for Howls from the Scene of the Crime, our upcoming crime horror anthology, goes live this Tuesday, March 5! The Kickstarter will run until March 28, and you can visit our launch page now to be notified as soon as we go live!
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