Very nearly makes spiders sexyWonderful, horrific and sensual. A great way to spend an hour, but I can't help feeling itchy and a little bit sick.

Alex and his wife are having problems. When Alex falls in love with the woman next door, things escalate. Did I mention the woman next door is a giant spider?That magical time of year when the New Bizarro Author series launches is upon us and I will soon have all the books in my clutches. While deciding which one to pick first. I noticed this one was about giant spiders living alongside humans. Sold! After all, I take spider photos at every opportunity.While I expected this to be a cool book, I

Arachnophile – Betty RocksteadyOh, Betty, Betty – what did you do, Betty?Often, when you open a NBSA book, you're taking a risk. Does the author know what they're doing? Can they finish the story properly? Are all the good things they do at the beginning going to peter out into an unsatisfying ending? In short, is the writer in control? Betty Rocksteady is in control.From her subtle use of language, to her poise of character development, Betty is always in control. The story is great – I immedia...

Wow! I was really glued to this story (pun not intended). Picture if an arachnologist got together with William S. Burroughs, David Lynch, and Martin Scorcese to remake Fatal Attraction. You may have a close idea how it would be. A story that is as much fun as it is disturbing. This story has a Shakespearean tragedy feel to it that you would not expect to find in Bizarro fiction. Kudos to Betty for this!

Review to come. I really enjoyed this!!

A love story like no other! Taking place in a world in which spiders (as in normal, find-em-in-your-garden type spiders, albeit, much larger) are granted full citizenship, Arachnophile merely touches on the “bizarro” dystopia of its universe writ large. Instead the true story is much more myopic in scope. And while this novel subverts the notions of a traditional relationship - cutting them up and splaying them out in all their gory glory - what really shines through is the protagonist dilemma,

Arachnophile is an unlikely story - but that's the point of Bizarro, right? - about a man who lives in a world where giant spiders live alongside humans. The man's initial revulsion, in time, becomes a curious and consuming fascination with unexpected results.This novella is humid, sweaty, and uncomfortable, but in all of the best ways. It makes us question how we define monsters, and, in turn, how we define ourselves against the binaries of fascination and revulsion.Plus, I mean, it has giant s...

Holy giant spiders and humans living side by side, batman! I have been afraid of spiders for as long as I can remember. When I see one, in real life or in a photograph, I feel my heart begin to race and I have to swallow the urge to vomit. I won't attempt to squish one because, god forbid I miss it and it escapes, I'd die from the anxiety of trying to find it again, though I also can't just let it live because WHAT IF IT GETS ON ME or MAKES BAAAAAABIES??!So you gotta know that picking up this bo...

Full Review4.5 stars Arachnophile is a masterfully written story that's beautiful, disgusting, romantic, and tragic. I highly recommend this book. It's Betty Rocksteady's first, and I have great hope for what she'll put out in the future.

Well, I can say with all certainty that I have never read a book like this before. It was unsettling, bizarre, shocking, but ultimately addictive. In a world where humans are forced to cohabit with spiders, things are bound to get tangled up.Especially for a young couple whose relationship is on rocky grounds. The man loathes these critters and having to put up with them living in existing in their world. And I don't just mean in the ordinary sense, I mean spiders have apartments, houses, have t...

I began this book with zero intention of reading the entire thing any time soon. I just wanted a taste and then would get back to my currently very busy life. I’ve been in the middle of reading a constant flow of submissions for an anthology I am compiling, so any extra reading time was strictly devoted to those…okay, and I got Stephen King’s new anthology Bazaar of Bad Dreams that I’ve been having a fling with. But certainly no time right now to devote to anything else. However, when I stepped

Only in the world of the talented Betty Rocksteady is it possible to be more attracted to a giant spider than a human female.This book is entirely unique, creating a league of it's very own.I could not put this book down, I read it all in one sitting.I highly suggest that you read this novella. ( You know you want to. )5/5-Devin M.

I love the NBAS and have read some excellent work, this is again one of those times. I still get surprised, pleasantly so by how great and original some authors are. Arachnophile is a story that had me enthralled and also emotionally invested. Touching, sad and curious it was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into a world so similar to ours and yet so different. Bugs and humans living side by side with discrimination of species, mind numbing work and relationships that are unique to say th...

In the short time I've been introduced to this amazing and uniquely talented author (I've read a total of three stories by her) she has made it to that rare list of authors whom I will one click with zero second thoughts. She definitely has the magic. If I could describe it better, well I'd be the writer and not just a lowly reviewer, barely managing to capture and properly describe her skills. :)

I've heard the genre of bizarro defined as a genre in which books are capable of "being (their) own planet" and this certainly fits that definition. The setting is home to an apartment building where it apparently rains, has both dirt floors and carpet, where insects serve functional roles like being living blankets, people consume emotional states like we consume meals, can watch advertising as their 9-to-5 job, and where apparently recent legislation has desegregated spiders and humans from li...

As an arachnophobe, I’ve never found myself asking the question “If I lived in a world of giant, sapient spiders, would I be a bigot?” That is, not until I read this book. And any book that can make you ask such a question must be doing something right.Connoisseurs of bizarro fiction would no doubt pick this book up expecting to get something odd, and despite it being the story of a man’s temptation to cheat on his wife with a large female arachnid, I found the weirdness of this book pleasingly

I loved this book. It's a crazy bizzaro love story between a man and a spider. Once I started it I sat and didn't get up until I was finished..

Very well written little novelette about a three-way drama involving a man, his girlfriend and the giant female spider who lives in the apartment next door. As the protagonist, Alex, not only gets over his revulsion and fear of spiders but starts a romantic, sexual relationship with a female spider. This packed a lot more emotional punch than I had expected, as feelings, both human and spider are deftly described and explored. Even though there are some pretty disturbing moments, the intense des...

One of the better written (in terms of pure literary style) New Bizarro Author Series books I've read. Betty uses the right words to create a mood (like using spider-like expressions like "caugh in a web", etc, to describe non-spider related feelings, but conveying the spiderness(?) of the book even so) and it's so effective. I just think it should either be longer, to develop the very interest world that's just hinted at, or smaller (but then it wouldn't be a NBAS book).Betty and I (along with

When spiders are allowed to live with humans, Alex has a tough time adjusting to this. He simply doesn't believe in the concept. However, his wife Heather strongly disagrees with his stance, so much so that if Alex doesnt accept spiders and doesnt show acceptance to his new neighbor spider it could ruin his marriage. Well written, strange and short, everything I want a book to be. Read this