Gusano

On a simple trip to the grocery store, struggling businessman and father of four Mick Jansen discovers that he can turn people into giant worms. Haunted but intrigued by his newfound power, Mick tests its limits, wreaking havoc in the lives of everyone he knows, his wife, his kids, his mistress, and his employees. Soon enough, the police investigate the carnage that Mick leaves in his wake, and Mick realizes that it's only a matter of time before his life comes crumbling down. Will he be able to make everything all right again, like in a fairy tale, or does Hell await?


"A psychedelic romp through the dark heart of the American body horror tradition, Barney's novel is laugh-out-loud funny and nauseatingly gross, sometimes on the same page, sometimes in the same sentence. Gusano recalls a more innocent time, when masters like Clive Barker and David Cronenberg looked inward to the secret horrors just beneath our skin."

-David Nikki Crouse, author of I'm Here: Alaska Stories, Copy Cats, and Trouble Will Save You


"A grotesque, scabrous satire which rewards the daring and attentive reader with an unexpected sense of humanity."

-Hans Burger, author of In Some Sense Innocent