Title: The Morass: Servant of the Fly God

Author: Zachary Ashford

Release Date: July 14th, 2023

I’ve long been a huge fan of Zachary Ashford’s unique brand of Outback-Creature-Feature horror. Whether it be brutal Drop Bears in his Sole Survivor double bill, massive crocs in The Encampment by the Gorge or ‘odd’ roaming reptilian beasties in When the Cicadas Stop Singing, Ashford brings us strong characters, amazing locations and so much bloody gore its fantastic.

With this one, things are a little bit different, in that the cover reveals EXACTLY what’s in store. That THING is waiting, somewhere in the Australian Outback and this ready was gleefully rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

What I liked: The story opens with us getting a solid look at the bad guy, the one doing the creatures bidding. He is searching for ‘the one,’ the specific woman needed for the specific purpose of the creature.

From there, we’re introduced to Katy and Kip. Katy is travelling across the country seeking subjects for her book on those who live far from the cities of Australia. Kip, meanwhile, is about to fulfill his dreams. He’s heading to the city, about to take over as guitarist for his favorite band in the hopes of becoming a huge rock star. They meet up when Kip spots Katy hitchhiking. There’s a storm coming, the sky is about to dump huge amounts of rain and Katy accepts the ride on Kip’s motorbike.

Ashford takes his time setting the stage, and as the rain begins to fall, the three main characters of the book randomly meet up at a road side gas station/food spot and an argument ensues.

After that, it’s all about survival. Katy and Kip have been deemed ‘chosen’ and the creature in the swamp is ready to begin what needs to be done.

With a pair of cops hot on the case, all hell breaks loose and the final quarter of the book is filled with so much blood, gore, ripping and slashing and pulsing. It is just great fun and will make fans of extreme horror giddy with what happens.

The ending is very solid, exactly what you’d expect from the events leading up to it and does leave the door tantalizingly open for another entry.

What I didn’t like:  While the main story and content itself was great, I was constantly thrown for a loop from the sheer volume of Aussie slang and references. Alan Baxter’s The Roo had a fantastic slang translation feature in the back of that one, and I think this one would’ve benefitted from that. I’m decently versed in British/Aussie slang – both from friends and ingesting a large quantity of books/movies/TV shows – but there was a significant amount of it where I still had to pause, get my phone and Google it.

Same with a few references to notorious Outback killers. I’ve watched Wolf Creek, but I couldn’t tell you who the real guy was it was based on. When a few of these people were mentioned, I had to search as there was no expansion on whom they had been.

Why you should buy this: From start to finish, this one rips along and the narrative that weaves between the three subplots throughout was a lot of fun. Survival stories are always solid, always a good time and Ashford attacked this one with plenty of gleeful carnage and creature chaos!

4/5