On the back cover of The Locust Bride, author Ellis Goodson describes his latest novel as a “Kaiju Western.” But if you’re looking for a typical Brobdingnagian bang-up, you’ll need to wait patiently until the final act. 

This is not to say there isn’t a gaggle of monsters prowling the prairie in 1875. Before the behemoth Beleem arrives, the small town of Locust needs to survive flesh eating Hell-bugs, malevolent conjoined twins, albino revenants (white zombies!) and a demonic American Indian wielding a fiery tomahawk.

The monster uptick is due to a large sinkhole that suddenly appears in the middle of Main Street. It’s a big gaping hole—big enough to suck the entire town of Locust into its maw. “It was a large round pond of void that smelled like mildew and rot,” said the author. “Deep down in the pit, an eerie sound of combative, competitive movement continued to get louder and louder. It was like putting your ear to the chest of a rotting corpse and hearing worms fight for dead flesh.”

Without a doubt something unspeakably vile is living at the bottom of the rupture. Something big and cosmic. Something Lovecraftian—something biblical. 

To help lure the monster to the surface, a traveling medicine show rolls into town. In tow with Basil Mackovie and his brother Micah (the evil conjoined twins) and Red (the Amerind archfiend) is a pretty young actress named Grace Dane. Poor Gracie doesn’t know she is the bait, the monster’s intended bride. 

Thank goodness Cain Mann is nearby. He’s a man with his own set of problems, but as the novel’s hero, he’s prepared to rescue Grace, save the citizens of Locust and destroy all monsters. And with a name like Cain, you know he’s willing to raise a little hell to get the job done.  

Finally, after a long 155-page set-up, Beleem, the kaiju king, crawls out of the void and reveals itself. This is how the author describes the raging behemoth: It was two-stories high with the bulk of five elephants. A sperm whale-shaped head featured large eyeless sockets and a nasty mouth with pointed teeth set in circular rows. The creature’s orifice would shrink to a hat-size sphincter and then expand into a two-yard-wide opening. “The ugly mouth made a continuous steam-driven locomotive sound—catching its breath from the hard work of being reborn.”

As expected, Cain defeats Beleem and its devilish grubs. By doing so, he saves Grace from a monster wedding. In return, Grace (who’s obviously read the Hebrew Bible) gives Cain permission to live with happiness and contentment. To paraphrase the Good Book: “His joy was greater than he could bear.”

[ The Locust Bride / By Ellis Goodson / First Printing: February 2024 / ISBN: 9798879769746 ]