Demophobia by Gerhard Jason Geick
Demophobia is the crippling fear of crowds.
Mr. Foicus is an author, documentarian, public speaker, and yes, he is a Pus-Eater; and even though his book tour might not be the side-show horror some come expecting, it is definitely not for the weak of stomach either. But that all changed on October seventh, with the show to end all shows.
“Demophobia is an utterly mind-bending trip, and Gerhard’s creativity seems to show no bounds. It is a story that is both horrifying and heartbreaking. Foicus is a superb character, and he will leave you wondering if you are for or against him. You will feel this one to your bones! It is utterly foul, nasty, and vile… so hold onto your lunch! This is another wild ride from a rising Indie author with the guts to go where most people wouldn’t dare!”
– From the Horror Review Dream Team, Andy and Brandy Carroll, founders of Horror Nerds and Book Nerds Book Reviews
WARNING: DEMOPHOBIA IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF STOMACH
CONTENT MAY OFFEND AND/OR SEND YOU CRYING TO YOUR MOMMY
United StatesI strangely feel sad for Foicus
I love all of Geick's work and this is no exception. His phobia series gives unique views on common phobias. Creative and disgusting I couldn't ask for anything better.
CanadaHome Run
GJG hits another phobia home run. I’d love to see this entire collection as a paperback. I will be first in line to buy it! Fantastic and gross with a great ending. Definitely looking forward to reading more from one of my favourite Canadian indie authors!
AustraliaGeick’s new phobia is a winner
Unpredictable, immaculately crafted, and of course utterly nauseating.
United StatesMonsters Among Us
As peculiar, violent, and perversely humorous as Demophobia happens to be--and it is all of those things--it is also a deeply sad story about survivor's guilt and an insightful discourse on being an outsider. Mr. Foicus is a Pus-Eater, or as he prefers, an Eiterfresser. A packed auditorium watches his multimedia lecture on the history of his kind, distorted and sanitized to elicit sympathy and hopefully engender less of a freakshow aspect to his existence. He's one of the last of his kind, and he's regretful of that. While he may be an inhuman, vicious monster, he suffers from the same melancholy any human might experience under similar circumstances. All of this doesn't change the fact that Mr. Foicus is still a monster, and it doesn't take long before the story takes a violent and revolting turn when the Pus-Eater shows his true colors. Through the perspective of someone hoping to capture images amid the panicked crowd, we experience the dread of knowing that everyone should have left when things turned sideways. That's the problem with a crowd, though; they feel safety in numbers, and if a large number of the individuals begin to relax, everyone else will go along with it, even if they think there's something wrong. I've never been more grateful for the fact that I loathe being in crowded spaces with large groups of people than when I imagined the carnage and wash of bodily fluids in the lecture hall. Geick does an excellent job of building the reader up to a conclusion that feels both fitting and depressing.
United KingdomTlon, Uqbar, Eiterfresser
When Geick drops a new 'phobia it's time to lay your money down and wonder where the fuck this journey is going to take you. The unexpected is to be expected when reading his work (I've said it before and I'll say it again; you never have a clue where his stories are going, which in our genre of often overused tropes is wonderfully refreshing) and DEMOPHOBIA is no exception, being also the most overtly fantastical entry in the series so far. Though you'll get no spoilers from me, I'd like to note one particular impression I had, that it reminded me of reading Jorge Luis Borges in the way it almost off-handedly creates an alternative history and makes you believe it really happened.