Dyke wants to see each one of them eaten alive!Īfter coating his entire body in a concoction that he discovers repels the mantises, so that he won’t be eaten by any of them, Dyke trains his new pet ‘Slayer’ to trust him and slowly over the following months builds up a friendship with this particular beast. A plan to take a small army of these bloodthirsty and monstrous insects over to the mainland so that he can enact the cruellest, most horrendous revenge he can think of on the four men who savaged him all those years ago. He names this special mantis ‘Slayer’ and paints its head bright red to further distinguish it from the other mantises. Dyke watches all of this happening from the relative safety of his boat and begins to formulate a plan.ĭyke succeeds in capturing the largest of the beasts, which he takes off the island, hoping he can gradually build up a state of trust with the beast so that he can be its master.

The ravenous giant insects soon take to slaughtering and consuming each and every one of the natives that inhabit the small piece of land. Almost immediately after the destruction has subsided, giant man-sized mantises swarm out from these gaping splits in the earth.

A tidal wave engulfs the island, whilst huge cavernous cracks appear in the landscape. Now eleven years later, Dyke is on his boat just off the shores of the small island of Malpelo, when a massive earthquake hits. His body is now a tapestry of scars reminding him of the pain and suffering they caused when they tortured him and left him for dead. Dyke no longer feels he is a complete man, after he was made a eunuch by these four individuals (Pete Stuart, Zeb Hillburn, Kane Garrister and Ryan Gaut) after he tried and failed in stealing a considerable amount of money from all of them. This hate has been smouldering away for the past eleven years of his mundane existence.

The novel begins with the introduction of the principal character of Dyke Mellis a man consumed with hate for four of his old friends. The author, Pierce Nace, is other than from this novel, otherwise unknown although there is a good chance that the name is potentially a pseudonym that has never been admitted to. First published in the US by Manor Books Inc and then soon after released in the UK through (you guessed it) New English Library, this monstrous blot on the literary world was to therefore sport two separate editions, each with its own so utterly unashamed ‘pulp horror’ piece of cover artwork. Back when pulp horror was at its all time peak, the gloriously entitled ‘Eat Them Alive’ was unleashed into the now overflowing world of pulp horror novels.

Eat them alive by pierce nace