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Fungal Tide
Hidden deep beneath an abandoned park, in the sleepy town of Radfield, lies a secret lost for a hundred thousand years. Humans were not the first sentient species to dominate this planet.
Ryan Bennett has been called a crackpot and a charlatan by every other archaeologist in the field, yet one shadowy organisation believes that his skills are exactly what they need for their purpose.
Sierra Broadbent works long hours in a run-down café, every penny earned goes toward looking after her young son. Each day is a struggle to make ends meet. Her life changes forever when Ryan sits at a table in the café.
The past and the present are on a collision course and Radfield will be the first battlefield when what should have stayed buried is unearthed and the residents begin to ‘change’.
Ryan Bennett has been called a crackpot and a charlatan by every other archaeologist in the field, yet one shadowy organisation believes that his skills are exactly what they need for their purpose.
Sierra Broadbent works long hours in a run-down café, every penny earned goes toward looking after her young son. Each day is a struggle to make ends meet. Her life changes forever when Ryan sits at a table in the café.
The past and the present are on a collision course and Radfield will be the first battlefield when what should have stayed buried is unearthed and the residents begin to ‘change’.
Unknown Binding
First published July 11, 2014
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Ian Woodhead
127 books161 followersIan Woodhead is just past the age of forty. He lives in the north of England and is married to a wonderful woman. He has forgotten how many children he has. He had been writing for nearly twenty years but has only just gained the confidence to start showing his work. Ian finds it a little creepy writing about himself in the third person.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2014
Discovering a new author is one of the highlights of being a reader. As a writer, this moment takes on a whole other aspect. When it happens, you want to buy all of their books and dive right in. However, if their books are right, you want to take your time with them and read them at a leisurely pace, enjoy them on your own terms. Fungal Tide popped up on my radar early on, I remember Ian Woodhead announcing it on Facebook when it was a few lines old. I'm honoured to have seen him craft this story over a period of months and when it was finished, I couldn't wait to see it. I picked it up on release day...it was worth the wait.
Radfield. The site of an archaeological dig-site. At the chagrin of some of its residents, the site helms the discovery of something significant, something that could determine the evolution of an entire species. When a man walks his dog nearby and the dog jumps into the hole, something is unleashed on the town that threatens to decimate the town and its inhabitants, and possibly the entire human race.
I love a virus book. Yes, Fungal Tide isn't about a virus so much as a fungus that evolves human flesh, but it works on the same level. It starts out with a few spores - the word spores is petrifying on it's own, bringing SARS and Asbestos to the forefront of the brain - and develops into a white fibre, one that mutates and evolves anything it comes into contact with. The residents run, die, get ripped apart, become tentacled monsters and, in probably some of the best scenes I've ever read, mutate into all manners of beasts that have no qualms about eating/dissecting/merging with their victims. It's pretty gory stuff but it's solid horror, one that will have turning the pages.
Woodhead paints a disturbing picture here. From the outset, the mood is dreary, depressing and morbid. The town are sceptical of the dig itself, so when the mutation breaks out, they fight it and run from it. There's no middle man. On the grand scale, Radfield being swallowed up by the fungus wouldn't seem like a bad thing. The town is lost to its boring routine and methodical ways so changing it would probably be an improvement...however, when the people are brought out of their slump, with a will to survive the onslaught, that's when you realise the residents of Radfield, and the human race in general, are not willing to give up just yet. The problem is, some of them are willing to capitalise on the lawlessness brought on by the fungus, which asks the question, which is the worst of two evils?
5* - A morbid, macabre look at society and it's ability to overcome the greatest odds. One more thing: This book is amazingly British, in both language and execution. Woodhead has created one of the darkest, original, most gruesome stories in modern horror. The white fungus is one of those antagonists that dominates the story and, at the snap of a finger or limb, will change the direction of the story, lending it a credible, unpredictable quality. Modern horror is very rarely like this and when it is, it's a treat. Excellent.
Radfield. The site of an archaeological dig-site. At the chagrin of some of its residents, the site helms the discovery of something significant, something that could determine the evolution of an entire species. When a man walks his dog nearby and the dog jumps into the hole, something is unleashed on the town that threatens to decimate the town and its inhabitants, and possibly the entire human race.
I love a virus book. Yes, Fungal Tide isn't about a virus so much as a fungus that evolves human flesh, but it works on the same level. It starts out with a few spores - the word spores is petrifying on it's own, bringing SARS and Asbestos to the forefront of the brain - and develops into a white fibre, one that mutates and evolves anything it comes into contact with. The residents run, die, get ripped apart, become tentacled monsters and, in probably some of the best scenes I've ever read, mutate into all manners of beasts that have no qualms about eating/dissecting/merging with their victims. It's pretty gory stuff but it's solid horror, one that will have turning the pages.
Woodhead paints a disturbing picture here. From the outset, the mood is dreary, depressing and morbid. The town are sceptical of the dig itself, so when the mutation breaks out, they fight it and run from it. There's no middle man. On the grand scale, Radfield being swallowed up by the fungus wouldn't seem like a bad thing. The town is lost to its boring routine and methodical ways so changing it would probably be an improvement...however, when the people are brought out of their slump, with a will to survive the onslaught, that's when you realise the residents of Radfield, and the human race in general, are not willing to give up just yet. The problem is, some of them are willing to capitalise on the lawlessness brought on by the fungus, which asks the question, which is the worst of two evils?
5* - A morbid, macabre look at society and it's ability to overcome the greatest odds. One more thing: This book is amazingly British, in both language and execution. Woodhead has created one of the darkest, original, most gruesome stories in modern horror. The white fungus is one of those antagonists that dominates the story and, at the snap of a finger or limb, will change the direction of the story, lending it a credible, unpredictable quality. Modern horror is very rarely like this and when it is, it's a treat. Excellent.
July 25, 2014
An excellent tale of a world transformed my the unknown horrors of the ancient past.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews