On This, the Day of the Pig

by Josh Malerman
286 pgs

I have not watched Bird Box, nor have I read Josh Malerman's book, which it was based on. But unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, it's impossible not to know the basic premise of the story, or to be aware of the hype it generated. That being said, when I came across Malerman's On This, the Day of the Pig, I initially didn't give it much consideration. It wasn't until I made the connection and realized who Malerman was, that I decided to give it a try.

In a nutshell, consider how Animal Farm would have been different had Stephen King written it instead of George Orwell. That gives you a general idea of what you're in for with this one.

Pearl is a pig. He's an old and slightly deformed pig, and he's avoided farmer Kopple's slaughtering axe longer than any pig that's ever been on the farm before. But that's not just a coincidence. There's something different about Pearl, something not quite right. And anyone who has ever been around him has sensed it. It's not just that one of his eyes is so dark it looks like he has a gaping hole where the eye should be. It's the thoughts that come into your mind when you're around Pearl...almost as if the pig could communicate directly with and control your mind.

On This, the Day of the Pig feels a little bit like a throwback to the horror books written in the 80s, and on the surface, it sounds a little campy. But Malerman does a great job of infusing real creepiness into the story, and I found myself struggling to put it down.

I'll definitely be reading more by him, and sooner rather than later.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆