JIGGLYSPOT AND THE ZERO INTELLECT

A sadistic clown with ties to outer space leads Alleva’s horror novel.

Jigglyspot is a half-human, half-warlock creature who typically dresses like a clown. He may only stand about 5 feet tall, but that doesn’t stop him from committing dastardly deeds like dispatching innocent people with a scalpel. Jigglyspot particularly enjoys consuming a substance from a living person’s brain (a process he refers to as “extraction”). The activity makes him feel good and temporarily gets rid of the gin blossoms on his nose. The summer of 2019 finds Jigglyspot organizing a celebration for the solstice that involves the consumption of human flesh. Jigglyspot puts a great deal of effort into the event to please his extraterrestrial masters, including his favorite, a tentacled being named Kera. Meanwhile, a teenager named Tyler Reese shoots his classmate James Reilly after duct-taping him to a chair. Tyler deems it a fitting end for the drug dealer/bully/rapist, but James’ ghost soon begins to follow Tyler around. As the storylines of Jigglyspot, Tyler, and others eventually converge, violence, torture, and mayhem are on the menu—shocking horror is the author’s fare, and the narrative delivers a steady supply. As numerous characters are introduced there is always an opportunity for someone to be slashed, sexually violated, or, at the very minimum, threatened with the harm of a loved one. It’s bracing stuff and not for the squeamish. Dialogue and descriptive passages are not always as inspired as the gory material: One character remarks, without irony, “I can’t believe it. You killed me, Jigglyspot.” Alleva’s prose often leans on standard horror language, as when Jigglyspot speaks with a “raspy voice that carried a hint of laughter behind it.” Nevertheless, the constant churn of bloodletting, demons, and aliens will keep readers on their toes.

A fast-paced hell ride of depravity that occasionally rests on genre clichés.