Nicholas Belardes’ THE DEADING: Review

THE DEADING by Nicholas Belardes. Published by Erewhon Books in July 2024. 

What’s good, y’all? I just got finish reading Nicholas Belardes’ THE DEADING, and I going to dig into my review. 

It was published in late July by Erewhon Books and got solid reviews from the New York Times and Booklist. Belardes is a writer of the American West who writes in many different genres and has an extensive resume in writing and activism.

First, the book is a multiple-POV story that follows a cast of townspeople from a coastal town. Snails invade the shores of the town and bring a mysterious infectious disease that infects the residents and causes them to “dead;” to die and return only to act increasingly strange. Each of the characters has to survive the aftermath and a new group called the “Risers” that looks to control an area now surveilled by the government. This evil spawns a paranoia and lawlessness that further endangers the “non-dead.” Those unaffected by this must decide between staying and conforming to a new normal, or risk an escape.

This is an eco-horror that definitely weaves in environmental themes and lots of knowledge on the bird species in San Luis Obispo County. Some readers might not like that much information, but I felt a tinge of MOBY DICK in the story from that information. It reminded me of all the research Melville is rumored to have done on whaling prior to write the whale story. Additionally, everyone in the story is battling a nature at least some of them tries to tame while others obsessively observe.

The characters that we get the most from are young Blas, his older brother Chango, the elder Kumi, and the lonely Ingram. 

I thought the premise was fun and legitimately scary, and the idea of a fishing village being contained, because of terrible snails of all things, to deal with something horrible of this nature is great setting. 

I enjoyed Blas and Chango as characters a lot. Chango is a solid, slightly complicated, older brother figure, and Blas is a strong, young man dealing with anger issues from a life of questions. And the fact the he spends his time birding is interesting to me. 

The tone of the work keeps this in a creepy and unsettling state. Belardes is consistent with that throughout and does well to make his setting a viable character.

I enjoyed this story, though I can see how the combination of a multiple-POV story with sub plots could be too much for some readers. There are times when we do want more from some of the characters while we get others. 

Overall, I thought Belardes created an intriguing main plot and told the story well. He created a setting that was vivid then horrifying and stayed in it consistently. I’m, sadly, new to horror fic, but this is one that inspired me to pick up another, and I think that’s certainly a compliment. 

Until next time, y’all.