I bought the entire series on Kindle a few years ago for something like $4.99. I only ever read the first one and found Pat somehow less believable than the giant killer crabs. I did some sleuthing and Guy N. Smith founded his own publishing company, Black Hill Books, in 1998 and they were the ones who released all the Kindle editions. With Smith's death the company was incorporated in 2021 and then there has been a rotation of his children through being head of the company. No news about any reissues but you'd have to think that they wouldn't have gone through the bother of incorporation unless they had something planned.
This is great stuff Olly. I always feel that authors such as the late Mr Smith serve as cultural landmarks. They come from a time when books were sold everywhere. WH Smith was then primarily a book seller and local newsagents and the kiosks at railway station always had an intriguingly trashy selection. There were only three TV channels broadcasting for limited periods with highly conservative content (except for BBC2 on Wednesday nights with their plays), so these sexy violent pulps offered a real type of escapism during dull times. More of the same please.
Very true! when I was growing up there were so many places in town selling books like this - now even bookshops are rare. I think there is only one shop in the centre of the town I live in now that sells new books.
If I remember correctly the crabs emerge from the sea at Barmouth in Wales and start cracking open the caravans and eating the holidaymakers. Absolutely hilarious. Especially as I use to stop at a caravan park in this little town with my family!
Crab invasions occur on Christmas Island, and they're red !! Yes, commo, pinko crabs, can you believe it ? Wow I had to go take a cold shower after you read that passage. 🚿🚿
So 'The Master' is one of only 3 adult horror novels I've read in my life. I hope to change that next year. And it's time to confess: I was the one who mentioned 'The Master' to Juan at 'Plagued by Visions' prompting him to pick it up and do that buddy read with you. Yes, that was me!
Olly, i just have to say that this is one of your best videos by far. I can see this one getting pretty popular, too, I have a feeling. This seems like the type of book I would enjoy, and I can imagine that reading the full names of someone in a sex scene would be quite… strange and offputting. Again, great video! 😊
A local indie bookstore had a bunch of Smith books in new trade paperback editions (including the Crabs books) not that long ago. I should have picked them up just to eBay -- I could be rich! Rich, I say!
As a horror reading teen in the 80s I always avoided the Crabs series because I thought they looked more silly than scary. While I suspect I was right, I regret this now. It’s getting harder every year to find 70s and 80s books in charity shops, so unless they get reissued on kindle I’ll probably never get to read them.
Great video!! My favorite British author is Graham Masterton! Smith wrote a novelization of a 1974 horror movie called The Ghoul with Peter Cushing and John Hurt!! Emily from Missouri ❤❤❤❤❤
The cheesy horror series I remember, don’t remember the author,but it was It’s Alive series. It’s Alive, It Lives, Island of the Alive. There where also made into movies.
Read 'Croc' by David James (unfortunately, not a British author, but 1977 goodness). It is a better story than Benchley's Jaws; imagine if Quint had an alcoholic PTSD backstory and was given a redemption arc.
On the cover of Night of the Craps, you can tell that crabs a right wrong 'un as it's stomping on a clearly placed "Keep Out" sign. Crabs have no respect of our petty human rules!
What is about the British ? They are the masters at classic rock n' roll and horror novels. When I was a kid growing up in Texas, my grandmother had tons and tons of horror novels from British writers. They were all so imaginative, fun and enjoyable. I enjoyed the crab series and used to make fun of how the main characters could be in the middle of a horrible situation, surrounded by giant crabs and yet still find time to have sex. That's some damn good writing there!
Night of the crabs 😅sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind watching a trashy horror movie like that. I love bad monster movies. Time for the crustaceans to rise
Read all the books you reviewed so far. Except this one. Irish Witch was one of the least impressive of the Wheatley horror novels. The Herberts I really enjoyed. Guy N Smith didn’t get to 70s South Africa as far as I know. Probably banned by our neurotic purveyors of morals.
@@CriminOllyBlog Agree. What I find interesting about Herbert is how his novels evolved. As he got older, they became increasingly religious or moral in tone.
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I bought the entire series on Kindle a few years ago for something like $4.99. I only ever read the first one and found Pat somehow less believable than the giant killer crabs.
I did some sleuthing and Guy N. Smith founded his own publishing company, Black Hill Books, in 1998 and they were the ones who released all the Kindle editions. With Smith's death the company was incorporated in 2021 and then there has been a rotation of his children through being head of the company. No news about any reissues but you'd have to think that they wouldn't have gone through the bother of incorporation unless they had something planned.
Ah interesting! That’s the sort of thing I’d do if I was even remotely professional!
This is great stuff Olly. I always feel that authors such as the late Mr Smith serve as cultural landmarks. They come from a time when books were sold everywhere. WH Smith was then primarily a book seller and local newsagents and the kiosks at railway station always had an intriguingly trashy selection. There were only three TV channels broadcasting for limited periods with highly conservative content (except for BBC2 on Wednesday nights with their plays), so these sexy violent pulps offered a real type of escapism during dull times. More of the same please.
Very true! when I was growing up there were so many places in town selling books like this - now even bookshops are rare. I think there is only one shop in the centre of the town I live in now that sells new books.
If I remember correctly the crabs emerge from the sea at Barmouth in Wales and start cracking open the caravans and eating the holidaymakers. Absolutely hilarious. Especially as I use to stop at a caravan park in this little town with my family!
Ha ha brilliant!
I love the Crabs books. I read them all one after the other.
Crab invasions occur on Christmas Island, and they're red !! Yes, commo, pinko crabs, can you believe it ? Wow I had to go take a cold shower after you read that passage. 🚿🚿
It was pretty steamy - should probably have put up a warning
8:03 - "It is entertaining."
And that's all I ask of the books that I read.
Perfect!
So 'The Master' is one of only 3 adult horror novels I've read in my life. I hope to change that next year.
And it's time to confess: I was the one who mentioned 'The Master' to Juan at 'Plagued by Visions' prompting him to pick it up and do that buddy read with you. Yes, that was me!
Ah lol! I didn’t know that!
I love the Crabs! Another good trashy read from Guy N. Smith that I really enjoyed is The Slime Beast
Yeah I've read that one too - fun times!
Thanks for commenting and sorry it has taken me so long to reply.
Olly, i just have to say that this is one of your best videos by far. I can see this one getting pretty popular, too, I have a feeling. This seems like the type of book I would enjoy, and I can imagine that reading the full names of someone in a sex scene would be quite… strange and offputting. Again, great video! 😊
Thanks John, that's very kind of you to say!
Amazon has book 8 on Kindle, but none of the others. I have the paperbacks of the first four. Maybe I’ll do GarbAugust early. Garbruary.
They're great fun!
I am here for GarbRuary! 🙌🏻 Hold up - there’s 8 books about killer crabbies? 😳
@@M-J What happens if I say “GarbRuary, GarbRuary, GarbRuary, GarbRuary, GurbRuary!” into a mirror?
@@anotherbibliophilereads You get all the ghost hosts of GarbAugust’s past in your library. 👻🗑️
A local indie bookstore had a bunch of Smith books in new trade paperback editions (including the Crabs books) not that long ago. I should have picked them up just to eBay -- I could be rich! Rich, I say!
Ha! You should have!
As a horror reading teen in the 80s I always avoided the Crabs series because I thought they looked more silly than scary. While I suspect I was right, I regret this now. It’s getting harder every year to find 70s and 80s books in charity shops, so unless they get reissued on kindle I’ll probably never get to read them.
Yeah charity shops just don't seem to carry this kind of thing any more. Very sad
Great video!! My favorite British author is Graham Masterton! Smith wrote a novelization of a 1974 horror movie called The Ghoul with Peter Cushing and John Hurt!! Emily from Missouri ❤❤❤❤❤
You should add NIGHT OF THE LEPUS to your bonding movie experience list😁 (especially the MST3K version)😚
I have always meant to watch that!
@@CriminOllyBlog It is an awesome movie. The bunnies “roar” 😂😍
@@Mi-yc3oy And they stampede, with a level of foley excellence seldom matched by anyone under the age of 14!
The cheesy horror series I remember, don’t remember the author,but it was It’s Alive series. It’s Alive, It Lives, Island of the Alive. There where also made into movies.
I think they were movies first (and great movies too!)
Looove those crabby chapter pages!
They are cute!
🦀CRABBY VIOLENCE 🦀
The best kind!
Where can I buy these books for a regular book price? The only listing I see is for $77 for one book.
Sadly I think they're out of print at the moment
You should give writing another go.
I’d love to, but it’s not something I ever felt in control of
🖤💚
Somebody stole Mr. Krabs' millionth dollar again!
I wonder if "Night of the Crabs" was inspired by the movie "Attack of the Crab Monsters" (1957).
I wouldn't be at all surprised
Read 'Croc' by David James (unfortunately, not a British author, but 1977 goodness). It is a better story than Benchley's Jaws; imagine if Quint had an alcoholic PTSD backstory and was given a redemption arc.
That does sound good!
On the cover of Night of the Craps, you can tell that crabs a right wrong 'un as it's stomping on a clearly placed "Keep Out" sign.
Crabs have no respect of our petty human rules!
That's a great point! Bloody crabs!
What is about the British ? They are the masters at classic rock n' roll and horror novels. When I was a kid growing up in Texas, my grandmother had tons and tons of horror novels from British writers. They were all so imaginative, fun and enjoyable. I enjoyed the crab series and used to make fun of how the main characters could be in the middle of a horrible situation, surrounded by giant crabs and yet still find time to have sex. That's some damn good writing there!
LOL! Yeah we did used to do it really well
Night of the crabs 😅sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind watching a trashy horror movie like that. I love bad monster movies. Time for the crustaceans to rise
I always scream when I see your head. 🤣
That's flattering!
So a book full of sex scenes has a problem with crabs? Sounds about right.
LOL
Read all the books you reviewed so far. Except this one. Irish Witch was one of the least impressive of the Wheatley horror novels. The Herberts I really enjoyed. Guy N Smith didn’t get to 70s South Africa as far as I know. Probably banned by our neurotic purveyors of morals.
It's a shame he didn't make it there, but Herbert is definitely better
@@CriminOllyBlog
Agree. What I find interesting about Herbert is how his novels evolved. As he got older, they became increasingly religious or moral in tone.
@@anthonyvictor3034 Yeah that's true
This book screams trash to me! I need to commit to a killer animal/crustacean book in 2023! 🦀☺️ - 📚MJ
You do! Everyone needs more killer crabs in their lives
@@CriminOllyBlog 🦀☠️
@@CriminOllyBlog Also Plan 9 is a long time fave! 🙌🏻
@@M-J It's great!