A review by mondyboy
Stinger by Robert R. McCammon

I’ve long been a fan of Mccammon’s work. Books like Swan Song, Baal, and Blue World (the latter a collection) are a distillation of horror from the 80s (and early 90s), not written by Stephen King. Stinger is one of McCammon’s novels that, for whatever reason, I never got around to reading. But with Peacock adapting the book,* I thought it was high time to give it a whirl. And, oh boy, this magnificent novel took me back to my teenage years when I first fell in love with horror. 

 

Inferno, Texas, is an old mining site on the brink of economic collapse. Now that the mine is dry, no one has worked. It’s also a tinder box, riven by gang violence and racial tension. So, the perfect place for a spaceship to crashland, ejecting an alien inhabiting Stevie, Jessie and Tom's young daughter. Hot on the heels of the alien refuge is a bounty hunter, the eponymous Stinger, and fuck me, he’s a violent arse. 

 

What struck me about Stinger (the novel, not the alien monster) is how progressive it is. The gang warfare between the Rattlers and the Renegades is symbolic of the racial tension between the white and Latino populations. But it’s also how Inferno represents the failure of Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics. A husk of a town left to rot once the money has run out. That the “Queen of Inferno”, Celeste Preston, is left behind—her husband dead, having hidden millions of dollars and leaving his wife with the tax bill—only shows that capitalism gives no fucks. 

 

All that thematic stuff, brimming under the surface, doesn’t get in the way of fun. The story moves at a clip, but it becomes a gory masterpiece once Stinger arrives (his first appearance is a startling, cinematic moment). I forgot how rock n roll mainstream horror was back then, with scenes of violence and savagery that are as disturbing and dramatic as one of Art the Clown’s kills. Kids could pick this shit up in the bookstore or library. And they did! And boy, did it fuck us up in mostly good ways. What takes the sting…ahem…out of the violence is that it’s all so ridiculous and wild that you never take it seriously. Still, the ick factor is high. 

 

Stinger is pure, adrenaline-soaked fun. You’re gonna love it! 

 

*Teacup is terrible, and you should not watch it. It's all the weaker because it’s less an adaptation and more of a nod and wink at the source material.