Tick Town (2025), just arrived on our doorstep from author and director Chris Micklos. You may remember Glamzilla Nick’s review of Chris Micklos’ film The Headmistress. If not, definitely check it out for a dose of well done indie cinema. Before I get started, I wanted to send a big thank you to Chris for providing us an advanced copy of his book.
TL;DR Review – Tick Town by Chris Micklos
Chris Micklos’ Tick Town is a loving, blood-splattered homage to classic 1950s monster flicks, only this time the menace isn’t ants or tarantulad, it’s giant, pulsating, turbo-charged ticks. Set in the Americana-soaked Tomahawk Hollow, the novel wastes no time diving into the chaos, skipping buildup in favor of fleshing out a charming small town brimming with quirky characters and buried secrets. What makes Tick Town sing is its honesty: it tells you right away what it is, then gleefully delivers exactly that oozing, parasitic fun with just enough satire to feel fresh. The nostalgic tone hits home for fans of atomic-age horror, while the gloriously grotesque cover art seals the deal. With flamethrowers, pesticides, and a Harvest Moon jubilee all in the mix, this pulpy creature feature in book form is equal parts goofy, gross, and great. Micklos isn’t reinventing the wheel, he’s slapping monster truck tires on it and driving straight through your nightmares.
So Dave, how do you feel about ticks?
Character Dave Dobb’s exclaims “It’s Just a Tick” just a few lines into Christopher Micklos’ new book titled Tick Town. Quite frankly, that utterance would send me screaming from the tent, even if that the tick in question were of the normal variety. On the list of things that really freak me out, ticks come in second only to centipedes. That’s full position higher than maggots, so you get where I am coming from. YUCK!
Unflinching honesty
The real beauty of this novel is that it IS exactly what it says it IS. Tick Town tells the story of a sleepy mid-western town called Tomahawk Hollow and the terror befalls it when it gets overrun by… you guessed it… turbo-charged ticks! This brutal honesty is so refreshing because it comes as advertised. You will never find another book that thoroughly addresses the turbo charged tick market like this one!!!
To put it another way, when one goes to see the grand canyon, you know its coming. You do not need to be surprised to bask in its majesty. Likewise, right out of the gate, this book starts cooking with gas. With no fanfare whatsoever, the reader is introduced to is first “pulsating” giant tick with the first handful of pages. This provides Micklos an incredible advantage. Rather than having to blather about with pretense, he has the luxury of instead focusing on building a wonderfully authentic setting for his story.
Tomahawk Hollow has all of the Americana of a Norman Rockwell painting. It has all of the charm a mushroom house filled with garden gnomes. The town is full of small people with big dreams, real victories and tragic defeats.
Like all small towns, beneath the checkered tablecloths of the town diner lies a bit of darkness hidden in plain site. There are rumors of who’s “Spit-polishing” who’s “ping pong balls”. There’s stories of the old Tomahawk Hollow Pesticides plant that closed its doors 3 years ago. Rumor has it that it’s still full of chemicals… but not the kind that would cause any problems… right?
A bygone era of monster movies
Fans of horror that spend their time in dusty boxes looking for horror history will remember the bygone era of monster movies. Monster movies never really went away, but they were never bigger than the early 50’s and 60’s. Something about the atomic age struck fear in people. These monster movies were an outlet for this fear.
Just about anything could be a monster. Them (1954) brought us giant ants. Tarantula (1955) brought us, you guessed it, a giant tarantula. Tick Town looks back to these great films lovingly, but gives a modern coat of paint by adding modern influences. We all know that James Cameron loves a story about a looming Harvest Moon jubilee while the protagonists scramble with flamethrowers to find the Queen Tick and her nest of of tick eggs getting ready to erupt.
A picture says…
While the 1000s of words in Tick Town captures the brilliance of this story, rarely has a cover said so much itself. The artwork for this book is absolutely phenomenal. Everything from the disgusting chelicerae hanging from the face of the tick to the chaos implied by the people scrambling away works perfectly. Even the billboard exclaiming “Welcomed to Tick Town” exemplifies the down home simplicity of Tomahawk Hollow. My personal favorite is the lady that looks like she is high-stepping into the end-zone after juking the whole Tomahawk Hollow football team.
An utterly fantastic book for fun loving horror fans
I really can’t say enough about this book. Its purity in purpose and shameless delivery of pulpy schlock really resonates with me. I grew up with 50s monster movies, and they have sadly become much more obscure. The steady diet of atomic monsters delivered via my local television affiliate is unfortunately representative of a long-gone era. Chris Micklos’ book gave me a shot well needed nostalgia directly into my arm, and I loved it.
Chris Micklos’ Tick Town is a wonderful novel, and an easy read. It’s plain fun wrapped in a nest of disgusting blood sucking parasites. Check your head, and watch out for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.