“With his latest, Erbach tackles natural horrors with the story of a young woman facing swarms of vicious, ravenous, and very deadly wasps.”
As soon as Scarlett arrives at her dad’s Smoky Mountain cabin, two of the locals have been eaten alive by wasps. Of course, Scarlett is unaware of this. All she knows is mom checked herself into a hospital for some needed mental health care, and now Scarlett’s all alone with dad for the summer.
Dad insists Scarlett get a job, so she snags a position at the local Stovetop Outfitters … anything to spend as much time away from him as possible. Of course, she doesn’t expect to trip over a skeletonized corpse during one of her shifts, and definitely didn’t expect to be thrown into a docu-style true crime investigation.
With the sheriff’s department overwhelmed with the unsolved deaths, and one of the Stovetop Outfitters employees disappearing, Scarlett and the rest of her co-workers try to find him on their own. That’s when they find something much more horrifying: A swarm of yellow jackets, stripping the meat off his bones. Scarlett didn’t sign up for this mystery, but if she’s to protect her family and friends, she must defeat the mountain’s darkness and all these godforsaken wasps.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Just when you think it’s safe to spend a little time in the great outdoors, here comes Dane Erbach throwing a monkey wrench into your plans with some insect horror. The author of Friday Night at Humble House, Erbach’s short fiction has been featured in such publications as The Amazine, Sobotka Literary Magazine, The Ghost Papers: Arms in the Dark, and Dark Speculations: Tales of Various Shapes & Shadows Volume 2, among others. With his latest, Erbach tackles natural horrors with the story of a young woman facing swarms of vicious, ravenous, and very deadly wasps. Trevor Henderson (Scarewaves) says: “Meat Bees brings all the nasty thrills of a classic 80’s creature feature, but strengthens the killer bite (and sting!) of horror with wry humor and real heart. A wonderful sense of place and a great story about growing up that also just happens to feature a horde of flesh-eating wasps. Come for the bloody carnage and skeletonized corpses, but stay for the characters you’ll love too much to want to see devoured!”, Nick Cutter (The Troop) says: “Everyone who loathes those notorious yellow-and-black insects that delight in ruining picnics will find Dane Erbach’s Meat Bees to be a nasty, delightful, frightening, and psychologically insightful piece of work.”, and Wendy Dalrymple (Bed Rot Baby) says: “Meat Bees offers readers the fun of your favorite B movie creature features with a side order of heart. A buzzy, meaty summer horror read!”
Releasing from CLASH Books 4 August 2026, Meat Bees by Dane Erbach is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
