This week, we take a look at John Hruby’s latest novel, "Space Spiders on Prom Day."
This week’s edition of The Reel World is unlike any other I have written before. Typically, I write about films and TV shows, but something interesting happened this weekend.
Last week, after my review of Batman & Robin was published, an Ohio University alumnus reached out to me about writing a review about his upcoming novel. I agreed.
As an OU senior, John J. Hruby produced the student-run TV show Friday's Night Live. Now, he works as the director of Event Production at Santa Monica University in Los Angeles, California.
Hruby was kind enough to send me the first chapter of his upcoming novel, Space Spiders on Prom Day, which is set to be published on Amazon in June.
Space Spiders on Prom Day is about the events leading up to 18-year-old high school student Chevy’s senior prom. However, the narrative he has to share is hardly ordinary. The first chapter, told entirely in Chevy’s perspective, immediately takes the reader into the climax of the book where the protagonist and his best friend Not Rambo, a scrawny 19-year-old Army private, are attempting to sabotage the giant space spiders attacking their school. It is suggested that a vast majority of the human population has been wiped out and that Chevy, Not Rambo, and Chevy’s girlfriend Sweetie (not seen in this chapter) are some of the last remaining humans.
Chevy and Not Rambo watch in horror as a pudgy, flannel-shirt-wearing boy, only referred to as “Lunch Box,” comes face to face with a couple of the oversized spiders and narrowly escapes but accidentally alarms them, prompting them to attack. Then, coming to his senses, Chevy decides to recap the past three days leading up to prom, which sets up the main premise of the book.
The most charming part is its narrator. Chevy spends a lot of the first chapter explaining his surroundings to the reader and constantly breaking the fourth wall as if he is aware that the audience is merely reading about his experience. Many things are described, from the purple camouflage of his bowtie to the way sun pricks through the narrow windows of the desolate, dark high school classrooms to the way sand falls out of Lunch Box’s hair when he gets up from the ground. What results from these astute details is a vibrant, colorful mental picture. The book reminds me very much of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
If Chevy feels that some of his terminology might be too confusing for his audience, he’ll gladly explain what he is talking about. And, yes, while that can feel slightly degrading at first and maybe feel as if the author is underestimating the intelligence of his audience, a reference will come along that Chevy doesn’t understand and the reader is able to experience a moment of smugness and laugh at what Chevy didn’t pick up on.
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Anyone who appreciates retro media certainly will enjoy this book. For as many vivid descriptions of space spiders there are, there are just as many references to media (mostly films) from earlier generations. At one moment, Lunch Box calls out “wolverines” before attacking one of the space spiders. Chevy isn’t sure what he means by that (because the school’s mascot is the knight), but any casual fan of ‘80s action films knows that it is a direct reference to the group of rebellious freedom fighters in Red Dawn.
Space Spiders on Prom Day seems like it will be a promising read. If ‘80s movie references, solidly described scenery and sci-fi space spiders are your thing, keep an eye out for this book when it hits Amazon later this year.
Kaitlyn McGarvey is a freshman studying journalism. Would you read Space Spiders on Prom Day? Email her at km451814@ohio.edu or tweet @McGarveyKaitlyn.
