Sacculina

By: Philip Fracassi

Narrated by: A.J. Carter

Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

When Jim's big brother Jack is released from prison, the brothers - along with their broken father and Jack's menacing best friend - decide to charter an ocean fishing boat to celebrate Jack's new freedom. Once the small crew is far out to sea, however, a mutant species rises from the deep abyssal darkness to terrorize the vessel and its occupants. As the horror of their situation becomes clear, the small group must find a way to fend off the attack and somehow, someway, return to safety; but as the strange parasitic creatures overrun them, they must use more extreme - and deadly - measures to survive.

©2017, 2020 Philip Fracassi (P)2021 Lethe Press

I’d rather swim with sharks

The view tonight of Dune park on Tacoma’s waterfront, named so because Frank Herbert Jr was raised in my smelter contaminated neighborhood, seemed the perfect place to listen to this this horrifying story and watch the sun set turning the ocean red. It did not disappoint! Good old fashioned horror that is gonna tickle the back of my brain every time I see the water. Great story, I highly recommend!

Gripping! I really enjoyed this story. Very creepy

Sea life gone mutant. I would have liked more back story on the marine life; cause and effect... The man was infected in the end, right? Kinda of a cliffhanger in the end. However, i felt the story was very good overall. Great performance

Oh, Barnacles!!

This book is BRUTAL!!!

I am a HUGE fan of Ocean/Aquatic/Maritime Horror.
I think the Ocean is absolutely gorgeous…. But, I also think that it’s extremely terrifying!!
The ocean is freakin’ MASSIVE!!!! It covers about 70% of the earth’s surface and only 5% of that has been explored. That means that 95% of the Ocean is a complete mystery.
Just imagine: Stuck on a boat, in the middle of a behemoth sized Ocean, with water so dark and so deep, that you can’t see what’s below you, lurking in the water. It’s freakin TERRIFYING, dangit!!!
And then….. here comes Philip Fracassi and his novella, Sacculina (which is such a fitting title).
I was already 90% afraid of the ocean, BUT NOW…. after reading Sacculina, I’m 1000% afraid of the ocean.

Sacculina is a fast-paced, fear inducing Creature Feature with well-developed and believable characters….complete with an intensifying build up… and cringe worthy body horror and gore!
So, Hoist the sails and anchors aweigh,
Get ready to freakin soar!

There’s plenty of fish in the sea,
But there’s only one for me,
And that’s Philip Fracassi

I’m HOOKED! 🪝

Fantastically scary!!

I often find myself disappointed with “scary” books, but this one did not let me down! And the Audible narration was very engaging. Had I not known better, I would have thought each character was performed by a different reader. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer.

A fishing trip gone wrong

This seafaring tale of a fishing trip gone wrong was absolutely brilliant! Character driven and tension-filled throughout, with terrifying circumstances you don’t have to be a fisherman to appreciate. Fracassi never disappoints with his masterful ability to weave a story together. The narration by Carter fit the story perfectly and really added to the intensity. I highly recommend this one!

well

I am struggling to find something that I liked about this story. Didn't care for any of the characters and the creatures were rather unexciting. Just not my type, I guess.

Now I'm scared of barnacles?

The story itself is really great, but I wish it were longer and more detailed.

A. J. Carter is an excellent storyteller

Definitely worth reading! Very creepy. I'm glad I read this before it got dark. The Audible performance by A. J. Carter is a great storyteller.

Could have done more with it.

If the story is only 2 1/2 hours, there's no time to get sidetracked with backstory and plot cul de sacs. There's no time to interrupt the story with irrelevant memories and dream sequences.

I liked the topic. I'm a sucker for parasites. But there could have been more done with the body horror aspect.

Nature vs. brotherly love.

A great short story about a family’s final moments. Enjoy the sense of desolation here!