Sara Ann O'Sullivan

Alligator by Shelley Katz is a horror book released in 1977. The summary is as followed according to goodreads.com (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3158273-alligator)

I picked up Alligator as a way to venture further into horror, since I’ve enjoyed Jaws and wanted something in that same spirit. While Jaws explored a failing town and the mounting tension that came with it, Alligator didn’t reach that same dramatic level. The novel does have strong character drama, especially surrounding Rye Whitman, a boy who grew up poor in Everglades City and later returned as a wealthy man. His character is layered and leaves the reader wondering if he’s good, bad, or something in between. There’s also an undercurrent of him being a lost kid in an adult’s body, still trying to outrun his past. His counterpart, Lee Ferris, comes across as hesitant and almost afraid to live, but together the two men are forced to confront the nightmare in the swamp.

Some of the characters’ decisions felt baffling and pulled me out of the story. More than once, I found myself thinking: “Why would anyone do that?” Having grown up in Florida, I was also distracted by certain landscape descriptions—like the mention of rapids in the Everglades, which don’t exist. These details made it harder to sink into the story. That said, the writing itself was straightforward and easy to get through, even for someone like me who hasn’t read much horror before.

For me, the book leaned more on symbolism than true horror. While that can be effective, I was hoping for something closer to Jaws: a relentless predator stalking its victims. Instead, the novel focuses on two men hunting the alligator, which lessened the fear factor. I would never put myself in that spot. I have seen a lot of horror related movies and tv shows. I find that horror for me, works better when characters are trapped in situations beyond their control.

Overall, I would rate Alligator 2 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t for me, though I did appreciate seeing what older horror novels were like. The alligator itself didn’t feel present or threatening enough, and the human drama didn’t fully compensate. Still, I’m glad I read it—it gave me insight into the genre’s history and confirmed that I want to keep exploring horror. For now, I’m taking a short break to read fantasy (Lord of the Rings and a Romfantasy book), but I’ll be back to horror soon. I have not read much of horror but one day I hope to write a horror novel. They say if you read more books, you expand your skills of a writer so that is the plan. Reading is fun no matter what and best part of it, you usually can learn something from everything you pick up.