Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Octopus | 2019 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 2 | Octopus 2 | 2019 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 3 | Octopus 3 | 2021 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
The Octopus series takes an aquatic creature and runs it through Matt Shaw’s extreme horror sensibility, producing something considerably more graphic and disturbing than the title might initially suggest. The first two books appeared in 2019, with Octopus 3 following in 2021. All three maintain the creature horror premise while escalating the content in the manner Shaw’s readers expect.
Aquatic horror has a long tradition in dark fiction, drawing on the fear of what lives in deep water and what it might do when it encounters humans in the wrong circumstances. Shaw uses the octopus as a vehicle for body horror and extreme violence, treating his subject with the same unflinching approach he brings to all his creature work.
The three-book arc gives the series room to develop its premise across two years before the 2021 conclusion in Octopus 3. For readers who enjoy creature horror at the extreme end of the spectrum, the Octopus series is one of Shaw’s more distinctive aquatic offerings.