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Review:
The Unnatural History of Man-Eating Plants.
by Kevin J. Guhl

Published in 2025.

The book consists of:

• - The table of contents * listing the structure of the 2 main parts of the book (aptly named Part I: Travelogue and Part II: short stories).
• - Part I: Travelogue * divided per part of the world, taking the reader on a journey through old publications in 7 illustrated chapters on various regional Man-Eating Plants.
• - Part II: Short stories * a listing featuring an intro to the Man-Eating Plant fiction followed by the titles of the 20(!) included short stories.

The book itself has over 650 pages and has a nice bulky format with striking cover art by Bat Sada and Robert Jacob Woodard. It could easily function as a conversation piece on any side-table.

The writer uses various fonts to discern between the history it tells and the source material, which at first glance seems like it may be distracting but when reading, actually adds to drawing the reader into the historical setting of various stories.

The use of language within the book is quite easygoing and open, clearly describing the subjects and history of each publication. It never gets pedantic or dismissive while presenting the stories and stays enjoyably informal.

The subjects themselves are varied and clearly well-researched, from classics like The Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar (Crinoida Dajeeana) and the Bohon Upas of Java, to the lesser known Angry tree of Australia or the Pine Barrens Giant Pitcher.
Each story is as captivating as the other, and it almost certainly will surprise both the old and new cryptobotany enthusiasts with knowledge they did not possess before.

Chapters generally end with a light musing and an extensive list of used sources, the latter of which often takes up several pages.

There are some small distractions in the formatting, occasionally having an illustration, caption or title placed on a page before or after where it should be. However this does not subtract from the excellent content.

Overall, the book reads as a passion project and the author’s enthusiasm on the subjects clearly shows. He has taken a niche subject and ran with it. All without getting entangled in needless speculation or getting caught in the trap of simply listing out known facts.

Pros:
Well written and illustrated. Diverse cryptid plant stories put in their historical context.
Doesn’t selectively quote or paraphrase sources, but blatantly includes the entire articles.
Includes relevant fiction in 20 short stories.

Cons:
It’s not a hardcover, the various lists of sources are so extensive they could’ve benefitted from a smaller font and on a few occasions the formatting is off.

Conclusion:
The book is a must-have for anyone with any interest in cryptobotany.

5/5. Heuvelmans, Shuker, Guhl.