ALIENS ATTACK by Dave Housley, reviewed by Danielle Henson • Cleaver Magazine

Fiction reviewed by Danielle Henson
The Nature of Humans and Other Beings in Dave Housley’s ALIENS ATTACK (Mason Jar Press)

If you’ve ever watched an apocalypse sci-fi movie, you’ve likely also tried to picture yourself in the characters’ positions. Maybe you felt like Sigourney Weaver in Alien or Will Smith in Independence Day. In his new book, Aliens Attack, Dave Housley shows the many reactions and circumstances that could happen in the case of a real alien invasion.

Following the stories of multiple families and individuals—from parents and couples, to priests, to the aliens themselves—Housley focuses on the relationships between characters and the invisible strings that connect us all. Through these different lenses, Housley shows a variety of reactions that might erupt from the shock and danger of this situation. Yet, every reaction could be summed up in the words of Clifford, a father separated from his family: “…today is one of those days they will be talking about for the rest of their lives, that four hours ago was before and now everything that comes later will be after” (16).

Throughout the book, Housley looks inside the minds of humans and offers readers a glimpse of human behavior in unfamiliar and dangerous situations. Looking at characters like Clifford and Burns, he shows how relationships change under the pressure of losing children and how far someone might go to find their family. After being separated from his wife and children, we follow Clifford on his journey to find them amongst the chaos and destruction happening around him. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we see Burns, an aging business man who’s tired of the monotony of his life, focus on something trivial like wanting to break up with his girlfriend as they escape the city to seek shelter in the countryside.

While exploring the essence of human nature in each character, Housley delves into how to keep going in adversity. In his journey through Pennsylvania, searching for his family, Clifford keeps a journal where he writes, “The thing about being maybe the only one left is you kind of stop worrying so much about dying but also the weird thing is you don’t” (31). Housley examines the struggles that each character faces, such as the loss of loved ones and the discovery of secrets in relationships, and in doing so, he shows the resilience humans gain in life-and-death situations as well as their capacity for kindness.

While Housley focuses primarily on the humans surviving this initial attack, he doesn’t neglect the aliens, who are arriving from their home world, Anthea, and entering a new planet with complexities and challenges that mirror their own. Each section from an invader’s perspective explores the similarities and differences between their society and ours, raising the question of compatibility between the two. This is a unique factor that sets this book apart from others in the science fiction genre.

The Antheans resemble humans not only in their appearance but also in their political climate, as their government’s agenda steers them in a direction that not every Anthean is interested in. Tensions form in this new and stressful environment, and the Antheans discover sympathies for the humans they are invading and grow to distrust their own government. Dakarius, a government scientist, grows nervous as he uncovers the secrets Anthea’s Supreme Commander has buried deep:

Thousands of years of Anthean progress. What would happen if he insisted on the truth? He could wind up a prisoner in some dungeon, could be sent out to one of their terrifying new oceans on a raft, could be sent back to Anthea to die of starvation (85).

Although Aliens Attack doesn’t overtly address American politics, it’s hard not to see the country’s current political unrest mirrored in this fictional future.

One way that Housley subtly makes this connection is by using the White House as a setting for scenes in which aliens, such as the Anthean princess, experience their most confusing emotions. Sitting in her new bedroom, Princess Landria experiences homesickness for the first time: “New Anthea is…the strangest? Most lonely? 250 million Tritores away from their proper home? New Anthea is exhausting” (164). Using scenes like this, told from the aliens’ points of view, allows Housley to let us into their world, while the location firmly roots them in ours.

But not all “humanity” is politically motivated, and Housley offers many other ways that the aliens express compassion and individuality. One Anthean melts at the sight of a puppy, a creature that doesn’t exist on his home planet: “It is very small, certainly harmless. It really does appear to be smiling, its bright eyes gazing at him, its entire body wriggling back and forth. The alien is adorable. A swell builds in the back of his throat. His eyes tear” (104).

Aliens Attack displays a wide range of emotions, encourages kindness and resilience in the face of adversity, and shows that those from distant areas may be more alike than they realize. Housley creates a window into human nature, the relationships that connect us, and the commonality that can be found between our own society and others—whether they are next door, across an ocean, or light-years (or Tritores) away.

Aliens Attack by Dave Housley was published by Mason Jar Press in April, 2026.

Danielle Henson is a recent graduate of Ball State University with a master’s in English Studies. She is an intern for River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, which allows her to read and write often in her free time. This is her first publication.