Erogrendel (novel)

Erogrendel
Cover artist	Daphne Frizzle (2016) Nathaniel J. Nelson (2018) YeahManTV (2021)
Publisher	Amazon
Page count	400
ISBN	1543241794

Erogrendel is a 2016 horror novel by Nathaniel J. Nelson. It deals with twenty-three-year-old widow Olivia Cambridge as she is pursued by the eponymous beast and discovers a host of paranormal abilities within herself. The novel is currently available on Amazon and a sample chapter is available on Nelson's website.

Erogrendel was originally published in 2016. It was later rewritten twice and republished first in 2018, then on December first, 2021.

Description

In the early days of the twenty-first century...

...a young widow is rescued from assault by a creature from another world...

...a man plans for his ultimate vengeance against the monster that killed his friends...

...a grizzled detective tracks down a killer and discovers that his world is no longer as it seems...

Conspiracy theories and the supernatural collide in EROGRENDEL, a loving tribute to the monster movies of the mid twentieth century.

Background

Erogrendel was originally published on October 16, 2016. It was later rewritten and republished in 2018. The final version (referred to in the book as the "Definitive Edition") was published on December first, 2021.

Unlike the first two versions, the Definitive Edition draws heavily on the science fiction films popular in the middle of the twentieth century, primarily those centered around giant monsters (kaiju). These films are referenced often throughout the book; the films King Kong, Forbidden Planet, and The Day the Earth Stood Still are particularly present.

Erogrendel is divided into three parts, referred to as First, Second and Third "Battles" (a reference to the structure of Beowulf). Each of these parts is given a subtitle derived from a classic science fiction film: It Came from Outer Space, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! respectively.

Plot

In a small, Midwestern town, a large man covered in mud and blood silently enters the grocery store and buys a bottle of Jack Daniel's. The man is observed by everyone in the town, some of whom recognize him. He silently walks across the town and sits alone in the bus stop, drinking and waiting for the bus for more than twelve hours. As he sits there, he ponders the events of the previous night, with one word running through his head. It is implied by the title page that this word is Erogrendel.

First Battle: It Came from the North End

In Boston, Massachusetts, twenty-three-year-old widow Olivia McMann is at a pub with her now-sober mother, Emma Nole. While Emma flirts with a man she met, Olivia is hit on by Scott Roby, a young businessman. She turns him down, not being ready to date after her fiancé's death only a year before. Emma disappoints Olivia by going home with the other man, and Olivia walks home by herself, narrowly avoiding an angered and drunken Scott. Cutting through an alleyway, Olivia is caught in a freak rainstorm and attacked by Scott, who attempts to rape her; however, he is pulled into the shadows by unseen hands and reappears a moment later, his body torn to shreds.

Detective Isaac Parry is called to the alleyway, where he meets his protegé Brannon Cox. Brannon explains the situation to Parry, who witnesses a group of crime scene investigators – led by Jonathan Trope – examining Scott's broken and mutilated body. Parry meets Olivia, being ignored by the EMTs, and realizes she is too shocked to answer questions.

Early the next morning, while guarding the crime scene from papparazi, Brannon is confronted by Mark Tenant, an agent of a paranormal investigation agency known as Seventh Circle. Mark displays apparent knowledge of the case, but Brannon tells him to leave, having dealt with him in the past. Brannon also handles several uniformed police officers asking door-to-door, though he believes they don't take him seriously due to his age.

After leaving the hospital, Olivia and Emma regroup at the former's apartment, where Olivia begins to display signs of PTSD. Detective Parry confronts Doctor Robert Noran at Massachusetts General Hospital, angry to discover they released Olivia before she could talk to the police. Noran reveals to Parry that Roby had been in the process of assaulting Olivia, which Parry realizes he should have realized before. Parry decides to skip meeting with Olivia in favor of attending the autopsy. Outside, he is met by Díaz, a nosey reporter, who asks Parry about the case.

Mark returns to the office of Seventh Circle, where he enlists fellow employee Ruby Lloyd in gathering any information she can on the case. He then meets with Kurt Bachman, founder and regional director of Seventh Circle; they discuss their belief that the Roby case could finally prove the supernatural's existence to the world. At the apartment, Olivia and Emma watch The Blob, one of Olivia's massive collection of mid-century B-movies. Olivia remembers her first experience watching a film of the genre: the night of her fifth birthday when her father, Joel Cambridge, had taken her to see King Kong in an underground punk theater. This was also the last day she saw her father, as he disappeared without a trace while she slept.

Doctor Trope leads the autopsy along with young Doctor Briggs. Parry watches as they examine Scott Roby's remains. Trope realizes there is something alien inside Roby's still-intact lungs and cuts them open, to reveal a cloud of live spiders. Meanwhile, Brannon interviews Olivia, who is angered to discover the police have wrapped up the assault case and are only focusing on the murder.

The next morning, Emma returns to her home in Burlington. Olivia, who was given the day off work, wanders desolutely around the North End, eventually ending up in the same pub. She orders a drink, unusual for her, and stalks Scott Roby on Facebook. At the district, Parry briefs the others on the Roby case, and discovers that the captain, Melvin Cobb, is sidelining him in his own case. Scott's parents, James and Elana Roby, stop in to talk to Captain Cobb, who later tells Parry that his case will be given high priority due to the Robys' financial contributions to the NYPD. Captain Cobb adds Detective Darrow to the case, along with Parry and Brannon, irritating Parry.

Ruby tells Mark that she was unable to find anything about the Roby case aside from Scott's Facebook page. Mark and Kurt discuss Mark's apparent supernatural backstory, before they are interrupted by Parry, who has determined that Mark knows something about the case. Kurt and Mark show Parry police reports from 1990 and 1955 that show people being murdered in the same way as Roby; Mark repeats his claim that a friend of his was killed the same way in 2006, and that the killer was a monster. Parry denounces them, but accidentally reveals that there was a witness; to ease his own conscience, he gives them a hint to her identity. This allows Ruby to easily find Olivia on Facebook, and Mark decides that the monster is after Olivia, not Scott.

Parry drinks at a bar called the Inferno Club, where he talks to the Millennial bartender, Vinny. Vinny reveals himself as a firm believer in the supernatural, though he's never heard of Seventh Circle. Parry considers that both the antagonistic agency and his favorite bar have names derived from Dante's Inferno.

At work, Olivia is contacted by Mark, posing as a detective. They meet at a local café, where Mark reveals his true identity and claims that Olivia is being followed by a monster. Olivia runs away from him, though she discovers that she didn't disbelieve him.

At home, Parry reads through Seventh Circle's website and list of prior investigations, discovering that they are more thorough than he believed. He reads about Mark's experience in 2006, cross-referencing with his own police records, which contain Mark's friend, but not his death. Parry discovers a drawing of the monster on the website. At the office, Parry debates the case with Darrow and Brannon, who believe Captain Cobb wants them to embellish the details to placate the Robys. Parry receives a call from a mysterious man using James Roby's phone; the man invites Parry to an unscheduled family funeral that day. Parry goes without telling the others, and finds the Robys alone in the cemetery with a priest and the unknown caller. The priest reads from the Book of Sirichai: an alleged Biblical volume Parry has never heard of. They go through the funeral process, after which the caller introduces himself to Parry as Collin Rosenger: an "associate" of the Robys. Rosenger tells Parry that Scott had several sexual assault charges covered up, and encourages him to look harder. After Rosenger leaves, Parry discovers that Scott's casket is empty.

When he returns to the district, Parry is informed that Olivia is the daughter of Joel Cambridge, a now-dead associate of the LaPaglia crime family. To Brannon's chagrin, Parry tails him to Scott's place of work – North Atlantic Power – where they interview two of his coworkers, one of whom admits that Scott harrassed many women at work. He then explains that they had a bet over who could sleep with Olivia first, after seeing her around the business district. Parry lashes out at them, revealing that Olivia has Mafia ties; Brannon rebukes him and sends him outside, where he is confronted again by Díaz.

Olivia receives a note from Mark, inviting her to meet at the New England Aquarium. Despite herself, she agrees to go. She meets Mark at the aquarium after work, and he tells her about his friend Ronan Matthews, and Ronan's daughter Lilian Holman, both of whom were killed by the monster. Olivia finds herself believing Mark for reasons she doesn't understand, and she follows him to the tram, which they intend to take to Seventh Circle. However, they hear a sound underground: the same sound Olivia heard when Scott died. They run away, believing the monster is in the subway station, and take a taxi to Seventh Circle, though Mark insists on stopping for a drink first.

Parry, feeling disenfranchised from the police force, styles a crazy wall in his home, struggling to piece together the case. He receives a call from Collin Rosenger, who invites him to Seventh Circle. Meanwhile, Olivia and Mark talk to Kurt Bachman, discussing the monster and its past killings. They begin formulating a plan, but are interrupted by the fire alarm. The three of them, along with Ruby, escape the building as it is engulfed in flames. Mark drags Olivia away from the site of the fire and they escape together.

Parry arrives at Seventh Circle after the fire is put out. He is met first by Díaz, then by Collin Rosenger, who gives his real name as Xavier Collin Potts. Xavier reveals that he works for a group of people who apparently hold unlimited power over the police force and government; he tells Parry that they were hoping to recruit him via this case, but that his need to tell the truth got in the way of his viability. Xavier leaves Parry with a warning to stop pursuing the case. Parry then sees Kurt and Ruby being kidnapped by men in black and shoved into a black van. Mark and Olivia make it onto an Amtrak train before they can be apprehended.

Second Battle: The Day Nebraska Stood Still

In a flashback sequence, Olivia attends the University of Vermont. Having rid her dorm of her roommates, she prepares for a date with Nick McMann, a young butcher's son and English major. Olivia is very self-conscious around Nick, who she believes to be more sociable and outgoing than herself; the situation is awkward until they decide to watch a movie. Olivia recommends Forbidden Planet on the grounds that it is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Despite her apprehension, Olivia discovers that Nick genuinely likes the movie, and begins warming to him; she suggests they watch Gorgo next, on the grounds of its similarity to Beowulf. They walk to Nick's father's store and raid it for chips and beer; back at the dorm, they watch X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, and Olivia falls asleep, dreaming of her father.

In another flashback sequence, Mark attends Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island. Despite his initial hesitency, he pushes himself through and returns to Grand Rapids, Michigan a celebrated youth. During his post-boot camp leave, Mark reignites his love for partying and debauchery, especially alcohol and casual sex. His parents lose interest in bragging about him, and by the time he ships out he has lost interest in the Marines. He is later stationed in Honolulu, and begins drinking heavily. He falls into an alcoholic depression, just barely completing his tasks, and makes no friends on base. One day, he drunkenly strikes a superior officer, leading to his dishonorable discharge. Mark decides against returning to Grand Rapids, instead traveling the country by bus and drinking heavily. He ends up in a nondescript Midwestern town, where he meets a bartender who sells him a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle.

Back in the present, Mark and Olivia wind down from the fire aboard the Amtrak. Mark tells Olivia about the shadow government: a conspiracy theory that a small group controls the political state of the entire world. Mark believes that the shadow government covers up supernatural events, such as the death of Ronan Matthews and Lilian Holman; he also believes the shadow government will be looking for them.

Parry spends most of the night building his crazy wall and researching Xavier Collin Potts, who he now believes is part of the shadow government. The next morning, Parry goes in to the district to discover Xavier was correct in stating Captain Cobb would close the Roby case. Angry and confused, Parry leaves; he tries calling Mark and Olivia, but they don't answer. The next night, Xavier arrives at Parry's house, rebuking the detective for pursuing the case. Parry guesses that Xavier is blind, which he confirms. He leads Parry outside, to a black van; Parry begs his permission to call his ex-wife one last time, but relents when he sees that Díaz is part of Xavier's group.

Mark and Olivia arrive in Chicago, where Mark suggests they go to Rutson, telling Olivia that Ronan's wife, Dana Holman, is still alive. They take another train to Nebraska, on which Mark tells Olivia about the Book of Sirichai, which he describes as an ancient tome that some believe contains references to real-life paranormal entities, including the monster chasing them. This reminds Olivia of Sirichai Jones, a nineteenth-century author favored by Nick. In a flashback sequence, Olivia and Nick share a date in the forests of Vermont, during which Nick quotes Jones's book The Mist of Time as well as Romeo and Juliet. Nick suggests they move to Boston after Olivia graduates.

In Rutson, Nebraska, teenager Jimmy Farman is led in an initiation ceremony by his brother Steve Farman, as well as Steve's friends Poppy Adams and Cooper: he is forced to throw eggs at Dana Holman's house, but runs away when Dana steps outside holding a shotgun. That night, Olivia and Mark arrive in Rutson and are picked up by Dana, who allows them to stay in her farmhouse, the site of her family's deaths. Dana shows her desire to stand and fight the monster alongside Mark; she also accuses Olivia of having something called the Sense. Bunking in Lilian's unchanged bedroom, Olivia tells Dana about Nick's death from breast cancer.

In 2006, Dana, Ronan, Lilian, and Mark (working for them as a farmhand) witness the mutilation of their pigs at the hands of an unseen creature. Hoping to stave off her fear, Mark takes Lilian inside to help her do her chores; when he notices a diary under her pillow he asks her about it, and she makes him swear not to read it. In the present, Mark and Olivia take Dana's truck into town, where Mark buys the same model of gun he used in 2006; while at the gun store, he is confronted by an old, senile man, who apparently recognizes him. Meanwhile, Olivia buys clothes and groceries; at the grocery store she is asked out by Steve Farman, to whom she gives her name as Lilian. Back at the farm, Mark begins to drink early and they end up arguing, both accusing the other of romanticizing the dead.

Poppy Adams comes home in the afternoon after an all-night party. Sneaking into the house, she hears her father, Frank Adams, discussing something mysterious with Steve's father, George Farman. A year in the past, Nick comes home to their North End apartment after an unsuccessful day of job-hunting, and it is shown that their relationship has become severely strained through Olivia's demeaning job and Nick's unemployment. As Olivia feels themselves about to have a talk about their relationship ending, Nick reveals that he has tested positive for breast cancer.

Olivia agrees to go out with Steve Farman. After his shift, they go to a local bar, where they are met by Cooper and Poppy. Afterwards, they drive out into the prairie past Dana's house, where Mark sees them go by. They sit in the darkness in Steve's car, drinking and talking. When Olivia returns home, Mark is repentent and shows her several VHSs of classic sci-fi movies he tracked down. They watch The Day the Earth Stood Still, and to Olivia's chagrin, Mark patronizes the film. Olivia begins hearing the word Erogrendel in her mind.

Later that week, Mark attempts to buy Steve's car from him, having realized it was his own Chevelle he left in 2006. Steve refuses. Dana accuses Mark of trying to draw the monster to them, and Mark admits his guilt: he explains the concept of paranormal energy, a theory that paranormal entities are drawn to each other. He admits that staying in Dana's house, buying the same gun, and trying to buy back his Chevelle are part of a scheme to draw in the monster. Dana approves, wanting to kill the monster, but warns Mark that he's abusing Olivia's trust. In 2006, Mark battles the monster on the farm; it scratches his chest open, but leaves without killing anyone.

Olivia goes to a local sock hop (an annual Rutson tradition) with Steve, who introduces her to his brother Jimmy. Poppy acts antagonistic towards Olivia, who dances with Jimmy. Olivia begins feeling the emotions of those around her, which she chalks up to the effect of alcohol. She experiences sensory overload, nearly passing out as she feels the monster approaching from nearby. Back at the farm, Mark rebukes Olivia for her carelessness, revealing that the monster came to the farm, leaving great tracks in the earth outside. Olivia uses the word Erogrendel, prompting a strong reaction from Mark. Later, Mark suggests Olivia sleeps in his room for her own protection; they end up having sex. A year in the past, Nick dies in the hospital, Olivia at his side. She quotes the line from Romeo and Juliet he previously used, then quotes Sirichai Jones as he dies.

Later that week, Dana confronts Mark about Olivia and himself, believing that his alcoholism and womanizing is a means of punishing himself for Ronan's and Lilian's deaths. Though he dismisses her, he later thanks her. A flashback depicts the earlier scene of discovering the mutilated pigs, though this time it is seen that Lilian feels no attachment to Mark, and is outwardly hostile to her stepfather.

Weeks later, Olivia is reading The Mist of Time when Dana recruits her and Mark to dismantle her old fence. While they work, Dana is visited by George Farman and Frank Adams, who she knows well. George and Frank reveal themselves to be FBI agents tailing Mark and Olivia, though Mark claims they are shadow government plants. When Olivia and Mark don't comply, Frank shoots and kills Dana. Olivia feels an overload of emotions, and the two men drop dead for unknown reasons. Olivia and Mark bury them on the farm, then build a pyre to burn Dana's body. During the cremation, Olivia connects the dots that lead her to believe Mark himself burned down Seventh Circle, and may have been lying about the monster: she comes to believe Mark is insane, as Frank and George claimed. Olivia steals Dana's truck and drives to Rutson, abandoning Mark and planning to turn herself in. Mark, furious, finds Lilian's old diary and reads it, discovering that Ronan had been molesting her the whole time he was married to Dana. Mark deduces the monster's purpose, but realizes Olivia faces more danger from the townspeople.

Olivia finds herself at the annual Rutson Halloween festival, where she calls her mother and meets up with Steve. They walk around the fair, Olivia realizing she has honed her ability to feel the emotions of those around her. Mark arrives later and confronts her, trying to tell her all he's realized; however, he is pushed away by Steve and a select group of townspeople. Olivia and Steve kiss for the first time, but Mark appears again, yelling at Olivia; Steve tries to ward him off, but Mark pulls a gun on him. Olivia pushes him away and runs off with Steve. Meanwhile, at an annual screening of John Carpenter's Halloween, Jimmy struggles with his attraction to Poppy. He steps outside, ostensibly to smoke a cigarette, and realizes a massive rainstorm has broke. Stepping out into the darkness, Jimmy is bowled over by a massive, incomprehensive shape. In a flashback, Mark takes one final stand against the monster; it kills Ronan and Mark pursues it, accidentally shooting Lilian dead after the monster disappears.

Olivia and Steve enter the grocery store, which is unlocked despite being closed. They almost have sex, but are confronted by the same townspeople from earlier, who knock them unconscious. At the same time, another Rutsonite knocks out Mark, who has gotten drunk since confronting Olivia. Olivia wakes up tied to a car on the Ferris wheel with a crowd of Rutsonites, including the police force, standing below her. Apparently a cult, the Rutsonites chant at her, summoning the monster, who they refer to as "the Avenger." From her vantage point, Olivia can see the monster – who she realizes is called Erogrendel – approaching across town.

As the storm dies down, Jimmy sees several of his father's friends dragging Mark into the basement of the local church. He approaches Mark, tied up and still drunk; Mark tells him about his father's death and about the monster, connecting it to the deaths of Ronan and Lilian. Jimmy, through his grief, recognizes that the deaths were ignored by the town, and realizes that the monster's existence connects a number of loose threads in Rutson; he frees Mark, who stumbles out of the church. The cult welcomes Erogrendel, claiming it is a righter of wrongs and killer of sinners; however, when it reaches the fairground, it kills several of the cultists, the rest of them running in fear. Mark runs over, brandishing Dana's shotgun, and drunkenly attacks Erogrendel. Erogrendel easily kills him.

Shortly after, Xavier Collin Potts and a team of shadow government agents arrive at the abandoned fairgrounds. They call the local fire department, who retrieve Olivia from the Ferris wheel with their ladder truck.

Third Battle: Grendel, King of the Monsters!

Nick's death is seen again, but depicted as signficantly less romantic: Olivia has failed to memorize the Romeo and Juliet quote, and it is Nick, not Olivia, who quotes Sirichai Jones.

Days after Mark's death, Olivia is kept in an underground cell within a shadow government facility. She is approached by Xavier, who takes her to an observation chamber and straps her into an electric chair. Xavier explains that she is a Sensor: one of a small percentage of modern humans who retain the power of the sixth sense. He also explains the shadow government to her, saying that Frank Adams and George Farman were sent to Rutson in 2006 to keep an eye on the town. Xavier electrocutes Olivia, sending her into a vision of another time: the Viking age. Olivia witnesses a young woman – Odilia – being delivered to a royal man – Hrothgar – and understands the situation thanks to the Sense. When the vision ends, Xavier reveals that torturing her will bring Erogrendel to them, where they will be able to kill it. However, Olivia tells Xavier about her vision, and he decides he has to recalibrate the machines before electrocuting her again. Olivia is taken to the facility cafeteria, where she is reunited with Kurt Bachman: also a prisoner, along with Ruby Lloyd. Later, Kurt meets with Ruby and they discuss their different feelings on Mark's death.

Olivia is tortured again, and has another vision. This time, she sees an emaciated and depressed Odilia sneak out of Hrothgar's home and carve a symbol into a tree: the Ero aphana, the symbol of Erogrendel. Odilia cuts her hand, bleeding on the symbol, which summons a slightly different version of Erogrendel to kill a number of the Vikings in the area. Olivia then finds herself in Lilian Holman's room in 2006; Lilian draws the Ero aphana in her diary and also bleeds onto the image, but is interrupted by the arrival of Mark and Ronan. Mark goes to bed, and Ronan enters Lilian's room with the intention of molesting her; however, he is scared off by the cry of Erogrendel outside the house. Olivia returns to the present, where Xavier tells her that Erogrendel has arrived.

Olivia is left alone in the chamber, where she slips into another vision: this time of her father, Joel Cambridge, discussing Emma with his uncle and Mafiia superior, Roberto LaPaglia. Joel tells LaPaglia that Emma has given birth to a daughter, and Roberto reminds him he's already on thin ice in their family: as a half-Swedish, half-Italian man, Joel was not allowed to take the Mafia oath, and having a half-French daughter would push him even further away. Joel finally relents and agrees to get Emma and Olivia out of the city before cutting ties with them. Olivia comes to and realizes that her straps have been undone.

Above the facility, beneath a fake cell tower, Xavier has gathered the armed shadow government agents. Erogrendel stands across an open field, watching the squadron impatiently. Xavier discusses his plan of attack with technology expert Darius Torne and military strategist Agar. Through the Sense, Xavier realizes that Olivia has escaped her bonds, and orders Agar to bring her to the surface. Xavier rebukes Olivia, but Erogrendel attacks, grabbing her amongst a barrage of bullets and carrying her to the top of the cell tower.

Sitting atop the tower, beneath Erogrendel, Olivia slips into another Sense vision. This time, she sees her father running from a Mafia associate named Johnny Bonetti. Bonetti accuses Joel of turning rat, and Joel claims that Bonetti just wants him out of the picture. Bonetti kills Joel, and Olivia realizes the truth: Erogrendel is the reincarnation of her father, who came back to life to save her from Scott, and later, from Mark. Waking up, Olivia speaks to Erogrendel as her father, telling him that she can protect herself now. She quotes Sirichai Jones again, and Erogrendel dies from his bullet wounds, falling to the ground below.

Hardy Lee, a Boston detective and friend of Isaac Parry's, returns home from work and watches a video tape sent to him by Parry. On the tape, Parry details his findings on Erogrendel and the shadow government, claiming that if Hardy doesn't hear from him soon, he will be dead. The recording of Parry encourages Hardy to find the shadow government and avenge him.

A funeral is held in Rutson for Mark, Dana, and the cultists. Olivia speaks to Nick, telling him that she thought for a moment that Erogrendel was him; she then tells him she won't apologize for Mark or Steve. She claims she still loves Nick, but can't spend the rest of her life mourning him. Olivia then joins the funeral, bearing the hateful glares of Steve and Poppy. Mark is given a military funeral and Olivia is given his flag, which she knows was Xavier's doing. She joins Kurt, Ruby, and Xavier's crew; Xavier and Olivia discuss the possibility of her joining the shadow government and aiding them with her Sensor abilities. Olivia asks why Erogrendel thought he had to protect her from Mark, and Xavier tells her he doesn't know. Olivia suggests that paranormal activity, primarily Erogrendel, is becoming more frequent, and Xavier confirms this.

In an epilogue scene, it is revealed that Mark had a wife and daughter, Sharon Cross and Lilian Tenant, who still don't know what happened to him a year later. Lilian is approached by a ragged man who attempts to kidnap her; however, he is pulled into an alley and mutilated by a new form of Erogrendel.

Characters

(see List of Erogrendel characters)

Release

2016

The first edition of Erogrendel was released on Amazon on October 16, 2016. It was 192 pages long, and its cover was mostly black, featuring a colored image of Erogrendel in the center.

2018

The second edition of Erogrendel was released in 2018. It was 373 pages long, and while it was originally released with the same cover as the 2016 edition, this was later changed to a red-hued image of a skyscraper featuring the Ero aphana.

2021

The third edition of Erogrendel (dubbed The Definitive Edition) was released on December 1, 2021. It is 368 pages long, and its cover features Erogrendel, Olivia Cambridge, and Mark Tenant in the style of a mid-century science fiction film poster. The 2021 edition features the first chapter of Quantum Flight 888 at the end of the volume, as well as images of Erogrendel's past covers.

The "cold open" (prologue) of the 2021 edition is available in narration form on Nelson's YouTube Channel.

Sequel

In the 2021 edition of Erogrendel, a page near the end of the book bears the message Olivia Cambridge will return in Son of Erogrendel available on Amazon October, 2026.