While listening to the audiobook version of Jurassic Park, I got to experience the original version of Dennis Nedry’s death at the hands of the Dilophosaurus. Turns out that the book version is far more gory and brutal than the film version. While the film version of Dilophosaurus was roughly the same size as a Velociraptor and had a neck frill, the book version was about three times bigger, standing ten feet tall and had no neck frill. When the Dilophosaurus encountered Nedry, it was forty feet away from him and gave a hooting sound similar to an owl. Then it launched its venom at Nedry’s shirt, neck, and finally his eyes. The Dilophosaurus venom was so corrosive that it operated like acid, resulting in Nedry permanently losing his eyesight. Blinded, Nedry could not see the Dilophosaurus coming, but he could hear its footsteps and feel its hot breath near him. He flailed his arms in a futile attempt to ward off the attack he knew was coming. Then he felt a new pain in his belly, causing him to reach down and discover he was holding his own intestines in his hands. After Nedry toppled over, the Dilophosaurus grabbed him by the head with its jaws and lifted him off the ground, breaking his neck. Overall, Nedry’s death in the book was definitely one of the more gruesome ones in the series. If it had been included in the movie, it would have made it R-rated and I would not be able to see it until I was seventeen.
Grady P Brown - Author 