The thirteen stories in this collection by Bryan Smith are frightening and hilarious, repulsive and fun in the spirit of good old fashioned pulp fiction. I was often reminded of some of the better tales in EC comics but here, of course, Smith has the license to ratchet up the sex and violence to 21st Century standards. There is some extreme horror, the likes of which Edward Lee or Richard Layman might employ, but it never felt gratuitous.
Smith’s characters are vivid and quite believable. Most of them will ring true for readers who came of age during the days of slackers and Gen Xers. The tales are seasoned with lots of details of these time periods—the characters drive hand-me-down vintage cars, listen to lots of classic rock (The Doors pop up often), and use alcohol and drugs rather nonchalantly.
Smith is simply a gifted writer, able to bring all this to life. For us horror fans, it’s a bonus he has decided to bring these gifts to our genre. While the entire collection is enjoyable—no filler here—I will highlight a few of my favorites:
The collection is framed by two great stories and in content and theme provide the perfect bookends to the overall loose theme—highways to hell.
In “Living Dead Bitch,” Rick and Danny are driving on a rural two lane road while wasted when they realize there is a dead woman in the back seat. They do not remember the night before well, certainly not her. She turns out to a zombie. While the story is fairly simple, these two losers offer some great black comedy to the ghastly proceedings.
The final tale, “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be,” begins near the end when John Marlowe wakes with a hangover, opens his refrigerator to find his wife’s severed head, a reminder of the murder he committed the night before. Currently 42, we learn while in his early 20s, John Marlowe decided to be a serial killer as a road to fame and fortune. He was too good as it and was never caught, thus—no fame. When his wife mentions he has confessed the crimes in his sleep and wants to blackmail him, he kills her, writes his confession and then kills himself.
It may seem like I just gave a lot away, but that is only the set-up for this inventive and often darkly comic journey to Hell. John meets up with one of his victims who was actually quite a prolific killer herself before he sent her to Hell. I will say nothing further, so as not to spoil the fun, but she serves as his guide to a unique view of the Underworld. Eighties nostalgia also provides nice flavor to this one.
Other creative tales include: “Pizza Face”– a pizza delivery guy’s interruption of a home invasion by some colorful crazies –“Jarhead” is one of those tales where I am already saying too much that the title is a hilarious play on words and “Walk among Us” is an exciting tale of monster slayers who travel time through magic portals.
I highly recommend this exciting and highly creative collection.
– George Wilhite
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
