“Carnal Surgery” is a provocative new collection of eleven short stories from extreme horror writer Edward Lee. As is the case with most collections, some tales stand out more than others, but all of these are disturbing, thought-provoking and will haunt you for a while after finishing them. Most of them have the extreme violence, profanity and sex we are accustomed to from Lee’s work, but there are a few exceptions to that as well.
“Hands” is the longest and most conventional story here. The plot moves forward at a brisk pace in the mode of a police procedural thriller. The narrator is a reporter teamed up with a police detective trying to unmask a killer colleting the titular body parts from his female victims. Killer twists along the way, this was quite an enjoyable read.
A few of the tales are more literary, exploring abstract concepts rather than concentrating on plot or character.
On the surface, “The Seeker” depicts a typical Edward Lee milieu. A writer enters a bar teeming with freaks and perversion, seeking for “truth” in the world to make his craft stronger. Simultaneously, the military are wondering around the bar’s environs, trying to determine if a Def Con alert is legitimate. The ending is open and obscure and left me scratching my head, but this was the story’s purpose—to question reality.
“Goddess of the New Dark Age” and “Death, She Said” offer a bit more substance in terms of plot and character but explore this same general themes—reality vs. illusion—truth vs. our individual, at times skewed perceptions. In both stories, the veil of illusion is lifted by provocative and imaginative supernatural beings in female form.
Another stand-out tale is “The Blurred Room.” In an introduction, Lee informs us the original version “I.C.U.” and one reason he revised it was that the reveal came too soon. He was certainly successful for the final twist got me on this one.
Other very short stories provide surprising and often brutal twists of typical Lee cynicism. “Please Let Me Out” is another ending I did not see coming—a cautionary tale for any man trying to pull off the playboy lifestyle. You never know when the next woman you burn might be the fatal attraction of your undoing.
This is an excellent and varied collection, a fast read and a sure hit for any fans of Edward Lee and extreme horror.
– 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
