Horror fan fave Ray Garton dishes out a lucky 13 scraps of short fiction in SLIVERS OF BONE, a new collection from Cemetery Dance featuring a mix of reprinted and all-new material. Any worries that the collection might not feature Garton’s usual salacious blend of sex and suspense will be dispelled from the start, as “The Guy Down the Street” concerns a couple of suburban dads who decide what to do about their creep neighbor who’s been doing their daughters on the Internet.
“Second Opinion” is about a writer who’s claimed to have penned the perfect story, except for the ending, which he can’t figure out. Trouble is, everyone he consults to help pays for doing so with their lives. “Website” has a WWW newbie driven insane by a mysterious site that shows him video clips of what everyone in his immediate circle is doing at that very moment.
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I know it’s a little early to begin getting excited about the release of HELLBOY II in July, but dammit, I’m getting itchy. To calm the jitters, I took a look at a recent five-issue story arc in one of HELLBOY’s companion comics, Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D.: BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE. This is the übersecret government department to which Hellboy belonged before he recently quit. His team was assigned to monster-killing duty.
This story arc is called B.P.R.D.: KILLING GROUND – a depressingly generic title and not a good sign. It was written by Mignola and John Arcudi, with art by Guy Davis.
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Making the cut to win a copy of Richard Laymon’s latest novel from Leisure Books, CUTS: Shon Richards of Marietta, Ga.!
All you had to do was identify five BOOKGASM excerpts from reviews of other Laymon titles (and kudos to you if you figured out pasting them in the search bar revealed the answers in a split second). The correct answers were:
1. TRIAGE
2. COME OUT TONIGHT
3. ISLAND
4. THE LAKE
5. AFTER MIDNIGHT
Thanks for playing. Those who lost out can buy it at Amazon. Everyone, come back Monday for yet another contest!
Our monthly depressing look at the search terms that bring pervs to BOOKGASM!
Stark House Press’ A DEVIL FOR O’SHAUGNESSY / THE THREE-WAY SPLIT has been on my radar for a long time – not just because it gives more of that great Gil Brewer noir, but because it also has an unpublished novel that finally sees the light of day. The main reason for this discovery is discussed in the opening essay, which goes into great detail of its history, including how Stark House’s previous collection pleased Brewer’s estate.
The “new” A DEVIL FOR O’SHAUGNESSY is a great piece of noir, further cementing my opinion of Brewer as an unsung master. There’s an element included that could have hampered the story with goofy comic relief, but it’s used to much greater effect than other writers would have done.
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