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.

One of the most unexpected and original tales is “The Homeless Couple,” in which a man always encounters the titular people situated outside a particular phone booth. As in, they never leave. As our protagonist learns, they have a damn good reason – one he’ll regret knowing.

In “Hair of the Dog,” a mild-mannered man who recently walked out on his wife meets two smokin’ hot ladies in a bar. They take a shine to him … and they’re not hookers, even dropping a none-too-subtle pickup line on him: “We’re missionaries, Steve. We spread the word. And tonight, the word is legs … or maybe lips.”

There’s more sex to be had in “Punishments,” this time between a school-aged kid and the local church organist. It has one of those jaw-dropping, I-can’t-believe-he-went-that-far endings at which Garton excels.

They’re not all great, though. For instance, “The Other Man” is a rudimentary tale of a guy attempting sex with his wife via astral projection. I’m not sure the reveal would cut it on THE TWILIGHT ZONE – and I’m talking the recent UPN series with the likes of Jessica Simpson and Lou Diamond Phillips. As if to make up for it, a story about a guy who’s grown up with maggots in his neck, eating away at a tumor, shortly follows.

Two full novellas are included: MONSTERS and, most notably, 411. The 411 on the latter is that a wheelchair-bound directory-assistance girl thinks she aurally witnesses a murder … and tells the killer her name. Not long after, she notices a car following her wherever she goes. While not exactly original, it works weird wonders in its own way. I still prefer Garton in the novel form, but SLIVERS OF BONE is a can’t miss collection for those who’ve warmed up to his previous works. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon or Cemetery Dance.

“Placing the bowl on the floor between my legs, she turned off the lamp, spooned ice cream and chocolate onto my cock, sprinkled nuts over it, placed the cherry on the head, and hungrily, lovingly, and oh-so-deliciously devoured her sundae.”

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• LIVE GIRLS by Ray Garton
• THE LOVELIEST DEAD by Ray Garton
• NIGHT LIFE by Ray Garton