Thursday, December 29, 2011

My Top ten reads of 2011

I read 73 novels, short story collections or fiction anthologies during this year. As a sometimes reviewer for the website Monster librarian I get free copies of new books. Not all of them are great, but as a perfect reviewing the book I have to finish it. As a writer that is not such a bad thing, you can learn a lot from a book that totally fails. I am also exposed to a lot of books by genre authors as many of them are my friends. That being said I am brutally honest and would not put a book this list if I didn't think it deserved to be there.

I read a lot of books that were new books this year but I decided to rate my favorite reads this year despite when they released instead of last year when I only did books released during the the year. So if the title has a * by it then it means it is a older book.

10.Through Darkest America* By Neal Barrett Jr. (Issac Asimov Presents)
259 pages (Out of Print)



This might be one of the most important works of speculative fiction I have ever read and it's only dumbluck that I read it. The story works as a coming-of-age story, it works as a post apocalyptic epic and most of all it is a gritty tale of the wild west. More than anything it is a slap in the face that explores many issues.

This novel takes place after a devastating war, and in this future a class of humans are bred to be “stock” as food. You see Stock are not human – they are just stock something less than human. It explores issues of speciesm better than any PETA leaflet I have read in a long time.

9.The Five by Robert McCammon Subterranean Press $26.95

The Five is the story of a struggling rock band who the novel is named after. The Five is a thriller, and road novel about rock and roll but it's subtext comes to the surface about 375 pages into the book. At that point the message becomes a little heavy handed, but that doesn't matter one bit. McCammon is so skilled at pacing and characters that you are so invested in the story that you'll realize the subtext was peppered through out.

There is a moment when the message is pushed to the surface. But I liked it. The Five is a novel about the tapestry of Rock and roll, the universe of live music, what it all means. The Five works on many, many levels. It's a masterpiece written by a man who has a few of those.

8.The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro And Chuck Hogan

The second in a Trilogy of Vampire novels finds the vampires wiiining and ending the world as we know it. I knew I would dig this book, I love a great end of the world apocalypse novel, McCammon’s Swan Song is perhaps my favorite and while it’s not as sprawling as Swan Song or as intimate as I am Legend the strikes perfect balance. Not too long, not a lot of wasted fat, the story cooks along at a great pace. The film editing and writing influence GDT brings to the table works really well in this novel.

7. Jim and the Flims By Rudy Rucker 247 pages $24.99
Nightshade books


While Rucker is not thought of as a bizarro author or apart of the bizarro lit scene this is to me me the best bizarro novel I read during the year. This novel is weird, funny and above all smart creative Science Fiction. The story of a surfer slacker scientist who travels to the afterlife to try and find his wife may not sound that original but once Jim gets there it gets super weird.

What we end up with is a novel that is kind of like Matheson's What Dreams May Come' meets Slacker. I can hardly do the novel justice in this review. In Flimsy water flows across the sky, flying intelligent beets, and blue baboons run amok. The characters travel across the land on a cruiser couch that Jim makes with his mind out of a material called Kenessce which all flimsy is made out of. Along the way the book also has has one of the most bizarre sex scenes between Jim and a woman also discovering her astral body. Loved this book.


6. In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley 320 pages
Underland Press


It's no secret John Shirley is my favorite author. The extreme nature is found the unflinching peek into the dark realms of the human condition. Opening this book is like staring through one of the worst peepholes you can imagine. There is no author working in the horror genre today that does a better job of shining light of the horrendous human condition while maintaining a moral center.

5. We Live Inside You By Jeremy Robert Johnson 188 pages
Swallowdown press


We Live Inside You is the long awaited followed to Johnson's amazing first collection Angel Dust Apoclayse. It is dark bizarro horror literature at it's sharpest point, sharpened enough to enter through the temple and worm deep into your brain. JRJ comes from the same scene but doesn't rely on dildo jokes or B-movie tropes like a lot of bizarro writers do. The insane ideas are still there, but it's like crème filling in a fancy donut. At the same time it's hard for me to advise anyone to take a bite of a book written by a guy who keeps a list of parasites above his desk, but this book is a must for lovers of all literiture that is weird and dark.



4. Fathers and Sons: Blackguard (Book one) By Edward R. Morris 242 pages
The Borgo Press


Morris wears his influences on his sleeves like patches sewn on on punk rock leather jacket. What we end up with is an edgy novel that is not quite cyberpunk, military sci-fi, First Contact story or distopia. It is all those things and more. This is the first in a series that blurs the many sub-genres of speculative fiction in to a potent cocktail. A work of high literature that explores characters forced into the chaos of an all to possible future. Like a Portlandia dystopia sci-fi readers here in rip city will enjoy seeing the dark but possible future for our city.

3. Ex-heroes * Permuted Press 274 pages


It would be easy to describe this novel as Watchmen with Zombies but that sounds cheap, it's not. To me Ex-heroes is the best serious zombie novel I have read since the explosion of zombie trendy madness. The suspense beats work and there are true moments of terror in the novel, not an easy thing to pull off when most of your characters are super humans. Clines also manged to disturb me in a scene where a zombie mother drags her living dead infant down a street with a rope tied to her waist. He left that to our imagination, and for me I shuddered at the thought of the dying mother not wanting be separated from her child even in death. Brutal. Excited to read the sequel.

2.Should Have Killed The Kid by R. Frederick Hamilton 300 pages $12.95
Legume Man Books




This book is filled to the brim with very unpleasant situations, but if your a fan of good creepy unsettling horror fiction then that is what you are looking for. Should have killed the Kid is a supernatural Apocalypse thriller which has both Lovecraftian vibe (without direct connection to the mythos) and an extreme horror feel. At first I thought of it as Stephen King's The Mist with A Quentin Tarantino structure, but after the first 100 pages the structure smoothes out into a linear fashion. I always say that great suspense novels feel like climbing a very tall unstable ladder. And that is what I felt like I was doing when I read this novel.

Is it the second best book I read of the year, probably not but I only enjoyed reading one book more this year...

1.Old Man's War* by John Scalzi

Last year while writing my novel Goddamn Killing Machines I swore off reading novels that were in the same military-action Sci-fi Drama. After I finished it author Nick Cato mentioned this novel to me. So I picked up a used copy and started reading it on a flight home to Indiana. I could not put the book down, reading half of it in the air.

The most perfect and solid piece of Military Science Fiction since Handleman's Forever War. This novel is Star ship Troopers meets the Twilight Zone's Kick the can episode. Old Man's War seems to be taking a stab at American exceptionalism.

Once at War the novel goes crazy with fantastic science fiction concepts and ideas. I was pleased the universe was not populated by humanoid standard fill in the blanket human like aliens there is a great gee-whiz factor to this novel but it all works and Scalzi has created a world I am excited about revisiting in the next three books that continue the story. Infact I liked it so much I am saving the sequel for the right time. Sure sign that I loved it.

NFL week 17 picks



For this week's picture I decided upon a pic of the chargers coaching staff after the Nightmare before Christmas in Detriot.

David 152-84
Larry 160-78

Det @ GB: Lions
Ten @ Hou: Texans
Ind @ Jac: Jags
NYJ @ Mia: Phins
Chi@ Min: Vikings
Buf @ NE: Pats (Brady does not pass Brees)
Car @ NO: Saints
Was @ phi: Eagles
SF @ STL: 49ers
SEA @ AZI: Seahawks
TB @ATL: Falcons
BAL @ CIN: Ravens
Pit @ CLe: Steelers
KC @ DEN: Chiefs
SD @ OAK: Chargers 31-17
DAL @ NYG: Giants

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Favorite films of 2011

I didn't see as many movies in 2011 I have have in most years. I also went to see alot of old kungfu movies playing through Grindhouse film fest screenings at the Hollywood theater here in Portland. It's amazing thing to have here and thankfully the dude who runs grind house is bringing lots of movies. I tried to come up with the ten I thought were amazing or had a ton of fun watching my list is here with some trailers and reasons.

1. I Saw the Devil:



So a couple years back Korea unleashed one of the greatest revenge movies of all time by way of Director Park Chan Wook called Oldboy. Funny, brutal and heartbreaking I didn't think Korea would ever top Oldboy. Leave it to director Jee Woon kim (A Tale of Two sisters) to say I can out do that. With the help of the star of Oldboy this film is dark, unrelenting, hard to watch and filled with plot twists that actually work. I have been watching extreme horror and gore drenched films my whole life and this movie made me squirm. It honestly made Oldboy seem like a PG-13 movie. I know it was released in 2010 in Korea, but 2011 here.

Stars: 5 /5
Saw it with:Vince and Magik at the Hollywood theater.

2. Detective Dee and the mystery of the phantom flame



Another made in 2010 released in America in 2011. So Tusi Hark directed or produced probably more than 100 classic Hong Kong films. Since his 2000 action masterpiece Time and Tide has not had good luck with films. Zu warriors was pretty mess, and Black Mask 2 was MSTK worthy. While I enjoyed his film Seven Swords it wasn't until this film that audiences and critics agreed Hark was back. Based on a book in a wildly popular series of chinese detective novels( think Hong Kong's answer to Sherlock Holmes) Andy Lau is fastastic as the title character.But this is Hark making a goth looking cool as hell Wuxia mystery. Right up my alley. I think I might watch this again today, I have the novel it's based on as well. Looking forward to it.

Stars: 5/5
Saw it with: Ordered the DVD import from china, then Fox Tower on the big screen

3. Midnight in Paris



Yeah I know the director is a creep but every five movies or so he makes a gem. The last two I liked were Match Point (maybe his best in 20 years), and the Sweet and Lowdown. Midnight in Paris is a cute movie with a clever time travel theme. Is it Science fiction no, not really but it creates a great atmosphere. Thankfully Owen Wilson didn't go overboard trying to be Woody Allen. Why was it my number three movie. Because it did what movies do best transport you to a different time and place.

Stars: 4/5
Saw it with: Cari at Cinemagic.

4. 13 Assassins



Takashi Miike Is known for making some of the weirdest and most brutal films to ever come from Japan. That is really saying something, I am personally hit or miss with the guy. This remake of a 50 samurai classic is long time coming for Miike who has mad elots of gangster and horror movies but never made a true samurai movie. If you watch this on video you might be tempted to quit after 45 minutes of slow carefully crafted character development. that would be a shame because it builds nicely into what might be the best cinematic battle of all time. That may sound like hyperbole but I stand by it.

Stars: 4/5
Saw it with: Crazy Shawn and Vince at Cinema 21

5. Shame:



I never heard of this movie before we saw it. We went to see Melancholia, but because of a mistake on the Portland movie times website Shame was playing for the first time. It was a long bus ride and the movie sounded interesting so we stayed. What we got a was a powerfully written, directed and acted film. Shame is to sex addiction what Requiem for a Dream was to drugs. If Michel Fassbender doesn't get an oscar nod I'll be shocked.

Stars: 5/5
Saw it with: Cari at Cinema 21

6. Captain America

I don't think I need to post the trailer. I know it makes me a bad radical to love a movie called Captain America but it was awesome. A great near perfect comic book movie that captured the comic and as a near perfect action movie. George Lucas did you see this? Let Joe Johnston make the Bobba Fett movie he has been dying to make.

Stars: 4/5
Saw it with: Opening day at the Loyd Center, who suppsed to go with Magik he couldn't make so I was big enough nerd not to wait and go by myself.

7. True Legend:



Yuen Woo Ping directs more than just the action for the first time in 15 years. I was super excited for this one. It was a shame it didn't get released in 3D here, it looks like it would have been amazing in 3D. The lack of 3D and the weird extra 20 minutes at the end really hurt this movie in my opinion. It was a perfect and over the top amazing Wuxia epic until they tacked on the 20 unneeded minutes at the end. I can only give it 3 out of 5 stars but I still loved seeing it on the big screen.

stars: 3/5
Saw it with: Vince at Fox Tower downtown.


8. Ip Man 2:



Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung fighting on screen is always a good thing, fighting each other even better. Great period kungfu epic about the man who trained Bruce Lee. Donnie Yen just rules what else can you say.

Stars: 4/5
Saw it with Vince and Magik Hollywood theater

9. Bridesmaids:

I don't think I need to post the trailer. I love Kristin Wiig, she is funny, smart and doesn't eat animals. So of course I totally love her. I don't understand people who didn't laugh at this movie. maybe I'm biased.

Stars: 3/5
Saw it with Cari at Cinemagic.

10. Legend of the Fist:The return of Chen Zhen



The character made famous by Bruce Lee, Jet Li and already Donnie Yen. thsi film creates great action pieces. It was super fun and worth seeing if your a kungfu, action or Donnie Yen Fan. I had a great time. I saw it for free because Vince and I won Tickets at a Dark Horse comics party by filming a "kungfu move" that involved me beating Vince with my backpack. Even though the movie was free Vince didn't stay for the movie because he missed the first two minutes. He has a a thing about that.

stars: 3/5
Saw with: myself at the Hollywood theater (See above)

The best time I had at the theater this year was the Hunting The Moon Tribe release party at the Hollywood theater. Captain Hyperole AKA the author of Gigantic Death Worm AKA Vince Krammer Superfan created a two horror kungfu and horror movie Trailer part that started with a Sammy Terry introduction! It was the greatest thing ever. Here was the promo we made for the event:

Monday, December 26, 2011

Book Review: Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess


Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess
280 pages
ECW press

I discovered this novel from watching the film based loosely on the novel. The film Pontypool was released a few years back and quickly gained a rep for being a well written and composed low budget zombie film. When I saw it I thought it was a creative spin on the tired genre, most interesting at it's core was a original concept of the the zombie virus being transferred not by blood or bites but trhough human language. I was interested in novel because it was written by Burgess who also wrote the screen, and during the commentary track he said the novel had a larger scope.

Probably due to it's thin budget the movie takes place at a small radio station in Ontario, and focuses on the main character an aging former shock jock named Grant Mazzy. Mazzy keeping his career alive by doing weather reports on backwater radio. The film gets a lot of of it's rich tones by Stephen McHattie's performance as Mazzy. Since the setting is confined mostly to the station the actors have to carry a lot of the story. It's a character driven horror film, that manages to transcend it's budget like a lot of great low budget horror films.

So I was excited by the idea of reading the book. This is a rare case where I think the movie is a lot better than the source material. They are very, very different stories and while they share Grant Mazzy as a main character and plot device the novel lacks the vivid strength of character which drove the film.

Burgess is an excellent word smith, I can honestly say it's some of the smoothest and interesting prose I have read in a long time. That being said writing pretty paragraphs and telling a good story are two totally different things. I spent a lot of my time reading this novel confused, and according to some of the online reviews I was wasn't alone.

I don't mind being confused if the story is exciting and it's important that the confusion is paid off with answers. There are some intense and powerful moments in this book that's why I kept reading even though I was often frustrated and confused by the lack of clear narrative. Since the zombie outbreak is transferred through the language there are some very well composed moments of suspense that happen inside the mind of the infected. I also enjoyed the moments where some characters tried hard not speak at all.

This novel is clever, perhaps a bit to clever for it's own good. Could the novel itself spiral into maddess of disrupted language like the victims in the story. Maybe, but I didn't really see that either. It's an interesting experiment, one I don't think worked. I'll admit many I didn't get it, but I am a pretty savy reader, who has personally played with experimental narratives, so if I don't get it then it is a good chance most readers will be lost.

So here is the hard part for me, I respect the well written inventive prose but can't make much sense of the story. This made the book a slog, and I can't say I enjoyed much of it. The movie expressed the idea in a more clearly, and succeeded as a story.

Friday, December 23, 2011

NFL picks week 16


Larry 148-74
David 144-77

11-5 for both of us last week.

David's picks:
HOU @ IND: Colts
DEN @ BUF: Broncos
MIA @ NE : Pats
CLE @ BAL: Ravens
JAC @ TEN : Titans
OAK @ KC : Chiefs
NYG @ NYJ: Giants
MIN @ WAS: Redskins
TB @ CAR : Panthers
ARI @ CIN: Cards
STL @ PIT: Steelers
SD @ DET : Bolts 31-24
PHI @ DAL : Cowboys
SF @ SEA: Seahawks (upset special)
CHI @ GB : Green Bay
Atl @ NO: Saints

Larry's picks:

HOU @ IND (W)
DEN @ BUF (W)
MIA @ NE (W)
CLE @ BAL (W)
JAC @ TEN (W)
OAK @ KC (W)
NYG (W) @ NYJ
MIN @ WAS (W)
TB @ CAR (W)
ARI (W) @ CIN
STL @ PIT (W)
SD (W) @ DET 41-20
PHI @ DAL (W)
SF (W) @ SEA
CHI @ GB (W)

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Book Review: The Gods Themselves by Issac Asimov


The Gods Themselves By Issac Asimov
Classic printed in several editions

So I named my cat Asimov. I consider Asimov's Lucky Starr novels as the books that got me excited about writing and story telling, and Azzy just sounded like a robot when she walked in our back door. I have a soft spot in my heart for the man that almost published a book in every part of the Dewey decimal system. Besides being the geek's geek Asimov was also a committed environmentalist before he died in 1992 having written a non-fiction book on the topic ( of course he did) called "Our Angry Earth."

Being a militant environmentalist and Asimov fan it's strange that I have not read his Hugo and Nebula award winning environmental novel (released in 1972) The Gods Themselves. I thought I had read it before but I had confused it with Nemesis one of the last novels the grandmaster of Science Fiction wrote.

I enjoyed this novel, but this is a hard science novel that is for serious Sci-fi or environmental nerds. I can't tell you this is must read, but it presents interesting ideas. Is it worth the time you'll put into the book. Not sure.

The story is split into three separate novellas. Each could stand alone, but they are not really meant to. So read them together if you plan to. The first Novel is about a scientist who accidentally creates an unlimited power source, eventually one of his rivals discovers that the energy comes from a transfer between our universe and a alternate dimension. The trick is you'll have unlimited power but it's a good chance you will cause the death of the sun. Kinda important to life on earth. Opps.

The second novella is about that alternative universe. This part is really interesting, instead of just adding a beard and diabolical plans to the people of this para-universe Asimov goes super bizarro. The society of this universe and the people in it are not human in the least. Society is divided into three units and their families are super different from ours. Part of it is some of the people are not physically solid in the world. You see there are hard ones, and the soft ones who can travel threw matters. The third unit are emotionals which is only really important in my eyes to how the characters and the fictional society operate and effects the plot less.

This second part is a reaction to Asimov's early 70's critics who called him a prude so there is tons of of para-dimension sex just because. The important point to the story is how these very different people react to the impending doom created by the energy transfer.

Both of the first parts end with Twilight zone-ish twists that lead directly into the next part so the third kinda ends with a dud. It comes back to the future on a moon base in our future. I can't really talk about it without spoiler. So stop reading if you plan on reading this novel. The end is a ho-hum anti-climatic solution to the crisis created by the energy transfer. When I say it's ho-hum I when it is not the twist of the first to parts but it is thought provoking. Because in order to off set the problems created by the energy transfer the scientists effectually create another big bang, perhaps they have started a new universe. They don't really know, but maybe they did.

I think Asimov was trying to say the answer to environmental problems can be found in science, that we need to look for creative solutions. Life comes from life, and there is a universe of possibilities.

Book Review: The Eye of Infinity by David Conyers


The Eye of Infinity
by David Conyers, Mike Dubisch (Cover Illustrator), Nickolas Gucker
(Illustrator), Cody Goodfellow (Introduction)
84 pages perilous Press

Probably my favorite thing about this thin little novella is that David Coyners while firmly writing in the Lovecraftian mythos is not trying to write like Lovecraft or setting this novel in 1930's Rhode Island. This modern take is the kind of mythos I enjoy. Probably the thing I liked the least about the book was how short it was. There are some serious major cosmic themes going on and all we get is 84 pages? I could taken another 150 at least.

I am not asking the guy to over write, and certainly this book is well written. The art and the general presentation is well done and looks cool. I am glad I bought this book. That being said it reminded me of my reaction to Quintin T.'s Inglorious Basterds. I loved that movie, but really only got twenty minutes of the WW II men on a mission movie that was sold to me in the director's interviews.

In Cody Goodfellow's introduction we are promised a James Bond meets mythos like spy vs. soggoth Lovecraftian show down. The books delivers in lots of ways. I was little bummed because there is a format to a Bond story, and I was looking forward to seeing that format/formula set against a cosmic horror back drop.

Right now alot of you are probably glad the author didn't take the path I'm talking about, this is a better less predictable story because of that. I think I might have enjoyed a traditional more predictable by the numbers spy thriller poltline, but that doesn't mean it would have been better.

None the less this is a short, but jam packed title that left me wanting more. That is a sign of a good read. Cool book, I am first in line and excited for the further adventures.

NFL Week 15 Picks!!!


On the season:
Larry: 137-69
David: 133-72

David's Picks:

Jac@ ATL: Falcons
Dal @TB: Cowboys
Cin @ STL: Bengals
Car@Hou: Panthers
Sea@ bears: Seahawks
Was@ NYG: Giants
Ten@ Ind: Titans
Miami @ Buf: Bills
NO@ Min: Saints
GB @ KC: Packers
Det@Oak: Lions
CLE@ ARI: Cards
NE @ Den: Pats
NYJ @ Phi: Jets
Bal@ SD : Bolts 28-24
Pit @ 49ers: 49ers

Larry's picks:
JAC @ ATL (W)
DAL (W) @ TB
CIN (W) @ STL
CAR @ HOU (W)
SEA (W) @ CHI
WAS @ NYG (W)
TEN (W) @ IND
MIA (W) @ BUF
NO (W) @ MIN
GB (W) @ KC
DET (W) @ OAK
CLE @ ARI (W)
NE (W) @ DEN
NYJ @ PHI (W)
BAL @ SD (W) 24-34
PIT @ SF (W)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

NFL Week 14 picks!


Larry 125-65
David 121- 68

David picks:

Browns @ steelers: Steelers
TB @ Jac: Bucs
KC @ NYJ: Jets
Hou@Cin: Bengals
NE @was: Pats
ATL@ Car: Falcons
Phi@ Miami: Dolphins
No @ Ten: Saints in close one.
IND @ BAL: Ravens
Min @ Detriot: Lions
Chi @ Denver: Broncos
SF @ ARZ: 49ers
Buf @ SD: 35-14 (100 yards for Mathews, another Weddle pick)
OAK @ GB: Pack
NYG @ DAL: Giants
STL. @ Sea: Seahawks

Larry's picks:

CLE @ PIT (W)

TB (W) @ JAC
KC @ NYJ (W)
HOU @ CIN (W)
NE (W) @ WAS
ATL (W) @ CAR
PHI @ MIA (W)
NO (W) @ TEN
IND @ BAL (W)
MIN @ DET (W)
CHI @ DEN (W)
SF (W) @ ARI
BUF @ SD (W) 38-13
OAK @ GB (W)
NYG (W) @ DAL
STL @ SEA (W)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Book Review: We Live Inside You by Jeremy R. Johnson


We Live Inside You By Jeremy Robert Johnson
188 pages
Swallowdown press

Thanks to an insanely cool book cover and equally intriguing title
Jeremy Robert Johnson's book "Angeldust Apocalypse" became a cult hit.
The blurb from Fight Club scribe Chuck Palahniuk calling him a dazzling writer didn't hurt either. Perhaps the best marketing accident came when very few people who bought it realized that it was short story collection and not a novel. Ok, that might not have been an accident because the reality is collections never sell close to the units that novels do.

That's OK because once people ripped open the package from amazon they were treated with one of the most insane over the top dark bizarro collections all time. If you have not yet read that collection I'll give you hint you'll want both these books up on your shelf keeping each other company.

Johnson is the Bram Stoker award nominated co-author (With artist Alan
Clark) of the amazingly dark illustrated anti-drug novel Siren Promised. He is also know for having written a short story about a dude that makes a suit of cockroaches to survive a nuclear war which was spun off into a separate novella called Extinction Journals. After a hypernation period where Johnson hung out with his human spawn and complied a list of germs and parasites Many of us wondered if JRJ would write again.

He came out of hiding first to publish a collection and novel by bizarro horror berserker Cody Goodfellow and rumors of a new collection by Johnson himself were rumored. I saw a few of the stories here and there in magazines like Dark Discoveries and Cemetery Dance but it was not until I had We live Inside you in my hands that I was totally sure.

I am so glad he did. Angeldust was a strong collection but the growth in the writing between the first and his second collection is like a out of control virus. The best horror writers chase their fears and in this collection Johnson rolls around in his worst fears. It is no surprise that Johnson has a list parasites and viruses on his
wall. If I have sold you and are worried about spoilers, click off this page go to Amazon and buy it.

The collection is separated into to two sections, the second being short pieces Johnson wrote with co-authors and a extended version of a story that appeared earlier. It's funny two of my favorite pieces are one page flash fiction type stories that pack amazing punch into bare number of words used. My favorite being “Cortical Reorganization,” which was a super powerful one and half pager about a spare changer. Other favorites include a dark Sci-fi piece called “The Oarsmen,” a Portland crime piece called “Persistence hunting,” but my favorite is a horrific tale I first read in Cemetery Dance magazine called “ A flood of Harriers.”

Flood of harriers, created a stir when it was first published, despite being semi-autobiographical and based on real events Johnson was accused of being borderline racist. Frankly I laugh at that, the story which happens to include a a few native American thugs is far from racist, and leads me to believe the people who were upset didn't read the entire fantastic story. It is my favorite in the collection because it starts off as a realistic and effective suspense tale before shifting seamlessly into a surreal body horror Karmic revenge direction. Well done.

We Live Inside you is dark bizarro horror literature at it's sharpest point, sharpened enough enter through the temple and worm deep into your brain. JRJ comes from the same scene but doesn't rely on dildo jokes or B-movie tropes like a lot of bizarro writers do. The insane ideas are still there, but it's like crème filling in a fancy donut. At the same time it's hard for me to advise anyone to take a bite of a book written by a guy who keeps a list of parasites above his desk, but this book is a must for lovers of all literiture that is weird and dark.

NFL week 13 picks!


Larry 113-61
David 112-62

Celebrating the last 5 Norv games in SD!


Larry's Picks:
PHI @ SEA (W)
NYJ (W)@ WAS
KC @ CHI (W)
TEN (W)@ BUF
CIN @ PIT (W)
ATL (W)@ HOU
DEN (W) @ MIN
CAR @ TB (W)
IND @ NE (W)
OAK (W)@ MIA
BAL (W) @ CLE
GB (W) @ NYG
STL @ SF (W)
DAL (W) @ ARI
DET @ NO (W)
SD (W) @ JAC 27-17

David's picks:
> Eagles @ Seahawks: Seahawks (in close one)
> Titans @ Bills: Bills
> Chiefs@ Bears: Bears
> Falcons @ Texans: Falcons
> Raiders @ Dolphins: Dolphins
> Broncos @ Vikings: Vikings
> Colts @ Patriots: pats
> Bengals @ steelers:steel
> Panthers @ bucs: Bucs
> Jets @ Redskins: Jets
> Ravens @ Browns: Ravens
> Cowboys @ Cards: Cowboys
> Packers @ Giants: packers
> Rams@ 49ers: niners
> Lions @ saints: Saints
> Chargers @ Jags: Chargers 28-17