Writtenyes: Matthew Barber
The late 1980s and early 1990s marked a turning point for horror literature. That’s when gore and explicit sexual content began to creep into the genre’s mainstream publications. Authors like Poppy Z. Brite, Joe R. Lansdale, and Edward Lee began to gain notoriety. At the same time, more established authors like Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon began to republish their earlier works, including the explicit content they were initially forced to cut.
During this time, several outfits were released to highlight this trend, which David J. Schow and the media dubbed “splash punk”. The most famous of these was SPlatter Punk: The Definitive Anthologyedited by Paul M. Sammon. However, Hot Blood SeriesThe 2011 edition of The 2011 Annual Meeting of the President, edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett, is arguably the second-best book. Ink Punk Mainly concerned with violence, Hot Blood Series The content of the focus is more biased. It should be noted that there is a lot of overlap in the content of the two collections.
Hot Blood Series: Seeds of Fear is the fifth in a series that now has more than a dozen entries. It contains 19 short stories by both slasher punk icons and lesser-known authors. Stories include:
Ronald Kelly’s Scream Queens
Hideyhole by Billy Sue Mosiman
JN Williamson’s “High Concept”
“Just One Call” by John F.D. Tuft
Black and White and Beds All Over the Ground by James Crawford
“Handyman” by Jeff Gelb
Airhead by Michael Newton
Five Seconds by JL Comeau
“A Call to Compassion” by Michael Garrett
Stephen R. George, The Glutton’s Omen
Grub-Girl by Edward Lee
“Hunger” by Katherine Putek
Watchmen by Rex Miller and Jeff Gelb
Lullaby and Goodnight by Wayne Allen Sully
I Am Joe’s Penis by Scott H. Urban
What You See by Paul Dale Anderson
The Beast by Larry Tritton
“Look at Marilyn Monroe’s panties!” By Bentley Little
The Devil in a Blue Dress by PD Cacek
“All It Takes is a Phone Call,” “Gluttons Are Ominous,” and “Look at Marilyn Monroe’s Underwear” are among the more interesting stories in the collection, which involve a sex hotline operator willing to sacrifice her life for her clients, a new breed of dieter who preaches balance above all else, and the dirt that grows on a worn pair of panties.
Of particular note is Edward Lee’s “Grub-Girl.” This is by no means the best story in the series. Rather, it was written when Lee was just beginning to write. Big Headpossibly the most disgusting novel ever written. “Grub-Girl” continues this style, giving readers an inside look into the mind of a zombie prostitute. Big Headyou have to read it to believe it.
comprehensive, Hot Blood Series: Seeds of Fear A pleasant surprise for fans of the slasher punk subgenre. The series is a poster child for exaggerated sex and violence. Genital mutilation and rape are commonplace as you face off against monsters, human or otherwise. The goal of the series is to make you sick, and the series does a fantastic job of that.
Order yours here.
score: 4/5
