In the end, I went with three stars, but I'd be remiss if I didn't advise everyone with any interest in this collection to skip Rex Miller's "Dead Issue", which I can only assume made it in because its protracted, graphic description of an abusive relationship and the battered girlfriend's eventual murderous revenge seemed shocking in 1991. I was torn between giving this anthology two stars, as some of the stories are.well, stories that seem more like they got in on a type of grimy sex and violence splatterpunk edginess that was trendy in the early 90s than on any particular creative or literary merit.and giving it three, since there are a couple of really good stories in here, a couple of stories I found entertaining despite the fact that they weren't actually very good, and quite a few stories where I *can* respect the author I was torn between giving this anthology two stars, as some of the stories are.well, stories that seem more like they got in on a type of grimy sex and violence splatterpunk edginess that was trendy in the early 90s than on any particular creative or literary merit.and giving it three, since there are a couple of really good stories in here, a couple of stories I found entertaining despite the fact that they weren't actually very good, and quite a few stories where I *can* respect the author's creativity and/or writing skill a great deal even though the stories themselves just weren't to my taste at all.
Overall, I’d say the anthology is worth reading, but I’m not sure I would recommend hunting it down. “Breeding Ground” was a pretty pedestrian version of creatures growing inside your skin. “The Chrysalis” was a creepy take on handling grief visually interesting but thematically unremarkable.
Not sure how to feel other than disturbed. Setting the tone of “Churches of Desire” is “What the deserved was erotica, but we got porn.” It’s an interesting but disjointed perspective on the dehumanizing impact of porn. This uncomfortably eyeballs objectification and the slow erosion of time and pressure that are applied to romantic relationships. Joe Lansdale delivers the uncomfortable as usual with “Love Doll: A Fable”. “Foet” being about purses made from the skins of aborted fetuses was an interesting bit of social commentary. Like if “The Colour Out of Space” was erotica.Ī lot of the stories circled around relationships and sex, some of which were my favorites.
“The Potato” continues the deep weirdness but now with the alien invasion stories of the Atomic Age rather than the slashers of the 70’s and 80’s. That's not quite how I want to be disturbed. A stiff binding and the shape makes this uncomfortable to hold. It is taller and narrower than the standard paperback. One major contributing factor is that I rather hate how this book feels. It was weird enough to keep me picking at it for a long time, but it never quite sunk its hooks into my brain to keep me from setting it down for weeks or months after a story. That's not quite how I wa This collection definitely inhabits a space in the New Weird where it overlaps with gore-spattered horror. This collection definitely inhabits a space in the New Weird where it overlaps with gore-spattered horror. Wayne Miller Romance Unlimited by James S. Grant Stress Test HR51 Case 041068 by Stanley Wiater Churches of Desire by Philip Nutman Sweetie by G. Comeau The Atonement by Richard Rains Peacemaker by Charles L. Raisor Sarah Unbound by Kim Antieau For Their Wives Are Mute by Wayne Allen Sallee Dead Issue by Rex Miller Down the Valley Wild by Paul F. Godfrey The Potato by Bentley Little Saturn by Ian McDowell Androgyny by Brian Hodge Stigmata by Gary L. Paul Wilson The Chrysalis by Lois Tilton Breeding Ground by Francis J. Raisor Sarah Unbound by Kim Antieau For Their Wives Are Mute by Wayne Allen Sal This anthology contains: Foet by F.