John Skipp

The only reason I picked up Spore by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow was my fondness of the Splatterpunk literary movement of the 80s and 90s, of which Skipp was a major influential participant, and based on that expectation alone, Spore did not disappoint.

Spore bears a striking resemblance to Skipp’s previous work The Bridge – written at the height of Skipp’s writing relationship with coauthor Craig Spector – which was about chemical waste and pollution overtaking nature and the show more planet with an almost sentient malevolence. While Spore’s titular enemy doesn’t have the same origins, the hive-mind fungus invader’s very presence makes the novel seem like a logical spinoff of The Bridge’s environmentalist-based tone and imagery. Combine that with the book’s warts-and-all love affair with California – very reminiscent of fellow Splatterpunk author David J. Schow’s work – and Spore begins to feel like a callback to the old days of chunk-blowers and underground horror fandom.

Spore feels (at least, to me) a little more lighthearted than some might expect, but maybe that’s just another throwback to a horror genre that was more about being entertainingly gruesome than darkly foreboding. The zombie-plague aspect and far from nihilistic ending are somewhat formulaic, but if you aren’t obsessed with every book you read being a groundbreaking experience, that should keep you from enjoying this shameless attempt appeasing the gore-hound in your soul. show less

dude. was i ever happy when Skipp re-entered the horror scene. primarily writing with Craig Spector, he was one of most deranged, hip, and visceral authors and anthology editors of horror in the late 80s and early 90s. (Note that i said "visceral," not "gory" or "gross" -- sure, you'll find gorier works, but that's about all they have going for them. Edward Lee and John Pelan write ridiculous ditties for masturbating 13-year-old boys. yeah, i said it.)

Skipp, with a banshee scream, was show more instrumental in ushering in splatterpunk, which is still reverberating strongly in several genres today. splatterpunk's changed the face of the avant garde literary scenes for ever (Dunn, Homes, Leroy... yep), and we can confidently blame Skipp for this delicious transgression.

Skipp wrote the novella "The Long Last Call" in 2k6, and regaled us with it in novel form, along with the bonus short "Conscience" at the end of the book. ("Conscience" was somewhat of a meandering let-down). he'd been away for far too long. i loved TLLC, and read it in one sitting. while it didn't sucker-punch me quite as much as many of his earlier works with Spector, it still sucker-punched me. Skipp writes, hard, fast, and with no holds barred. more, John. more. show less

*** LONG REVIEW......SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS***

This was a beautifully put together anthology. A rare collection of shorts focusing on one culprit, one monster, the American boogeyman..... the psychopath.

Compiled of 38 stories written by different writers, exhibiting vastly different styles, spanning across many decades. It includes a forward and afterword from Skipp, and an appendix from Cody Goodfellow.....I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Overall, this was one of the best collections I've show more read.

Due to the amount of stories in this book......I will break them down by sections.....by rating, notations I made while reading, etc. This is based on my opinions and reading style alone....my ideals may not coincide with or represent everyone's.

BEST: **These are the best in the entire book imo.**

All through the house ( Christopher Coake): Fantastically written!! Easily in my top 3 for this book!! Would make an amazing full length novel or movie!! Well done Christopher Coake!! Bravo!! .....5 stars

Classic scenes of Farewell ( Jim Shephard): Amazing....one of my faves... 5 stars

Hop Frog ( Edgar Allen Poe ): This has always been one of my faves by Poe....5 stars

The most dangerous game (Richard Connell): Great read, feels like a complete story.....5 stars

Red Dragon ( Thomas Harris): This is an amazing series.....adding a chapter to this anthology was an incredible idea.....5 stars

Going solo ( Leah Mann): Amazingly complete....5 stars

Life with Father ( Bentley Little ): I've read this Bentley little piece before....its shockingly disturbing, raunchy, gory....all the things I'd expect.....5 stars

Lucy comes to stay ( Robert Bloch): A very short, but striking story. Psychos....after all....are what Bloch does best!!....4 stars

The Paperhanger ( William Gay): Wow! Heart wrenching.....and more than alittle disturbing.......4 stars

The incident in and off mountain road (Joe Lansdale): Joe writes an in your face and completely unapologetic gruesome tale!.....4 stars

The shallow end of the pool ( Adam -Troy Castro): A darkly twisted and unique take on toxic family dynamics. An almost satire like rendition, depicting the use of children as pawns in the battles of parents.....4 stars

Intruder ( John Boden): Haha! Comedic horror done right!! Hilariously frightening!! .....4 stars

Straycation ( Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio): Another comedic horror win!! A nod to animal owners/lovers.....both psychotic and not!......4 stars

GOOD **These were good to ok reads..... nice additions to the collection**

Marmalade wine ( Joan Aiken): Nicely written...a bit abrupt, even for a short......3 stars

Marla's eyes ( Ed Kutz): Ok.....a tad hard to decipher the ending....3 stars

Jesse ( Steve Rasnic Tem): Dark, twisted, disturbing......but, predictable.....3 stars

Death -in- life love song ( Kevin Donihe): Pretty good.....3 stars

Mommy picks me up at Daycare (John Gorumba): Sad, heart wrenching.....3 stars

Life coach ( Cody Goodfellow): Another satirical dark comedy....this one takes aim at both LA residents and pet owners......pretty good.....3 stars

Righteous ( Weston Ochse): Ok.....3 stars

Willow tests well ( Nick Mamatas): Ok.....3 stars

Serenity now ( Simon McCaffery): Pretty good....3
stars

ODDBALLS: **these weren't awful.....but, I would have probably preferred something different in there place**

In for a Penny ( Lawrence Block): Meh.....ok.....2.5 stars

Bucky goes to Church ( Robert Devereaux): Not sure exactly how I feel about this one......unique, well written, interesting......but, utterly disrespectful to religion....2.5 stars

NOT GOOD:** These were not enjoyable....they were lacking in plot and/or style and storyline.**

The small assassin ( Ray Bradbury): I was so disappointed this was the Bradbury piece Skipp chose to add. I'm a huge fan of Bradbury....and John managed to pick the one story I don't care for. This pushes the ideology that babies in general....rather than just the one here..... are inherently selfish and evil. While its as beautifully written as most of his work....its just not for me....2 stars

The liar (Laura Lee Bahr): I'm not sure if I'm missing some sort of symbolism here.......2 stars

Ralph and Jerry ( Leslie-ann Wilder): A lukewarm attempt at associative horror.....2 stars

Sensible Violence ( Brian Hodge): Rambles on......an incredible feat for a story thats less than 20 pages.....2 stars

The exit at Toledo blade BLVD ( Jack Ketchum): Another disappointing choice from an author who has much better work available....2 stars

Murder for beginners ( Mercedes Yardley): Ok...seriously?? This one is just stupid. I think the writer was aiming for funny.....but, it just isnt.....1 star

Now hold still ( David Schow): Um...no....1 star

The meaning of life ( Amelia Beamer): I get what the writer was going for here......but, no child.....psychotic or otherwise....thinks the way the child here is does, at the ages portrayed.....it completely ruins the story, it falls flat....1 star

WHAT? WHY?: **I'll lump the last few in this category together.....they are ambiguously obscure.....an attempt at interpretative horror.....is there a quota to fill for these in short story collections???**

Feminine endings (Neil Gaiman): Yet again, I'm disappointed in Skipps choice ......I was excited to see Gaimans name on the list of writers included. I'm a fan, but a rather new fan....I've only read a few of his novels and was eager to read his addition here. I didn't care for this at all. Rambling, completely uninteresting, with a ambiguously vacant plot. This simply didn't hold my interest in the least....1 star

And what did you see in the world ( Norman Partridge):..1 star

Mannerly Man ( Mehitobel Wilson): ....1 star

At evintides ( Katherine Koja): ....1 star

THE WORST OF THE BUNCH:** These last 2 additions win the dead last place award.....they were both disgusting and disappointingly bad.**

Damaged Goods ( Elizabeth Massie): I've read this previously and was not happy to see it here.....grossly disturbing.....and not the way it should be for a horror anthology. This is simply the fantasies of a sexual deviant put to paper....0 stars

When the zoo closes down they'll come for us (Violet Lavoit): A disgustingly racist story designed to cause further racial divide and push ridiculous ideology.....0 stars show less

From the Files of Sheldon Nylander:

I came across a publication the other day called The Emerald Burrito of Oz, put together by John Skipp and Marc Levinthal. It was an account of Gene Spielman of Los Angeles' visit to his friend Aurora Jones, the proprietor of the Emerald Burrito which is the only Mexican restaurant in Oz, a magical world that seems to exist in parallel with our own and is the true world which L. Frank Baum based his books on. The gate exists in Salina, Kansas, but it show more requires special government permission to pass through. This would explain the recent influx of Munchkins working around Salina in recent years.

This world of Oz plays by its own rules, right down to the laws of science. Things don't work the same as they do over here, especially when it comes to technology. In Oz, only the simplest of technologies work. When any man-made technology passes through the gate, the results are...unpredictable, which leads to some odd situations, especially when reading through Gene's account written on the computer he took with him.

It becomes very easy to feel lost with this account, especially if you are only familiar with the Judy Garland movie (and to a lesser extent the much darker “Return to Oz” with Fairuza Balk; this book was originally published back in 2000, before “Oz, the Great and Powerful” was even a gleam in a studio executive's eye). There are references to individuals and creatures that, to my knowledge, are only accounted for in the L. Frank Baum books, which I haven't read.

The book has more violence than you might initially expect from something related to Baum's children's books, but then you remember that is the real life accounting of time in Oz during a civil war as they face off against someone known as the Hollow Man. When you get the real life counterparts of an axe-wielding Tin Man or the Lion, there's going to be violence and blood.

While the book seemed interesting for what it is, I had a hard time getting into it. Admittedly, this may be because, as I mentioned above, I haven't read Baum's original books, so there was some sense of feeling lost in a world that I should have reviewed the map for before traveling there. The players are interesting, with Aurora being the traditional tough hero while Gene is more of a wimp, but I would have liked to learn more details about the real life counterparts of the Scarecrow or the Lion. Still, you get quite a bit of story, character, and world-building, and The Emerald Burrito of Oz is one of the longer books to fall into the bizarro genre with very little padding, so you'll get more substance out of your reading.

The Emerald Burrito of Oz earns 3 flying monkeys out of 5.

Note: Just in case you can't tell (and there some are some out there who might not), this review was written in character. Yes, I know it's not real. show less