Seeing this collection, you might think, “wow, that is one freakyweird title; I wonder what it means!” Then you might start reading the stories and be so drawn in and captivated you forget … until the moment when, in a deft bolt-from-the-blue, you’re hit with the answer. You know what it means, it suddenly makes perfect sense. And, if you’re like me, you’ll have to just stop for a moment of headshaking admiration (perhaps tinged with self-chagrin for not seeing it sooner).



The stories themselves are fantastic. Among them, you’ll find murderers and monsters and vampires, poetry and painting, how local legends develop and what happens to those who don’t heed them, sleep-talk secrets, and even a brief foray into the robozoid future.



First up is “Sensory Desolation,” in which a drunken sheriff berating himself for his failure to catch a serial killer receives an offer of help from some mysterious ladies, only to find out too late the cost of solving the crime. Intensely unsettling and creepy for sure.



Some particularly sinister fun is to be found in a website-titled one, when a listener to a radio call-in show realizes HE’S the stalker the caller is talking about, and takes drastic measures to save their relationship and his reputation.



“I Was A Teenage Beehive” sent me into the screamy bug-dance; I know we’re supposed to be protecting the bees to save the planet etc., but phobia is as phobia does and yeeeeesh … my skin will hopefully stop crawling one of these days.



Closing the book out is “Bob Bodey’s Body Parts,” which may make you think twice about those little coin-op novelty dispensers; its up-close-and-personal vivid detail and descriptions are simultaneously hilarious and horrific.



Top-notch writing laden with clever twists and original takes. Serious good stuff. I don’t know how I’d managed to miss out on this author for so long.