More Monsters From Memphis | |||||
Edited by Beecher Smith | |||||
Zapizdat Publications, 315 pages | |||||
A review by Lisa DuMond
Smith has made it easy to find just the right story for you.
More Monsters From Memphis is divided up into five
unusual and tasty portions that pretty much run the gamut of possibilities. I say
pretty much because there is always more to explore.
Things That Go Bump In The Night includes all those little,
unexplainable thingies that tend to pop up and bite you in the hinder. Starting off
strong with Brett Monahan's wry look at life in the Memphis
Museum, it's an even dozen of widely warying tales. For capturing the otherworldly
feeling of night, that sense of unreality that sets in in the early morning hours,
turns to Steve Rasnic Tem's surreal "What Slips Away." The award for just plain
disturbing goes to "He Who Dwelleth In The Blue Sky," an uncomfortable short about
the penalties for pride and silence. In between those three, there is a wealth of
weirdness.
That Ol' Man River delves into Big Muddy with tales of strange
goings-on on the water and under it. "Just Beneath The Surface" follows the downfall of
a rabble-rouser and offers a new perspective on human behaviour. Not many stories do
that for you; you can thank Alan Gilbreath for that one. On the other hand, Lou
Kemp's "From The River" just proves what I've always felt about the Mississippi. It
may be a treat to beat your feet in the Mississippi mud, but you won't catch me doing it.
For all those Elvis fans (or foes, I suppose) four tales fill
out The Once And Future Kings section. (Can you write about
Memphis without mentioning Mr. E.A. Presley?) The Colonel
returns to wreak havoc and create something more offensive than a monster in Kiel
Stuart's tongue-in-cheek "Now Or Never." This tale will keep you up nights hoping
it didn't give anybody any ideas.
Memphis' name is the link to a trio of stories in "I Am Dead, Egypt, Dead." Now,
I have never figured out what's supposed to be so terrifying about mummies, but
Fara Moore puts as much fright into it as anyone ever has in "Memphis On The Nile."
All Hell Broke Loose wraps it up with a hearty serving of the
unholy. If More Monsters From Memphis doesn't really
put a scare into you, the closest you'll come is the creepy "The Demon At Big
Rock." There's something about things chasing cars... "A Dybbuk In Dixie" swings
from hilarious to sickening in a story that proves godliness is next to nauseating.
And you thought Atlanta was the only happenin' spot south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Lisa DuMond writes science fiction and humour. She co-authored the 45th anniversary issue cover of MAD Magazine. Previews of her latest, as yet unpublished, novel are available at Hades Online. |
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