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Like a Chinese Tattoo
12 Inscrutably Twisted Tales...
Unusual, weird and wonderful, herein are twelve stories from the minds of Cullen Bunn, Rick R. Reed, David Thomas Lord and J.A. Konrath — four supremely talented, and twisted, authors.
From the curse of the living dead to vengeance from beyond the grave, from the darkest corner of Africa to the bowels of the local cemetery, these tales are as unique and as mysterious as…well, a Chinese Tattoo!
For fans of JA Konrath's Jack Daniels mystery series, this collection includes a Harry McGlade novella, "The Necro Files." (McGlade also appears in the Suckers novelette from Delirium Books, co-written with Dark Arts Books alum Jeff Strand).
In addition to the hysterical "Necro Files," the book offers Rick R. Reed's dark revenge tale "Moving Toward the Light," David Thomas Lord's deceptively creepy "The White Room" and Cullen Bunn's darkly horrifying "Tomorrow, When The Demons Come" (as well as "Granny Kisses," one of Cullen's insanely twisted World Horror Convention Gross-Out stories!)
And those are just a few of the 12 offerings!
Unusual, weird and wonderful, herein are twelve stories from the minds of Cullen Bunn, Rick R. Reed, David Thomas Lord and J.A. Konrath — four supremely talented, and twisted, authors.
From the curse of the living dead to vengeance from beyond the grave, from the darkest corner of Africa to the bowels of the local cemetery, these tales are as unique and as mysterious as…well, a Chinese Tattoo!
For fans of JA Konrath's Jack Daniels mystery series, this collection includes a Harry McGlade novella, "The Necro Files." (McGlade also appears in the Suckers novelette from Delirium Books, co-written with Dark Arts Books alum Jeff Strand).
In addition to the hysterical "Necro Files," the book offers Rick R. Reed's dark revenge tale "Moving Toward the Light," David Thomas Lord's deceptively creepy "The White Room" and Cullen Bunn's darkly horrifying "Tomorrow, When The Demons Come" (as well as "Granny Kisses," one of Cullen's insanely twisted World Horror Convention Gross-Out stories!)
And those are just a few of the 12 offerings!
228 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2008
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Cullen Bunn
2,109 books1,061 followersCullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 26, 2013
“Like a Chinese Tattoo” is an anthology of twelve completely warped and vile short stories that will have readers hoping to take a shower and brush their teeth by the time they close the back cover. Featuring authors Cullen Bunn, Rick R. Reed, David Thomas Lord and J.A. Konrath, LaCT contains tales touching every facet of evil and violence. The aptly named Dark Arts Books which published the anthology couldn’t have concocted a better recipe for terror. It’s like a masterpiece meal of mayhem from an evil Martha Stewart. Okay, more evil Martha Stewart.
The first batch of sinister shorts is penned by Bunn, who authored the horror comic, “The Damned”. Readers interested in the North Carolina native’s work should know one thing up front.
Cullen Bunn is one twisted fuck.
Bunn does an amazing job of flushing out the most horrific and demonic entities through the characters’ own emotional perspective. Each lead character is deeply anchored to his surroundings, and Bunn takes readers into the very lives of these troubled folks. Once the reader is truly in synch with the characters, the author chooses from his arsenal of gore and terror. The characters, and the readers right along with them, can only hope to survive.
After putting readers through this grim trip twice, Bunn skips the dramatic stuff and heads straight for the gross-out in “Granny Kisses”. It’s short enough that a review wouldn’t really do it justice, and the story is really more of an experience than a read.
Selections from Rick R. Reed follow Bunn’s work. While Reed’s material is a bit more traditional in its subject matter, it is no less frightening. He has a masterful ability to create a scene as broad as the Chicago skyline or as tight as a coffin. Known for works such as “Deadly Vision” and “IM”, Reed proves that he doesn’t need the length of a novel to draw readers into the bizarre and seedy sections of the human soul. His second offering in LaCT, titled “Moving Toward the Light”, weaves a wonderful harmony between violence and compassion. His third story, “Stung” is more humor than horror, but it does have a few nicely disgusting moments, and displays Reed’s ability to create credibility for his female characters…even the most extreme ones.
The third author in the anthology is David Thomas Lord, who writes with a flourish of imagery. His use of repetition and perspective provides the reader a very visual feeling of watching his writing. Rather than enter the head of a character, Lord can keep the readers isolated and guessing throughout the duration of his story. For instance, “The White Room” is a cinematic build-up of a tale.
“The Great White Ape” shows off Lord’s abilities as a storyteller. The story (the longest in the collection) is full of lush environments, extremes of emotion, and awe-inspiring adventure. Again, Lord writes with a style to let the reader observe the happenings in the story, unable to warn or assist its characters.
J.A.Konrath rounds out the roster of talented authors. Known for his series about Chicago homicide detective Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels (and tons of short stories), Konrath never backs down from a chance to try something different. For instance, his first short, “The Confession” is told entirely through dialogue. Sick, warped, justifiably in-character dialogue, but dialogue nonetheless.
Konrath brings a versatility to his writing that leads the readers to any place he chooses. This is usually followed by an “Ewwww!” or laughing so loud you spit coffee on your keyboard…again. “The Necro File” offers more of the latter, since it features Daniels’ old partner, Harry McGlade. McGlade has moved on to life as a Private Detective, albeit a horrible one. Fortunately, he’s as comical as he is clumsy. He’s sort of half gumshoe, half Strong Bad. This self-aware little story gives readers just the right dosage of McGlade.
The final story, “Punishment” is a quick and powerful story about a young boy’s courage to overcome his own horrible situation. Konrath expands the plight of one boy outward to encompass others with a nice finishing twist.
“Like a Chinese Tattoo” is not for the squeamish. There’s plenty of creepy, crawly dead things (and dead parts, in some cases). The subject matter may shift from the macabre to the manic, but each story is delivered with gripping detail and devilish glee. For fans of the sick and twisted, this collection is a winner.
The first batch of sinister shorts is penned by Bunn, who authored the horror comic, “The Damned”. Readers interested in the North Carolina native’s work should know one thing up front.
Cullen Bunn is one twisted fuck.
Bunn does an amazing job of flushing out the most horrific and demonic entities through the characters’ own emotional perspective. Each lead character is deeply anchored to his surroundings, and Bunn takes readers into the very lives of these troubled folks. Once the reader is truly in synch with the characters, the author chooses from his arsenal of gore and terror. The characters, and the readers right along with them, can only hope to survive.
After putting readers through this grim trip twice, Bunn skips the dramatic stuff and heads straight for the gross-out in “Granny Kisses”. It’s short enough that a review wouldn’t really do it justice, and the story is really more of an experience than a read.
Selections from Rick R. Reed follow Bunn’s work. While Reed’s material is a bit more traditional in its subject matter, it is no less frightening. He has a masterful ability to create a scene as broad as the Chicago skyline or as tight as a coffin. Known for works such as “Deadly Vision” and “IM”, Reed proves that he doesn’t need the length of a novel to draw readers into the bizarre and seedy sections of the human soul. His second offering in LaCT, titled “Moving Toward the Light”, weaves a wonderful harmony between violence and compassion. His third story, “Stung” is more humor than horror, but it does have a few nicely disgusting moments, and displays Reed’s ability to create credibility for his female characters…even the most extreme ones.
The third author in the anthology is David Thomas Lord, who writes with a flourish of imagery. His use of repetition and perspective provides the reader a very visual feeling of watching his writing. Rather than enter the head of a character, Lord can keep the readers isolated and guessing throughout the duration of his story. For instance, “The White Room” is a cinematic build-up of a tale.
“The Great White Ape” shows off Lord’s abilities as a storyteller. The story (the longest in the collection) is full of lush environments, extremes of emotion, and awe-inspiring adventure. Again, Lord writes with a style to let the reader observe the happenings in the story, unable to warn or assist its characters.
J.A.Konrath rounds out the roster of talented authors. Known for his series about Chicago homicide detective Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels (and tons of short stories), Konrath never backs down from a chance to try something different. For instance, his first short, “The Confession” is told entirely through dialogue. Sick, warped, justifiably in-character dialogue, but dialogue nonetheless.
Konrath brings a versatility to his writing that leads the readers to any place he chooses. This is usually followed by an “Ewwww!” or laughing so loud you spit coffee on your keyboard…again. “The Necro File” offers more of the latter, since it features Daniels’ old partner, Harry McGlade. McGlade has moved on to life as a Private Detective, albeit a horrible one. Fortunately, he’s as comical as he is clumsy. He’s sort of half gumshoe, half Strong Bad. This self-aware little story gives readers just the right dosage of McGlade.
The final story, “Punishment” is a quick and powerful story about a young boy’s courage to overcome his own horrible situation. Konrath expands the plight of one boy outward to encompass others with a nice finishing twist.
“Like a Chinese Tattoo” is not for the squeamish. There’s plenty of creepy, crawly dead things (and dead parts, in some cases). The subject matter may shift from the macabre to the manic, but each story is delivered with gripping detail and devilish glee. For fans of the sick and twisted, this collection is a winner.
March 6, 2017
A collection of 12 odd, abnormal and most horrifying stories written by twisted mind authors hhhhh joking, they have written in a very frightening way that you might not even guess. When you get time and are lone catch this book and try to read; you will be caught up in the stories. For fans of the crazy and twisted, this collection is a treasure.
August 28, 2010
Dark Arts Books is on a mission. That mission: to expose the horror masses to the many unsung literary voices that populate the genre. Following 2006’s Candy in the Dumpster, last year’s Waiting for October, and this year’s earlier Sins of the Sirens collections, Like a Chinese Tattoo is the innovative publisher’s latest conduit through which it intends to spread the good word. Like DAB’s previous collections, Tattoo features four very different voices – Cullen Bunn, Rick R. Reed, David Thomas Lord, and JA Konrath – and held loosely together by the nonspecific theme of “inscrutably twisted.” Indeed, several of the tales here preclude scrutiny by virtue of their sheer audaciousness.
Read the rest of the review here.
Read the rest of the review here.
May 6, 2010
An excellant book has stories by different authors some scary , some totally grossed me out, others gave me a laugh. I couldn,t put this book down its a good read for a rainy day or when you have time to spare, I totally got caught up in the stories. Its a book of totally twisted stories. I recommend for anyone who likes stories , with a twist to them. kind of reminded me of tales from the crypt.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews