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Dirty Rotten Hippies and Other Stories
They’ve come from all over the world for a three-day celebration of peace, music, and groovy vibes. Then a mystery drug sickens thousands and the dead begin to rise in DIRTY ROTTEN HIPPIES, the new novella from the author of DEPRAVED and 68 KILL. No one is safe during this weekend of carnage in the countryside.
This new collection includes several never-before-published short stories, as well as other stories that previously appeared in various anthologies. The collection also includes the first widely-available print appearances of the novelette SOME CRAZY FUCKING SHIT THAT HAPPENED ONE DAY and mini-collection SEVEN DEADLY TALES OF TERROR, both previously only available in eBook format.
This new collection includes several never-before-published short stories, as well as other stories that previously appeared in various anthologies. The collection also includes the first widely-available print appearances of the novelette SOME CRAZY FUCKING SHIT THAT HAPPENED ONE DAY and mini-collection SEVEN DEADLY TALES OF TERROR, both previously only available in eBook format.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2019
86 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Smith
104 books761 followersBryan Smith is the Splatterpunk Award-winning author of more than forty horror and crime books, including 68 Kill, the cult classic Depraved and its sequels, as well as The Killing Kind, Slowly We Rot, The Freakshow, and many more. Bestselling horror author Brian Keene called Slowly We Rot, "The best zombie novel I've ever read."
68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.
Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.
68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.
Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 15, 2020
You know, I never thought I'd finish this, but I finally did. I'd like to thank the innate sense of boredom that made me push through, my shitty phone that kept me offline and stuck with nothing but this book, and mostly I'd like to thank Goodreads for pointing me in the direction of this mess.
Thank you all
Thank you all
March 31, 2020
Stephen King recommends book. He said on Twitter: “The stories are undoubtedly good, but nothing can top the title! YEAH BABY!”
August 29, 2019
Some laugh out loud moments in this collection mostly from the over the top imagery on display, but it is the last 7 stories that really bring this one home for me.
June 24, 2019
Fantastic collection
Every story is great and different. I have read a couple before and usually I skip over the stories I previously read but they sucked me in and had to read them again.
Every story is great and different. I have read a couple before and usually I skip over the stories I previously read but they sucked me in and had to read them again.
February 21, 2025
I have been a fan of Bryan Smith's work since reading the Leisure paperback edition of Depraved circa 2009. In all that time, and after reading most of his novels, I have never tried his short fiction. Unfortunately, and as a fan, it pains me to say this, he is a much, much better novelist than a short story writer.
The lead, titular novella was okay, it would probably would have been better filled out into novel length. The ending seemed rushed and half assed.
The second novella, Some Crazy F*cking Sh*t That Happened One Day, was not great. Smith's author's note mentions that this was written in one day and based on votes on a Facebook poll. Not exactly a confidence building backstory for the tale, and it reads about how you would guess it does. Rushed and not great.
The short stories that I read before giving up were all very disappointing. I have read short fiction by writers whom I previously only had read their novel or novella length work and have been blown away. Stephen King, obviously, has written myriad excellent short stories. Ronald Kelly, Ray Garton, Richard Laymon and Edward Lee are a handful of authors whose short fiction amazed me. Brian Keene, in particular is as good at short stories as he is at novels, and some his short stories are of an even higher quality of writing than his novels, take his collection Fear Of Gravity for example. I can't say the same for Smith, unfortunately. I have read most of his novels, and they are mostly very good to excellent. I am not sure if the short stories in this collection are indicative of the rest of his short works, but I won't know, because I will not be reading anymore of his short stories after forcing myself through most of these underwhelming duds. I gave up after about 6 of them, they were all so uniformly bad. I will continue to read Smith's novels, as they are great, but yeah, these short stories stunk.
The lead, titular novella was okay, it would probably would have been better filled out into novel length. The ending seemed rushed and half assed.
The second novella, Some Crazy F*cking Sh*t That Happened One Day, was not great. Smith's author's note mentions that this was written in one day and based on votes on a Facebook poll. Not exactly a confidence building backstory for the tale, and it reads about how you would guess it does. Rushed and not great.
The short stories that I read before giving up were all very disappointing. I have read short fiction by writers whom I previously only had read their novel or novella length work and have been blown away. Stephen King, obviously, has written myriad excellent short stories. Ronald Kelly, Ray Garton, Richard Laymon and Edward Lee are a handful of authors whose short fiction amazed me. Brian Keene, in particular is as good at short stories as he is at novels, and some his short stories are of an even higher quality of writing than his novels, take his collection Fear Of Gravity for example. I can't say the same for Smith, unfortunately. I have read most of his novels, and they are mostly very good to excellent. I am not sure if the short stories in this collection are indicative of the rest of his short works, but I won't know, because I will not be reading anymore of his short stories after forcing myself through most of these underwhelming duds. I gave up after about 6 of them, they were all so uniformly bad. I will continue to read Smith's novels, as they are great, but yeah, these short stories stunk.
May 10, 2020
“He was in no hurry to go to his grave at the hands of a bunch of reanimated dead things, but he preferred it over being sexually violated and brutalized by a gang of demented, meth-addicted hillbillies.”
Yeah, it’s that kind of book! The quote comes from the title story, which is the first third of the book. A really good story, with an ending that I was not a fan of.
The second story has Satan-worshipping cheerleaders bringing dead Nazi soldiers back to life!?!?!? The fourth tale is titled “Chainsaw Sex Maniacs From Mars”! And, they are redneck aliens to boot! Plenty of zombies in here, aliens, and loads of serial killers. And “...lesbian nun vampires. Didn’t see that one coming.” No, Bryan, no I did not... especially as they also turned out to be satanic on top of all that.
This is just such a crazy-ass collection, that I'm giving this five stars because it entertained the hell out of me!
Yeah, it’s that kind of book! The quote comes from the title story, which is the first third of the book. A really good story, with an ending that I was not a fan of.
The second story has Satan-worshipping cheerleaders bringing dead Nazi soldiers back to life!?!?!? The fourth tale is titled “Chainsaw Sex Maniacs From Mars”! And, they are redneck aliens to boot! Plenty of zombies in here, aliens, and loads of serial killers. And “...lesbian nun vampires. Didn’t see that one coming.” No, Bryan, no I did not... especially as they also turned out to be satanic on top of all that.
This is just such a crazy-ass collection, that I'm giving this five stars because it entertained the hell out of me!
September 7, 2021
My gosh, I had so much fun with this one by Bryan Smith! I previously read House of Blood by Smith and it didn't tickle my fancy quite that much, so I was somewhat hesitant to read this anthology. Dirty Rotten Hippies has immediately made me a Bryan Smith fan for life. It's headlining story with the same name set the tone for the rest of the little tales perfectly. I legitimately enjoyed every single short here immensely. Bryan told tales of zombie inducing psychedelics, small town murderers, government issued barrels from hell and so much more. This one gets five HUGE stars from me for all of it's raw, grind goodness.
Definitely check it out!
Definitely check it out!
April 26, 2020
Sick! Awesome! Smith is a God.
This anthology is absolutely stuffed with pure vulgarity. Just how I like it. I didn't even realize it was a shorts collection until the title track ended so suddenly that I thought my Kindle had broken. Alas, that wasn't the case. Ol' Mr. Smith had better be working on a sequel to that first tale (DRH) I've got to know more! For the last 30% of the book, there are seven quick jabs of horror, all sick and depraved (hehe) really short stories that I loved reading, because once again, Bryan knocks it outta the park.
5/5 Skulls 💀💀💀💀💀
This anthology is absolutely stuffed with pure vulgarity. Just how I like it. I didn't even realize it was a shorts collection until the title track ended so suddenly that I thought my Kindle had broken. Alas, that wasn't the case. Ol' Mr. Smith had better be working on a sequel to that first tale (DRH) I've got to know more! For the last 30% of the book, there are seven quick jabs of horror, all sick and depraved (hehe) really short stories that I loved reading, because once again, Bryan knocks it outta the park.
5/5 Skulls 💀💀💀💀💀
May 6, 2024
It was hard to give this three stars. It became a painful “when will this end” read. The opening story, where the title comes from, was fun but the rest of the shorts were just extremely simple violent tales of everyone apparently being a serial killer. BUT the short story approach was done incredibly well, not many can pull it off and Bryan definitely does. The closing story was a bit of a redemption piece that I feel could have made for a nice full length novel.
March 20, 2020
A Horror Thrill Ride
The title story is classic as a 3 day outdoor concert of music, love and peace is turned into a zombie apocalypse by a drug that mysteriously circulates through the festival. The rest of the stories are packed with serial killers, werewolves, vampires, demons and assorted comic book horror.
The title story is classic as a 3 day outdoor concert of music, love and peace is turned into a zombie apocalypse by a drug that mysteriously circulates through the festival. The rest of the stories are packed with serial killers, werewolves, vampires, demons and assorted comic book horror.
October 13, 2022
Blue-collar horror at its best: a beer-, rock ’n’ roll- and chainsaw-fuelled romp starring lazy losers. See full review: http://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com...
May 29, 2019
Comic book horror
If you like comic book horror, crude language and stories without ending this book for you. Didn't care for this book,
If you like comic book horror, crude language and stories without ending this book for you. Didn't care for this book,
November 1, 2019
It is a Bryan Smith book. What the hell else do I need to say? Seriously though, his short story collections are always fun for a fan of horror and I hope he keeps them coming. The novella Some Crazy Fucking Shit That Happened One Day was especially enjoyable to me. Give this a try if you are a fan of Richard Laymon, the Saw films, or if you just happen to stumble across it. At worst, it will make you feel some emotion which, for some, is better than feeling numb 24/7.
December 28, 2025
You simply can’t go wrong with a Bryan Smith short story collection. What you can expect: Lean, irreverent, and darkly funny.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews