Mischief Malicious

by R.A. Lafferty

Mischief Malicious and Murder Most Strange

Okay. So you're picked me up and you're saying to yourself 'What's this then?'
I'll tell you what I am. I am the oddest bunch of psychopathic killers and ne'r do wells you're likely to meet in a year of Sunday browsings.
'Oh, a horror anthology,' you say.
Nope. Not even close.
'Murder mystery?'
Closer. There's a couple of honest-to-gosh mysteries in here, but the biggest one of them all hasn't got a thing to do with making a killing. It's the mystery of how this R.A. Lafferty guy ever got his wit to squeeze itself down through the keys of that old Remington.
So now you're saying 'If this Lafferty's so good, how come I've never heard of him?'
Well, maybe you've been hiding in the cookbook department too long.
I take that back. A book blurb should never be insulting (and besides, some of my best friends...)
In addition to having won the Hugo award for his story "Eurema's Dam" and Hugo and Nebula nominations for his novels PAST MASTER, FOURTH MANSIONS, and THE DEVIL IS DEAD, Lafferty was also recipient of the prestigious Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement at last years World Fantasy Convention.
So there you are. Commendations aplenty.
Are you game?
There's a batch of killer circuitry, a drug-crazed assassin, a pretty slick chess-playing hound, and a clutch of gourmets with the power of life and death at their fingertips waiting inside if you are.
Go ahead. Oh, and if anyone asks along the way, just tell them a little blurb sent ya.

Contents:
- Tom O'Shanty's Aura (1974)
- The 99th Cubicle (original to this collection)
- Fog In My Throat (1976)
- Oh, Those Trepidatious Eyes! (1977)
- Buckets Full of Brains (original to this collection)
- Pine Castle (1983)
- Junkyard Thoughts (1986)
- Enfant Terrible (1971)
- The Polite People of Pudibundia (1961)
- Rang Dang Kaloof (1972)
- Puddle on the Floor (1976)

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Collections

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Raphael Aloysius Lafferty, published under the name R.A. Lafferty, was an American science fiction and fantasy writer known for his original use of language, metaphor, and narrative structure, as well as for his etymological wit. He also wrote a set of four autobiographical novels, a history book, and a number of novels that could be loosely called historical fiction.