Crucified Dreams

by Joe R. Lansdale (Editor)

Crossing noir with the supernatural, this luridly visceral anthology attacks polite society and plunges into the unthinkable horrors lurking in its underbelly. Searching for some beauty in a time of increasing poverty and neglect, the desperate are all the more menacing, and in a brief moment, ordinary people turn into something far less human. Offering stylish yet savage tales of private dicks, serial killers, lurking demons, and femme fatales, these surreal and often bloody tales provide glimpses into sinister worlds that mirror our own. Boasting an intriguing assortment of stories from celebrated authors such as Harlan Ellison, David Morrell, and the infamous editor himself, each gritty and sensational undertaking proves that being human is a far cry from being civilized.

Contents
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" by Harlan Ellison®
"The Monster" by Joe Haldeman
"The Mojave Two-Step" by Norman Partridge
"Front Man" by David Morrell
"Interrogation B" by Charlie Huston
"The Quickening" by Michael Bishop
"The Evening and the Morning and the Night" by Octavia E. Butler
"Love in Vain" by Lewis Shiner
"Beast of the Heartland" by Lucius Shepard
"Coffins on the River" by Jeffrey Ford
"Game Night at the Fox and Goose" by Karen Joy Fowler
"Copping Squid" by Michael Shea
"Access Fantasy" by Jonathan Lethem
"Singing on a Star" by Ellen Klages
"Quitters, Inc." by Stephen King
"Nightbeat" by Neal Barrett, Jr.
"Window" by Bob Leman
"The Pit" by Joe R. Lansdale
"Loss" by Tom Piccirilli

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

374 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.

He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crucified Dreams Edited by Joe R. Lansdale

There are some authors you get tired of heaping praise on. Joe R. Lansdale is a force of nature, but the author of over thirty novels, hundreds of short stories and Graphic novels doesn’t ever put out crap. The guy is just an amazing writer. So if at this point, your thinking, “I have not read any of his stuff.” Start adding his books to your TBR.

As for this anthology, it’s hard to resist the usual hyperbole, but damn it this is the best anthology I have read in years. Hands down. In his introduction Lansdale described it as fiction that is in a similar vein to what he writes. And in a lot of ways if you started reading it without the authors name it would be possible to believe he wrote many of the stories.

Like the best of Lansdale own fiction you will find yourself involved in the stories, flipping pages quick and constantly feeling the rnage of emotions you want from a book. You will laugh out loud, cringe at events you know are coming, and shaking your head in delightful disgust.

The list of authors in this volume is impressive from Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, David Morrell, Tom Piccirilli and many, many more. There is not a stinker in the bunch, (outside of one story by Jonathan Letham, whose unbroken structure grated on me) top to bottom this book is brimming with creative insanity.

Some of my favorites included David Morrell’s revenge tale Front Man, Lansdale’s The pit, Octavia Butler’s bitter tale of disease, and Portland’s own Lucius Shepard with a tale of a not so over the hill boxer. Tom Piccirilli had the best story opener and my absolute favorite story of the book of “The Mojave Two Step” by Norman Partridge.

This is a must have for any serious horror reader or library. Lansdale has given us a gift here, I only wish I knew more about how and why he selected the stories. If you like short stories you will love this book.

[Justyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven’t read a horror anthology in a while. I told myself to stay away from the usual unevenness of these collections and Crucified Dreams isn’t much different. Lansdale collected 19 pieces of short fiction from well-known horror authors sharing a noir and paranormal theme.

“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison
A woman is one of many witnesses to a brutal murder and discovers the price of living in the city. Thematically the atmosphere is spot on for the cold indifference of the city and explores both sides of fear and anxiety. 4/5

“The Monster” by Joe Haldeman
A veteran who is accused of murder tries to explain the real culprit is a monster. The characterization was vivid, though the concept felt rehashed and predictable. 3/5

“The Mojave Two-Step” by Norman Partridge
Two criminals who hijack an ice cream truck in the middle of the desert find a woman carried by a robot. Partridge is usually a fun read, though I wanted more in the ending. 3/5

“Front Man” by David Morrell
An aging screenwriter takes up a young front man, only for that kid to steal his success. As a writer this was an engaging read, though the main character’s choice in the end felt a bit of a stretch 4/5

“Interrogation B” by Charlie Huston
A pair of cops interrogate a child killer. This one stood out more stylistically with choppy dialogue that suited an interrogation, though the lack of dialogue tags made it a bit disorienting. 2/5

“The Quickening” by Michael Bishop
A man wakes up in Seville, Spain along with people all over the world. I’m not really a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, but it sounded like a promising idea if expanded into a longer work. 3/5

“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by Octavia Butler
A disease originating from those who took a cancer medication causes people to self-mutilate. Butler explores a culture of those with a terminal disease and the idea of personal responsibility. Even though I’m not a fan of sci-fi stories, this one felt grounded and engaging. 4/5

“Love in Vain” by Lewis Shiner
A lawyer interviews a murderer and rapist while his marriage falls apart. This one took an unexpected turn with less of the focus on the crime and more on the protagonist’s personal life and the murderer as a foil to the darkness inside all of us. 4/5

“Beast of the Heartland” by Lucius Shepard
A boxer with impaired vision sees monsters in his opponents. I thought this was an interesting concept and liked the humanity the author showed in the protagonist. 4/5

“Coffins on the River” by Jeffrey Ford
A writer and his artist friend try to overcome creative blocks via drugs. Meanwhile they also rescue an abducted girl. I liked the characters in this one, but the story left too many questions adding the abduction element. 4/5

“Game Night at the Fox and Goose” by Karen Joy Fowler
A heartbroken woman goes to a bar and meets a stranger talking about an alternate world where women are in a better position than in our patriarchal society. While I appreciate the exploration of gender and patriarchy, the ending came off as transphobic. 1/5

“Copping Squid” by Michael Shea
A night clerk gets threatened by a mugger who asks him for money and a ride to the Hood. The scenario hooked me at first, then took an unexpected turn that will appeal to Lovecraft fans (but not my kind of horror). 3/5

“Access Fantasy” by Jonathan Lethem
This one long paragraph story read more like a stream of consciousness dream and made no sense to me. 1/5

“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages
A girl goes over to a friend’s house for a sleepover and the friend shows her another world called Farlington. I liked how fantasy blurred with reality on this one, especially with the POV of a child. 4/5

“Quitters Inc” by Stephen King
A man learns of a new and guaranteed way to quit smoking. I read this before in King’s Night Shift and enjoyed the psychological experiment scenario. 4/5

“Nightbeat” by Neal Barrett Jr.
This one was too fantasy for me, and I had trouble following what was going on even though it was only a couple pages. 1/5

“Window” by Bob Leman
Psychologist and army personnel investigate the disappearance of a researcher. This one got too sci-fi and fantasy heavy for my tastes. 1/5

“The Pit” by Joe R. Lansdale
A man finds himself imprisoned in a small town’s barbaric ritual pitting him and another man to fight to the death. This story was pretty visceral and gross-out than substantial. 3/5

“Loss” by Tom Piccirilli
A writer turned handyman lives in the Stark House—home to fading stars—and witnesses a murder and investigates the disappearance of his friend’s wife. This was my favorite story of the collection. I’m always a sucker for writer stories, but this one had that gothic atmosphere I enjoy along with offbeat characters. 5/5

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection ended up being difficult for me to get through. It took me a lot longer than it should have. I dreaded each time that I picked it up. I just was not enjoying it. Even my favorites Tom Piccirilli couldn't quite do it for me. If this was a novel, I would have marked it as Did Not Finish but I always feel bad doing that to a short story collection. The authors at the end of the book can't help the quality of the stories at the front, so I try to always finish a short story collection. Now weirdly, I did mark six of the stories as favorites and would recommend them. I say weirdly because finding more than five enjoyable stories generally means I find the book good. All told, I guess that mean that despite me dragging my feet with the book, I still found enough to enjoy.

"The Mojave Two-Step" by Norman Partridge - An ice cream truck escapade in the middle of the desert.
"Front Man" by David Morrell - An aging screenwriter tries to stay on top.
"Interrogation B" by Charlie Huston - Police questioning occurs during a poker game.
"Love in Vain" by Lewis Shiner - A killer is questioned.
"Quitters, Inc." by Stephen King - A man is encouraged to quit smoking via extraordinary means.
"The Pit" by Joe R. Lansdale - Two fighters become best friends before a match.

[Meran · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars- reviews later - 19 short stories, most pretty good! Different authors.

The Whimper of Whipped Dogs- 5 stars-

The Monster- 5 stars-

The Mojave Two-Step- 4 stars-

Front Man- 5 stars-

Interrogation B- 4 stars-

The Quickening- 5 stars-

The Evening and The Morning and The Night- 4 stars-

Love in Vain- 4 stars-

Beast of the Heartland- 4 stars-

Coffins on the River- 4 stars-

Game Night at the Fox and Goose- 5 stars-

Copping Squid- 4 stars-

Access Fantasy- 5 stars-

Singing on a Star- 5 stars-

Quitters Inc.- 4 stars-

Singing on a Star- 5 stars-

Nightbeat- 4 stars-

Window- 5 stars-

The Pit- 3 stars-

Loss- 5 stars-

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best short story collections I've ever read. There was only one story I hated, two which were meh, and all the rest ranged from good to great.

[Craig Childs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crucified Dreams is a collection of 19 short stories. I thought five of them were brilliant and should be highly recommended.

But apart from these, this anthology as a whole suffers from lack of a cohesive theme. The subtitle on the cover says “Tales of Urban Horror”, but many of these stories take place in remote non-urban locations (“The Pit”, “Window”, “Mojave Two-Step”), and some are not really horror at all (“Game Night at the Fox and Goose”, “Front Man”).

In his introduction, Lansdale explains the original concept for the book was to pick recent stories that were written in same the vein that Lansdale has been writing for thirty years. The publisher wanted to illustrate perhaps that Lansdale was ahead of his time. This idea fell apart when Lansdale selected more stories that predated his career, and only a few that were written recently.

The 5 stories I recommend are:

“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” – I am a fan of Harlan Ellison but had never come across this dark, visceral story inspired by a real-life murder. It won an Edgar Award and for good reason. One of Ellison’s best.

“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” – Octavia Butler writes complex stories that weave the boundaries of science and ethics together.
This story reminded me why I need to find more of her books.

“Quitters, Inc” – This is a very young Stephen King effort full of wit and dark humor from his first short story collection.

“The Pit” – One of my favorite Lansdale stories. I have read it a few times, and it always manages to surprise me.

“The Monster” – Few authors could pull off a story of such craft. Joe Haldeman presents an unreliable narrator who changes his story-voice midway. The ending is simple but ambiguous. The writing is clear at all times, the reader knows exactly what is happening, but in the end it is open-ended as to whether this is a story about a monster or a psychopath.

I’ll also give Tom Piccirrilli’s “Loss” an honorable mention. It features a great set-up with a love triangle, a venerable old house peopled with eccentric characters, and not one but two crimes to solve. About half-way through, I started to say to myself, “I hope the author plays it straight and this doesn’t turn out to be a ghost story”. Well, needless to say I was disappointed in the third act.

[Monster]

Joe R. Lansdale is a force of nature.The author of over thirty novels, hundreds of short stories and graphic novels is just an amazing writer. If you haven’t read any of his stuff, start adding his books to your TBR pile.

Crucified Dreams is, hands down, the best anthology I have read in years. In his introduction Lansdale described it as fiction that is in a similar vein to what he writes. In a lot of ways, if you started reading it without the author’s name it would be possible to believe he wrote many of the stories.

Like the best of Lansdale's own fiction, you will find yourself involved in the stories, flipping pages quickly, and constantly feeling the range of emotions you want from a book. You will laugh out loud, cringe at events you know are coming, and shake your head in delightful disgust.

The list of authors in this volume is impressive, and includes Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, David Morrell, Tom Piccirilli and many, many more. There is not a stinker in the bunch (outside of one story by Jonathan Lethem, whose unbroken structure grated on me). Top to bottom, this book is brimming with creative insanity.

Some of my favorites included David Morrell’s revenge tale “Front Man”, Lansdale��s own “The Pit”, Octavia Butler’s bitter tale of disease, and Portland’s own Lucius Shepard with a tale of a not so over the hill boxer. Tom Piccirilli had the best story opener and my absolute favorite story of the book is “The Mojave Two Step” by Norman Partridge.

This is a must have for any serious horror reader or library. Lansdale has given us a gift. I only wish I knew more about how and why he selected the stories. If you like short stories you will love this book. Highly recommended for public library collections.
Contains:

[Matt Braymiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of horror stories is replete with malevolence. There is a lot of dark creepiness and just plain nastiness lurking within these pages. Given the line up of contributing authors, it shouldn't come as a surprise.
“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison®
“The Monster” by Joe Haldeman
“The Mojave Two-Step” by Norman Partridge
“Front Man” by David Morrell
“Interrogation B” by Charlie Huston
“The Quickening” by Michael Bishop
“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by Octavia E. Butler
“Love in Vain” by Lewis Shiner
“Beast of the Heartland” by Lucius Shepard
“Coffins on the River” by Jeffrey Ford
“Game Night at the Fox and Goose” by Karen Joy Fowler
“Copping Squid” by Michael Shea
“Access Fantasy” by Jonathan Lethem
“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages
“Quitters, Inc.” by Stephen King
“Nightbeat” by Neal Barrett, Jr.
“Window” by Bob Leman
“The Pit” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Loss” by Tom Piccirilli

Stand outs for me were “Loss,” “The Monster,” “The Evening and the Morning and the Night,” “Love in Vain,” and “The Mojave Two-Step.”

If you enjoy a good horror story, there will be plenty here for you to like.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

These creepy stories go where our worst demons and deepest fears reside--and exhume them to haunt us!

Represented here are some of the best works of these writers:

Stephen King
Harlan Ellison
Joe Haldeman
David Morrell

The anthology leads off with Ellison's heavy-hitting "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs," and does not let up from there!
King's story is "Quitter's, Inc." You may very well stop smoking after you read that one!

[Chrystal Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like some of Lansdale's darker writing, his novel Lost Echoes in particular, and so had hoped for a collection that might have that same eerie mood of serious horror.
Unfortunately, some of these are more in the Twilight Zone spirit, a little predictable, a little gorey....comic book fare, B-movie feel. Not all, but most, to me, were just not what I was looking for at the time (or ever).
It is fine for what it is, just not what I had hoped for.

[Ben Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short horror stories by various authors. While some of the stories were just okay, most were quite good with some different twists. If you like dark short stories this is a good one to read.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

just a whole ton of good-as-hell writing in here.

[Helena Sheibler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty smashing. Worth a read if you want to keep hating human beings. ;)