SOLVED. Adult Scary Short story set in Mexico. From anthology. Read before 1986. Spoilers ahead. [s]

[Mary]

The story was written at least 35 years ago. It involved a man and woman driving on a deserted road in Mexico. They were arguing about whether or not they were lost when a dog carrying a human head ran across the road in front of them. They kept driving hoping they had seen the dog carrying something else. Then they saw a leg or arm lying by the road. Soon they were stopped by a man driving a truck full of mannequin parts. He said they had been seeing things he dropped. They kept driving and the husband saw a leg. He stopped and picked it up and for some reason gave it to his wife. She freaked when she realized it was real. We are left to assume all the parts were real and a murder was being covered up. The story was published in a scary story anthology. Does this sound familiar?

[Kris]

Mary, that's a good start. Copy plot details from your message #1 to the topic header/title, so someone can recognize your book from that description alone. Many members only read the headers.

We have thousands of book requests. We close threads with vague headers.

Click the small "edit" link after the topic header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (On the Mobile website, there's a "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.)

-- Can you describe the short story anthology (e.g., for adults or teens, themes, single or multiple authors, about how many short stories)?

[Mary]

I don’t see a small “edit” button. The book was probably for adults, but it’s been so long I am not sure.

[Rainbowheart]

I feel like I've read this. Maybe something by Ray Bradbury?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Something by Dennis Etchison maybe?

[Rainbowheart]

I was thinking of The Next in Line earlier. It is a creepy story set in Mexico, but I'm not sure if it has the dog and the body parts.

[[on hiatus] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Something by Dennis Etchison maybe?"

I've read a fair amount of Etchison stories, and I don't recognize it; I have one of his collections out from the library right now, so I can quickly check if it's in there.

[Mary]

Thanks, but it’s not anything by Ray Bradbury.

[Mary]

I found it in an old book I had in storage. It’s called A Good Head For Murder by Charles W. Runyon. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Mary. Here's the link - A Good Head for Murder by Charles W. Runyon.

[Mary]

That’s the book I found it in! Thanks for the post.