Two Envelopes And A Phone’s Reviews > Dead Drunk: Tales of Intoxication and Demon Drinks > Status Update

Final GarbAugust Notes:
Read for the Bingo Card Prompt: Moral Panic
Hmm. An okay collection of stories; many of them were not actually weird, unfortunate since the collection is billed as Weird. Plus, I got stuck in the Stock Exchange for a while, which can be confusing - and humorous tales can be hit or miss. The Rudyard Kipling story needed its own offensive-content warnings, even though the book starts with that.

Enjoyed ‘The Ostler’ by Wilkie Collins.

Although, to my mind, the Anthony Trollope story ‘The Spotted Dog’ does not have the weird elements to really justify being in this book, I loved my belated introduction to this author. The writing style became an instant favourite, and if it lacked weirdness or supernatural facets, it certainly hit the mark in depicting what alcohol does to good people falling.

I skipped the lengthy Trollope entry - which I plan to read later today - in favour of two shorter stories that were specifically written to scare people off drinking (in line with the GarbAugust Prompt called Moral Panic. One “story” was actually a series of fear-inducing illustrations by George Cruikshank…and in fact they formed two linked tales of their own. Anti-drink tales seem like they were not much into plot.

Off to a good start, with 'The Body-Snatcher' by Robert Louis Stevenson (I might have read this before). The stories will need more alcohol, though - uh, more than 8%. Apparently I will be in for some anti-drink and temperance-message tales. The grave desecration in 'Body-Snatcher' also worked for the GarbAugust Prompt: Moral Panic. Bonus Panic!

Very curious about the stories in this book, and reading it for the GarbAugust prompt: Moral Panic. A hint about the contents mentions that indeed at least some of the tales were written as warnings against the evils of alcohol…over-indulgence? Or just indulgence? We shall see. It will be interesting to see how often things get supernatural, as opposed to just weird…