Damned: An Anthology of the Lost
Edited by David G. Barnett
400 copies, signed & numbered /$50
Necro Publications (http://www.necropublications.com) / 450 pages
ISBN:1889186422
Horror's house has many mansions and when you feel like spending some
time in its goriest, most gruesome, and most intentionally shocking
cell, just mosey down the corridor leading to "hardcore horror." Dave
Barnett of Necro Publications will probably greet you at the entrance.
Necro specializes in hardcore and is, without question, its leading
publisher. Although the publisher has been around for a decade or more,
Necro's never done an anthology. (There are many reasons NOT to do small
press anthologies -- probably the most important is that they are rarely
profitable. Barnett was probably wise to avoid doing one for that reason
alone.) Now that Barnett has taken the plunge, though, you need look no
further for a representative compendium of 'core. Not all the dozen
stories are top-notch, but the anthology as a whole is varied with most
stories only tangentially connected to the theme of "personal visions of
Hell." If you are a hardcore aficionado/aficionada, it is required
reading. It's the softer-core stories, however, that stand out. Brian
Hodge fans will rejoice at "When the Bough Doesn't Break" a new "Sisters
of Trinity" story that is drawn from "The Dripping of Sundered
Wineskins" (that appeared in LOVE IN VEIN 2, which, in turned referenced
"The Alchemy of the throat" in LOVE IN VEIN). Other exceptional stories
include Gerard Houarner's "No We Love No One," one of the weirdest
"invasion" and/or Wizard of Oz-inspired stories you will ever read;
Mehitobel Wilson's "Close," a creepy sexual story about a hotel employee
whose kink is hiding under adulterous beds; and Gary Braunbeck's "That
and the Rain" about a man who can read "mnemonic resonances" and steals
an occasional memory. Ed Lee, who personifies hardcore, turns in an
interesting first-person narrative of a writer's encounters with higher
profundity, but, ultimately, backs off and makes it something of a
nervous joke. Tom Piccirilli's "The Thief of Golgotha" has a great
premise, but has a somewhat weak ending. Charlee Jacob's "Casuistry" has
enough ideas to make several stories, but with all jammed into one tale
nothing quite jells. (And you may enhance your vocabulary with the title.)
John Everson's "Green Green Grass" is hellish enough -- a former rock
star's ultimate condemnation involves the many women he abused -- and
Everson provides an image of Rolling Rock beer bottles that may alter
your drinking patterns forever, but the story itself drinks rather too
deeply of the expected. Jack Ketchum's short tale is not one of his
best, but even his worst is better than many writers' "bests." Jeffrey
Thomas, who can produce excellent work -- as evidenced by his Punktown
stories and novel MONSTROCITY -- or not-so-excellent work -- as with the
lackluster epistolary novel LETTERS FROM HADES -- turns in a story,
"Siren," from the latter category. The two longest entries bookend the
volume and are the most disappointing. Patrick Lestewka's leadoff
80-page novella "The Beast" is more a laundry list of splatter than a
story. Doc Solammen's idiosyncratic gonzo style in "Nexus of Crisis"
might have been effective if confined to about half its overwhelmingly
self-indulgent 130 pages. The Erik Wilson illustrations are
unimaginative representational line drawings and the volume could have
done without them. The headers and footers for each story's title page
are, however, nicely designed. Chances are that true 'core-heads will
have more appreciation for Wilson, Thomas, Lestewka, and Solammen than I
can muster so DAMNED still stands as the best of show in the sick puppy
category. (They'll also know "sick puppy" is a compliment.)
Horror's house has many mansions and when you feel like spending some
time in its goriest, most gruesome, and most intentionally shocking
cell, just mosey down the corridor leading to "hardcore horror." Dave
Barnett of Necro Publications will probably greet you at the entrance.
Necro specializes in hardcore and is, without question, its leading
publisher. Although the publisher has been around for a decade or more,
Necro's never done an anthology. (There are many reasons NOT to do small
press anthologies -- probably the most important is that they are rarely
profitable. Barnett was probably wise to avoid doing one for that reason
alone.) Now that Barnett has taken the plunge, though, you need look no
further for a representative compendium of 'core. Not all the dozen
stories are top-notch, but the anthology as a whole is varied with most
stories only tangentially connected to the theme of "personal visions of
Hell." If you are a hardcore aficionado/aficionada, it is required
reading. It's the softer-core stories, however, that stand out. Brian
Hodge fans will rejoice at "When the Bough Doesn't Break" a new "Sisters
of Trinity" story that is drawn from "The Dripping of Sundered
Wineskins" (that appeared in LOVE IN VEIN 2, which, in turned referenced
"The Alchemy of the throat" in LOVE IN VEIN). Other exceptional stories
include Gerard Houarner's "No We Love No One," one of the weirdest
"invasion" and/or Wizard of Oz-inspired stories you will ever read;
Mehitobel Wilson's "Close," a creepy sexual story about a hotel employee
whose kink is hiding under adulterous beds; and Gary Braunbeck's "That
and the Rain" about a man who can read "mnemonic resonances" and steals
an occasional memory. Ed Lee, who personifies hardcore, turns in an
interesting first-person narrative of a writer's encounters with higher
profundity, but, ultimately, backs off and makes it something of a
nervous joke. Tom Piccirilli's "The Thief of Golgotha" has a great
premise, but has a somewhat weak ending. Charlee Jacob's "Casuistry" has
enough ideas to make several stories, but with all jammed into one tale
nothing quite jells. (And you may enhance your vocabulary with the title.)
John Everson's "Green Green Grass" is hellish enough -- a former rock
star's ultimate condemnation involves the many women he abused -- and
Everson provides an image of Rolling Rock beer bottles that may alter
your drinking patterns forever, but the story itself drinks rather too
deeply of the expected. Jack Ketchum's short tale is not one of his
best, but even his worst is better than many writers' "bests." Jeffrey
Thomas, who can produce excellent work -- as evidenced by his Punktown
stories and novel MONSTROCITY -- or not-so-excellent work -- as with the
lackluster epistolary novel LETTERS FROM HADES -- turns in a story,
"Siren," from the latter category. The two longest entries bookend the
volume and are the most disappointing. Patrick Lestewka's leadoff
80-page novella "The Beast" is more a laundry list of splatter than a
story. Doc Solammen's idiosyncratic gonzo style in "Nexus of Crisis"
might have been effective if confined to about half its overwhelmingly
self-indulgent 130 pages. The Erik Wilson illustrations are
unimaginative representational line drawings and the volume could have
done without them. The headers and footers for each story's title page
are, however, nicely designed. Chances are that true 'core-heads will
have more appreciation for Wilson, Thomas, Lestewka, and Solammen than I
can muster so DAMNED still stands as the best of show in the sick puppy
category. (They'll also know "sick puppy" is a compliment.)