“Lansdale reaches the reader on a gut level . . . a terrific writer.”
—Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
Gothic Wounds oozes stories of grim doings in the Southern climes of East Texas, with a few stories outside the usual Lansdale realm.
Meet real life horrors and old mythologies in these dark and sometimes humorous and satirical stories of adventures and mysteries, suspense and strange moments in the backwoods.
Get out your hip boots and your skeeter spray, and you might want to bring a horse and saddle for when the tales move out West, but most importantly bring your imagination.
Read about a bizarre mule race, a movie projectionist’s obsession with a beautiful young woman that leads to a violent event. Venture onto the Sabine River with Hap and Leonard and find a sunken boat full of death and treasure. Meet a blind man with a weed eater who has nefarious plans. Follow the path of a World War soldier returning home only to find home isn’t what it used to be. Meet a wrestler well past his prime who grapples with an opponent over a long-lost love. Go down into a pit and watch two brave men in a mad, mad world, fight for a championship that ends in death for one of them. Then drive on out to Geronimo’s grave and battle a dangerous bank robber. Then have a sip of blood and Lemonade, as we learn of an event in the past of one of Lansdale’s best-known characters, Hap Collins.
And there’s more. So, pull up a chair, seat yourself with a big glass of ice tea or a Dr Pepper, and have a stack of vanilla cookies close at hand for sustenance. Crack this book full of the unexpected, and dive in.
The storytelling water is fine.
Table of Contents:
Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
White Mule, Spotted Pig
The Projectionist
In the River of the Dead
Hide and Horns
Mad Dog Summer
Cowboy
Mr. Weed-Eater
The Stars are Falling
Dead on the Bones
Solderin’
The Fat Man and the Elephant
Night They Missed the Horror Show
The Big Blow
Steppin’ Out, Summer ’68
Blood and Lemonade
The Pit
Wrestling Jesus
The Sabine was High
Driving to Geronimo’s Grave
By Bizarre Hands
Signed Limited Hardcover Edition:
Limited to only 550 signed and hand-numbered copies
Personally signed by the author, cover artist, and interior artist on a specially designed signature page
Larger 6.14” x 9.21” trim size
Printed on a heavier 100gsm acid-free paper
Bound in cloth with coloured head and tail bands
Hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
Offset printed and bound with full-colour endpapers
Sewn binding for increased durability
Gorgeous dust jacket artwork by Vincent Chong
Including twenty interior illustrations by Ben Baldwin