Joe R. Lansdale

Sue Ellen ha sempre saputo che May Lynn sognava di diventare una star del cinema. Quando la ritrova annegata nel fiume Sabine, con i piedi legati a una macchina da cucire, decide con i suoi amici Terry e Jinx di bruciare il corpo e portare le ceneri fino a Hollywood. Un sogno forse irrealizzabile, ma che diventa realtà quando Sue Ellen e i suoi amici - un ragazzo bianco che tutti sospettano di omosessualità e una ragazza nera dalla lingua troppo lunga - scoprono nel diario di May Lynn una mappa che li porta a dissotterrare un bel po' di soldi, più che sufficienti a pagarsi il viaggio fino alla Mecca del cinema, ma anche ad attirare le attenzioni di parecchia gente. Comincia così per i tre ragazzi una fuga a rotta di collo nel Texas degli anni Trenta, così caro a Joe Lansdale. Mentre sulle loro tracce, accanto a parenti avidi e tutori della legge corrotti, si staglia l'ombra di Skunk, un assassino spietato che vive nei boschi e taglia le mani alle sue vittime, avvolto nella leggenda eppure pericolosamente reale.

It is the summer of 1958 in Dewmont, Texas, a town the great American postwar boom passed by. The kids listen idly to rockabilly on the radio and waste their weekends at the Dairy Queen. And an undetected menace simmers under the heat that clings to the skin like molasses... For thirteen-year-old Stanley Mitchell, the end of innocence comes with his discovery of the mysterious long-ago demise of two very different young women. In his quest to unravel the truth about their tragic fates, Stanley finds a protector in Buster Lighthorse Smith, a black, retired Indian-reservation cop and a sage on the finer points of Sherlock Holmes, the blues, and life's faded dreams. But not every buried thing stays dead. And on one terrifying night of rushing creek water and thundering rain, an arcane, murderous force will rise from the past to threaten the boy in a harrowing rite of passage... Vintage Lansdale, A Fine Dark Line brims with exquisite suspense, powerful characterizations, and the vibrant evocation of a lost time.

Jack Catcher's parents are dead—his mom died of sickness and his dad of a broken heart—and he has to get out of Oklahoma, where dust storms have killed everything green, hopeful, or alive. When former classmate Jane and her little brother Tony show up in his yard with plans to steal a dead neighbor's car and make a break for Texas, Jack doesn't need much convincing. But a run-in with one of the era's most notorious gangsters puts a crimp in Jane's plan, and soon the three kids are hitching the rails among hoboes, gangsters, and con men, racing to warn a carnival wrestler turned bank robber of the danger he faces and, in the process, find a new home for themselves. This road trip adventure from the legendary Joe R. Lansdale is a thrilling and colorful ride through Depression-era America.

Soyez blanc, sympa, hétéro, sans vrai boulot ni caisse de retraite et vivez au Texas, royaume du port d’armes! Hap Collins attire les ennuis. Sa nonchalance agace. À peine remis d’une aventure et le voilà mordu en plein champ par un écureuil enragé. Une mort ignoble le guette. L’hôpital va le saigner à blanc et, pour ne rien arranger, Leonard a disparu. Impossible de rester sous perfusion avec son meilleur ami dans la mouise! Homosexuel black cognant comme un bûcheron, ce dernier est accusé de meurtre. La police adore. Hap non. Debout pour que justice se fasse, il ne se contentera pas de contourner la loi, il va la piétiner...

In Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale's newest Hap and Leonard story collection, the boys are back, with more righteous ass-kickings, highly improbable adventures, and disastrous fishing trips. These never before collected tales showcase the popular not-so dynamic duo who are little bit older, but not a whole lot wiser--Hap and Leonard were truly born for trouble. "A folklorist's eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur's sense of pace."--New York Times Book Review When you meet him, Hap Collins seems just like a good ol' boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal was Leonard Pine: black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Together, they have sort of found their way as partners in crime-solving--and at least as often, as hired muscle. As Hap wrestles with his new identity as a husband and father, and Leonard finds love in a long-term relationship, the boys continue their crime-solving shenanigans. They grapple with a stolen stuffed dog, uncover the sordid secret of a missing bookmobile, compete in a warped version of the Most Dangerous Game, regroup after Hap's visit to the psychologist goes terribly awry, and much more. So sit yourself back and settle in--Born for the Trouble is East Texas mayhem as only the master mojo storyteller Lansdale could possibly tell. About the Hap and Leonard short story series Hap and LeonardHap and Leonard: Blood and LemonadeThe Big Book of Hap and Leonard (digital only)Of Mice and Minestrone The classic Hap Collins and Leonard Pine mystery series began in in 1990 with Savage Season. Hap and Leonard made their screen debuts in the three season Hap and Leonard TV series, starring Michael K. Williams (The Wire), James Purefoy (The Following), and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

Subterranean Press is thrilled to announce the novel-length prequel to the classic story, "Bubba Ho-Tep." Before Bubba Ho-Tep, there was Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers. Part of a secret government organization designed to protect civilians, Elvis Presley and a handful of hardcore warriors set out to save the world from an invasion of hive-minded, shape-shifting vampire-like creatures from a dark dimension who have taken up residence in a New Orleans junkyard. Besides Elvis, among these righteous warriors is a hammer-wielding descendent of John Henry of railroad fame, a Blind Man who sees more than those with sight, Jack, a strategic wizard, and Elvis's right hand man and journal writer, Johnny, all thrown in with Raven (real name Jenny) a female recruit who is also a budding pop star, and like Elvis, high on the charisma chart. Their leader is none other than Colonel Parker, Elvis's cutthroat manager, and a warrior himself, directly in contact with President Nixon, or possibly one of his doubles.It's an unnerving peek into a secret world, and a possible delusion. It's what happened before Elvis, aka Sebastian Haff, found himself in an East Texas rest home, mounted on a walker, fighting an Egyptian mummy and worrying about a growth on his pecker. Strange monsters, wild fights, sex with a beautiful ghost, a drug-induced trip into another dimension, and all manner of mayhem ensue, along with a Mississippi riverboat ride on a giant paddle wheel, and of course, there will be 3D glasses, fried peanut butter and 'nanna sandwiches, and a few hard working zombies.Bring the kids, but plug their ears and blindfold them. This is one wild and nasty ride to the dark side, but with laughter.

WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. But if you've got a taste for bone-chilling, gut-wrenching terror that brilliantly tests the limits of human endurance, then Joe R. Lansdale is your man. In his first collection of short stories, the gruseome and outrageous cult classic "The Drive-In" pilots a wildly thrilling, violent and vivid roller coaster ride to Hell and beyond...plumbing the eerie depths of his remarkable imagination to create horrors unique and unsettling - dark products of twisted genius that weave the grisly fabric of nightmares. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (back cover copy) CONTENTS Fish Night The Pit Duck Hunt By Bizarre Hands The Steel Valentine I Tell You It's Love Letters From The SOuth, Two Moons South Of Nacogdoches Boys Will Be Boys The Fat Man And The Elephant Hell Through A Windshield Down By The Sea Near The Great Big Rock Trains Not Taken Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back The Windstorm Passes Night They Missed The Horror Show On The Far Side Of The Cadillac Desert With Dead Folk

Dead in the West is the story of Mud Creek, Texas, a town overshadowed by a terrible evil. An Indian medicine man, unjustly lynched by the people of Mud Creek, has put a curse on the town. As the sun sets, he will have his revenge. For when darkness falls, the dead will walk in Mud Creek and they will be hungry for human flesh. The only one that can save the town is Reverend Jebediah Mercer, a gun toting preacher man who came to Mud Creek to escape his past. He has lost his faith in the Lord and his only solace is the whisky bottle. Will he renew his faith in himself and God to defeat this evil or will the town be destroyed? Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Deadwood meets The Walking Dead in this wild and profane Western romp featuring zombies, werewolves, killer bees, and one pissed-off gun-slinging preacher. The Wild West has never seen the likes of Reverend Jebidiah Mercer, a hard man wielding a burning Bible and a bottle of whiskey in the battle between God and the Devil. Frankly, he’s not sure he gives a damn who wins. As the not-so-good Reverend tangles with a Lovecraftian horror and joins a renegade named Flower to battle a horde of cannibalistic fiends, only this is certain: Mercer’s blasphemous journey is laced with relentless action, terrifying evil, and nonstop humor. This supernatural epic of the Old West that never was will leave you heartily cheering for the good guys—if you can just figure out who the good guys are. (Deadman's Crossing is the e-book edition of Deadman's Road minus the novella Dead In the West.)

May Lynn was a pretty girl from a mean family who dreamed of becoming a film star. Now she's dead - her body dredged up from the Sabine River, bound with wire and weighted down. Her best friend, Sue Ellen, wants to take her ashes to Hollywood. But May Lynn's diary holds a secret: the location of a large sum of money.

Bill has no job, no money and no mother '...his mother was dead and kind of freeze-dried in her bedroom'. She doesn't smell as bad as she used to, but her welfare checks are piling up and Bill doesn't feel smart enough to forge her signature. So he decides to rob a firecracker stand across the highway from his house, for cash and may be a few loud bangs into the bargain. The heist goes horribly wrong and Bill winds up on the run with a freak show. Could it be that Bill's loser days are over? Nope ...

H.P. Lovecraft is known as one of the key founders of modern horror, cited as a major influence by many prominent authors, such as Stephen King. In collaboration with renowned Lovecraft historian and literary caretaker Robert Weinberg, IDW is bringing you the definitive Lovecraft comics updated for a 21st century audience. Adapting "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Hound," a new vision of Lovecraft emerges, courtesy of Joe Lansdale and company!

“Joe Lansdale squares up to the Great Old Ones—and taps into rich veins of awe and wit, with always a backbeat thrum of cosmic terror.”—Kim Newman, author of the Anno Dracula seriesEleven-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep) returns with this wicked short story collection of his irreverent Lovecraftian tributes. Lansdale is terrifyingly down-home while merging his classic gonzo stylings with the eldritch horrors of H. P. Lovecraft. Knowingly skewering Lovecraft’s paranoid mythos, Lansdale embarks upon haunting yet sly explorations of the unknown, capturing the essence of cosmic dread.A sinister blues recording pressed on vinyl in blood conjures lethal shadows with its unearthly wails. In order to rescue Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn traverses the shifting horrors of the aptly named Dread Island. In the weird Wild West, Reverend Jebidiah Mercer rides into a possessed town to confront the unspeakable in the crawling sky. Legendary detective C. Auguste Dupin uncovers the gruesome secrets of both the blue lightning bug and the Necronomicon.Exploring the darkest corners of the human psyche, here is a lethally entertaining journey through Joe Lansdale’s twisted landscape, where ancient evils lurk and sanity hangs by a rapidly fraying thread.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Joe R. Lansdale“The Bleeding Shadow”Dread Island“The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning”“The Tall Grass”“The Case of the Stalking Shadows”“The Crawling Sky”“Starlight, Eyes Bright”In the Mad Mountains

When a group of friends decided to spend a day at the world's largest Drive-In theater horror fest, they expected to see tons of bloody murders, rampaging madmen, and mayhem - but only on the screen. As a mysterious force traps all the patrons inside the Drive-In, the worst in humanity comes out. Filled with Lansdale's razor whit and black humor, The Drive-In is a darkly humorous masterpiece! Collected here is the complete four issue series with bonus material including a new interview with Lansdale himself about the writing of The Drive-In.

Nell'afosa estate texana del 1958, il tredicenne Stanley Mitchell lavora nel drive-in del padre, e mette il naso in un segreto che doveva rimanere celato. E la "perdita dell'innocenza" di Stanley, in quell'estate in cui il mondo per lui cambia per sempre, coincide con il miracolo di una resurrezione davvero magica. In perfetta naturalezza, Lansdale ricrea le voci, il sapore, la vita, di un tempo scomparso del tutto, come non fosse mai esistito. La "sottile linea scura", che segna per Stanley la scoperta del male del dolore e della morte insieme con l'esplosione del sesso e la consapevolezza del conflitto razziale, diventa la parete trasparente da varcare per immergerci in quegli anni Cinquanta lontani ormai come la preistoria.

A masterly new thriller from the Edgar Award–winning writer who has “a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace” (The New York Times Book Review).After a scandalous affair costs him his job in Houston, Cason Statler—Gulf War veteran and Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist—returns home to the small east Texas town of Camp Rapture. Cason is a wreck. He drinks too much, he’s stalking his ex-girlfriend, and he’s wallowing in envy of his successful older brother. To get back on his feet, he takes a job at the local paper, and when he stumbles across his predecessor’s notes on a cold case murder file, he thinks he’s found the thing that’ll keep him out of trouble. No such luck. The further he digs into the case, the more certain he is that the unsolved crime is connected to a series of eerie, inexplicable events that have recently occurred in town. And he knows his suspicions are right on when he finds himself dragged into a deadly game of blackmail and murder that clearly has evil as its only goal. Leather Maiden is a brash amalgam of suspense, raw humor, and mystery that unfolds in the vividly rendered shadowy lowlands of eastern Texas. It’s country noir as only Joe Lansdale can do it.

Since a mysterious childhood illness, Harry Wilkes has experienced horrific visions. Gruesome scenes emerge to replay themselves before his eyes. Triggered by simple sounds, these visions occur anywhere a tragic event has happened. Now in college, Harry feels haunted and turns to alcohol to dull his visionary senses. One night, he sees a fellow drunk easily best three muggers. In this man, Harry finds not only a friend that will help him kick the booze, but also a sensei who will teach him to master his unusual gift. Soon Harry’s childhood crush, Kayla, comes and asks for help solving her father’s murder. Unsure of how it will affect him, Harry finds the strength to confront the dark secrets of the past, only to unveil the horrors of the present.

From an Edgar award-winning author comes the gripping and unexpected tale of a lost town and the dark secrets that lie beneath the glittering waters of an East Texas lake. Daniel Russell was only thirteen years old when his father tried to kill them both by driving their car into Moon Lake. Miraculously surviving the crash—and growing into adulthood—Daniel returns to the site of this traumatic incident in the hopes of recovering his father's car and bones. As he attempts to finally put to rest the memories that have plagued him for years, he discovers something even more shocking among the wreckage that has ties to a twisted web of dark deeds, old grudges, and strange murders.  As Daniel diligently follows where the mysterious trail of vengeance leads, he unveils the heroic revelation at its core. 

Edgar award-winning author Joe Lansdale returns with the hard-boiled story of a no-nonsense used car salesman ready to turn his life around Ed Edwards is in the used car business, a business built on adjusted odometers, extra-fine print, and the belief that "buyers better beware." Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother constantly on his case to do something worthier of his lighter skin tone and dreaming of a brighter future for himself and his plucky little sister, Ed is ready to get out of the game.When Dave, his lazy, grease-stained boss at the eponymous dealership Smiling Dave's sends him to repossess a Cadillac, Ed finally gets the chance to escape his miserable life.The Cadillac in question was purchased by Frank Craig and his beautiful wife Nancy, owners of a local drive-in and pet cemetery. Fed up with her deadbeat husband and with unfulfilled desires of her own, Nancy suggests to Ed- in the throes of their salacious affair- that they kill Frank and claim his insurance policy. It is a tantalizing offer: the girl, the car, and not one, but two businesses. Ed could finally say goodbye to Smiling Dave's, and maybe even send his sister to college. But does he have what it takes to see the plan through? Told with Joe Lansdale's trademark grit, wit, and dark humor, More Better Deals is a gripping tale of the strange characters and odd dealings that define 1960s East Texas.

Pull up a seat and sit a spell. Master storyteller Joe R. Lansdale has cooked up a passel of tales for you about the unlikeliest duo East Texas has to offer. Hap Collins looks like a good ol' boy, but from his misspent youth on, his best compatriot is Leonard Pine - black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Inseparable friends, Hap and Leonard attend family gatherings, climb into the boxing ring, get in bar fights, and just go fishing - all while confronting racism, righting wrongs, and eating copious, delicious food. Chock full of Lansdale's unique blend of humor, ferocity, and insight, Of Mice and Minestrone delivers five never-before-seen (plus one perhaps familiar) Hap and Leonard stories, a selection of the boys' favorite recipes, and an introduction from New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Kent. So come discover the legends of Hap and Leonard, created by Joe R. Lansdale his own self, and featured in the by Hap and Leonard TV series starring Michael K. Williams (The Wire), James Purefoy (The Following), and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

Master horror storyteller Joe R. Lansdale throws his scathing wit and wild, otherworldly creations into the mix as he brings Robert E. Howard's classic tale of dark revenge to the present . . . and into the unwitting lives of the Blassenville mansion heirs, twin sisters Claire and Janet. When Griswell fled the Blassenville estate those many years ago, he couldn't have imagined the grotesque horrors that would eclipse the ones he saw then - but they're here! With more than twenty books to his credit, Joe R. Lansdale is an acclaimed storyteller. He's been called "an immense talent" by Booklist; "a born storyteller" by Robert Bloch; and The New York Times Book Review declares he has "a folklorist's eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur's sense of pace." He has won a number of awards, including five Bram Stoker horror awards, a British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the "Shot in the Dark" International Crime Writer's award, the Booklist Editor's Award, the Critic's Choice Award, and a New York Times Notable Book award.

Master of mojo storytelling, spinner of over-the-top yarns of horror, suspense, humor, mystery, science fiction, and even the Old West, Joe R. Lansdale has attracted a wide and enthusiastic following. His genre-defying work has brought him numerous awards, including the Grand Master of Horror from the World Horror Convention, the Edgar Award, the American Horror Award, seven Bram Stoker awards, the British Fantasy Award, Italy's Grinzane Prize for Literature, as well as Notable Book of the Year recognition twice from the New York Times. Sanctified and Chicken-Fried is the first "true best of Lansdale" anthology. It brings together a unique mix of well-known short stories and excerpts from his acclaimed novels, along with new and previously unpublished material. In this collection of gothic tales that explore the dark and sometimes darkly humorous side of life and death, you'll meet traveling preachers with sinister agendas, towns lost to time, teenagers out for a good time who get more than they bargain for, and gangsters and strange goings-on at the end of the world. Out of the blender of Lansdale's imagination spew tall tales about men and mules, hogs and races, that are, in his words, "the equivalent of Aesop meets Flannery O'Connor on a date with William Faulkner, the events recorded by James M. Cain." Whether you're a long-time fan of Joe R. Lansdale or just discovering his work, this anthology brings you the best of a writer whom the New York Times Book Review has praised for having "a folklorist's eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur's sense of pace."

Here comes Trudy back into Hap's life, thirty-six but looking ten years younger, with long blonde hair and legs that begin under her chin, and the kind of walk that'll make a man run his car off the road. Here comes trouble, says Leonard, and he's right. She was always trouble, but she had this laugh when she was happy in bed that could win Hap over every time. Trudy has a proposition: an easy two hundred thousand dollars, tax-free. It's just a simple matter of digging it up ...Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, white and black, straight and gay, are the unlikeliest duo in crime fiction. Savage Season is their debut.

John Shaw just wanted to go fishing and live off the land—now he is one of only a few survivors involved in a horrific crash between a locomotive and a flying saucer. Stranded in an unforgiving environment, desperate to survive, he and the remaining passengers must outrun, and outsmart, the alien life forms that are picking them off one by one. Packed into a tightly woven, ripping yarn, Shooting Star is a beautifully told story of survival and wit, as the clash between man and invader intensifies, and the end of the human race looms near.

In the middle of a cyclone, beautiful, red-haired Sunset Jones shoots her husband Pete dead when he tries to beat and rape her. To Camp Rapture’s general consternation, Sunset’s mother-in-law arranges for her to take over from Pete as town constable. As if that weren’t hard enough to swallow in depression era east Texas, Sunset actually takes the job seriously, and her investigation into a brutal double murder pulls her into a maelstrom of greed, corruption, and unspeakable malice. It is a case that will require a well of inner strength she never knew she had. Spirited and electrifying, Sunset and Sawdust is a mystery and a tale like nothing you’ve read before.

Award-winning author and “Champion Mojo Storyteller” Joe R. Lansdale (Hap & Leonard, Bubba Ho Tep) and his daughter, author/country singer Kasey Lansdale, have joined forces to bring you a short story collection showcasing the new dynamic duo of supernatural sleuthing, Dana Roberts and her sidekick Jana! Terror is Our Business gathers together all of Dana’s and Jana’s previous cases in a single volume, and features an all-new adventure, “The Case of the Ragman’s Anguish,” written exclusively for this collection. Join Dana and Jana as they investigate - and battle - angry jinns, malevolent shadows, ancient travelers, and soul-sucking shapeshifters. With two tough, resourceful women on the case, the specters from “the other side” won’t know what hit them!

Godzilla’s in a twelve-step program. A soul-sucking Mummy stalks Elvis and John F. Kennedy. Joe Bob Briggs has a moral dilemma: If your girlfriend turns zombie on you, what do you do?And that’s the tame stuff.In this red-hot collection from world-champion Mojo storyteller Joe R. Lansdale, you’ll find his best, most outrageous stories. The high priest of Texan weirdness does it all: horror, mystery, satire, suspense, and even Westerns. Prepare to be offended, shocked, and cackling like a crazed redneck.Featuring five Bram Stoker Award–winning stories, this career retrospective contains some of Lansdale’s rarer work, his nonfiction forays into drive-in theaters and B-movies, and the novella Bubba Ho-Tep, later made into a cult-classic major motion picture.Come on in—the weirdness is fine.

Galveston, TX 1900. 4 days before the hurricane of the century.

The narrator of The Bottoms is Harry Collins, an old man obsessively reflecting on certain key experiences of his childhood. In 1933, the year that forms the centerpiece of the narrative, Harry is 11 years old and living with his mother, father, and younger sister on a farm outside of Marvel Creek, Texas, near the Sabine River bottoms. Harry's world changes forever when he discovers the corpse of a young black woman tied to a tree in the forest near his home. The woman, who is eventually identified as a local prostitute, has been murdered, molested, and sexually mutilated. She is also, as Harry will soon discover, the first in a series of similar corpses, all of them the victims of a new, unprecedented sort of monster: a traveling serial killer. From his privileged position as the son of constable (and farmer and part-time barber) Jacob Collins, Harry watches as the distinctly amateur investigation unfolds. As more bodies -- not all of them "colored" -- surface, the mood of the local residents darkens. Racial tensions -- never far from the surface, even in the best of times -- gradually kindle. When circumstantial evidence implicates an ancient, innocent black man named Mose, the Ku Klux Klan mobilizes, initiating a chilling, graphically described lynching that will occupy a permanent place in Harry Collins's memories. With Mose dead and the threat to local white women presumably put to rest, the residents of Marvel Creek resume their normal lives, only to find that the actual killer remains at large and continues to threaten the safety and stability of the town. Lansdale uses this protracted murder investigation to open up a window on an insular, poverty-stricken, racially divided community. With humor, precision, and great narrative economy, he evokes the society of Marvel Creek in all its alternating tawdriness and nobility, offering us a varied, absolutely convincing portrait of a world that has receded into history. At the same time, he offers us a richly detailed re-creation of the vibrant, dangerous physical landscapes that were part of that world and have since been buried under the concrete and cement of the industrialized juggernaut of the late 20th century. In Lansdale's hands, the gritty realities of Depression-era Texas are as authentic -- and memorable -- as anything in recent American fiction.

In this standalone, Edgar-award winning author, Joe R. Lansdale, whom "few can match" ( Booklist ) beams a light on an East Texas town where a QAnon-style, evangelist cult is brewing trouble.  Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she’s running from bill collectors, but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most refer to as ‘The Saucer People’; a space-age, evangelist cult who believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second Coming.   Along with his brother, Felix, and beautiful, randy journalist Amelia “Scrappy” Moon, Charlie uncovers strange and frightening details about the compound ( a massive, doomsday storehouse of weapons, a leashed chimpanzee!) When the body of their key informer is found dead with his arms ripped out of their sockets, Charlie knows he’s in danger but remains dogged in his quest to rescue Meg.   Brimming with colorful characters and Lansdale’s characteristic bounce, this rollicking crime novel examines the insidious rise of fringe groups and those under their sway with black comedy and glints of pathos.

Imagine a jam-packed drive-in on a Saturday night. You're kicking back in your car with the popcorn and enjoying a good old-fashioned scary monster movie when, suddenly, the drive-in itself becomes the movie, with all its attendance thrills. And dangers. When a group of friends decided to spend a day at the world's largest Drive-In theater horror fest, they expected to see tons of bloody murders, rampaging madmen, and mayhem—but only on the screen. As a mysterious force traps all the patrons inside the Drive-In, the worst in humanity comes out. Filled with Lansdale's razor whit and black humor, The Drive-In is a darkly humorous masterpiece!

Introduction by Joe Hill In this career horror retrospective, World Horror Grandmaster Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep; Hap and Leonard) tackles racism and human cruelty as de­ftly as he conjures demon nuns and Elder Gods. Featuring an original introduction from Joe Hill, this much-anticipated volume showcases the best of Lansdale’s terrifying short stories—menacing, astute, and wildly inappropriate. Bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale is known for his gritty mysteries and his eccentric horror. As an eleven-time Bram Stoker Award winner, Joe Lansdale cooks up an inimitable recipe of Southern Gothic and Southern fried chicken that continues to delight his many fans and influence generations of horror legends. Lansdale mashes up crime, Gothic, mystery, fantasy, and science-fiction, filtered through a raw, violent world of dark humor and unique characters. Lansdale is one of the early American horror writers to portray racism not as abstract but as realistic, intimate, and impossible to ignore. In Lansdale’s nightmarish visions, you’ll discover psychotic demon nuns, a psychopathic preacher, cannibals, 80-year-old Elvis, undead strippers, ­ flying ghost fish, Elder Gods, possessed cars, and the worst evil of all: mankind. Contents Introduction by Joe Hill “The Folding Man” “Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train” “God of the Razor” “My Dead Dog Bobby” “Tight Little Stitches in a Deadman’s Back” “By Bizarre Hands” On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk “Love Doll: A Fable” “Mister Weed-Eater” “The Bleeding Shadow” “Not From Detroit” “The Hungry Snow” “Dog, Cat, and Baby” Bubba Ho-tep “Fish Night” “Night They Missed the Horror Show”

In the field of country noir--the dark side of rural and small-town America--Lansdale staked his claim to East Texas with The Nightrunners. A '66 Chevy bears down on the countryside, with a carful of vicious teenagers and evil of Biblical proportions, in this terrifying morality tale of sex and violence. Original.

The endlessly inventive mind of Joe R. Lansdale whips up yet another batch of stories to amaze, surprise, and entertain you. His new offering covers a lot of territory, producing what may be his best short story collection yet. One tale concerns an East Texas mule race in the early 1900s that proves to be an unexpected turning point and learning experience for the main character, a lifelong loser. It also chronicles the unusual circumstances of the race, which include a friendship between a rare white mule that can run like the wind, and his friend, a loyal, spotted pig. Another tale drops us into the disturbed mind of a mass murderer and his friendship with the shadows. Two others stories reintroduce us to the supernatural adventures of Reverend Rains, the flawed hero from Lansdale's cult favorite novel, Dead in the West. Here ghouls prowl and werewolves howl. There's a poetic collaboration with Melissa Mia Hall about the nature of loneliness and loss that echoes back to science fiction stories of an earlier time, as well as a famous, award winning novella reprinted here for the first time in several years about a clutch of unusual crime solvers. Read about a world where the dead almost rule, and venture into an alternate universe that is the background for perhaps the strangest tale of all, an adventure concerning an earnest and horny steam shovel named Bill, and his challenge to do the right thing at all costs. It's the usual wild and crowd pleasing display of what has become a subgenre of modern literature as only Joe R. Lansdale can present it: Tales Lansdalien. Welcome to his world.

Love and vengeance at the dark dawn of the East Texas oil boom from Joe Lansdale, "a true American original" (Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box ). Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas -- orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula. Then catastrophe strikes on the way to their uncle's farm, when a traveling group of bank-robbing bandits murder Jack's grandfather and kidnap his sister. With no elders left for miles, Jack must grow up fast and enlist a band of heroes the likes of which has never been seen if his sister stands any chance at survival. But the best he can come up with is a charismatic, bounty-hunting dwarf named Shorty, a grave-digging son of an ex-slave named Eustace, and a street-smart woman-for-hire named Jimmie Sue who's come into some very intimate knowledge about the bandits (and a few members of Jack's extended family to boot). In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack's about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme. In The Thicket , award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure equal parts True Grit and Stand by Me - - the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm -- or Mark Twain" ( New York Times Book Review ).

水痘無情席捲整個村莊後，年僅十六歲的傑克．帕克失去了父母，只能與妹妹露拉相依為命。不過，他們的家庭悲劇至此尚未結束，因為他們在準備與爺爺一同前往避難時，遇上了一夥比水痘更致命的強盜。這些劫匪不僅冷血地結束了爺爺的一生，還把露拉像當季新品一樣擄走了。 面對這突如其來的災難，傑克不得不迅速成長，肩負起找回妹妹的重任。但僅憑一己之力，他明白要找回露拉比找一隻不願離開家的貓還難，他決定尋求夥伴與盟友的幫助…… 尤斯塔斯：以挖墳維生的黑人，對他來說，死亡只不過是工作的另一種形式。賞金獵人之一，專長是讓別人的結局比他自己更早到來。 三寸丁：與尤斯塔斯同為賞金獵人，團隊的大腦。一位聰明的侏儒，比其他人矮，腦袋卻比所有人都靈光。 姬米蘇：決定洗手不幹的前風俗業者。愛上傑克，她希望能在這場愛情中找到更為光明的出口，但她的過去像個拖垮她的大笑話。 大豬：名符其實，一隻大豬。雖然時常脫隊，但有一個不會背叛的同伴對這群人來說或許是莫大的安慰。 在盟友的幫助下，傑克越來越接近盜匪們的基地。而傑克也在路途中發現，這混亂且暴力的土地上，他從小學習的法律正義無法派上用場。槍聲不絕於耳，哀鳴聲此起彼落，就像是這片土地的交響樂章一般，野性和原始的本能支配著人們的行為。傑克和他的夥伴們在這片野性原野中穿行，面對著一個個危險的境地。 這段復仇的旅途，不僅需要應對自然環境的險惡，還得與敵人鬥智鬥勇。尋找妹妹的路途，也同時是傑克尋找自我的過程。