Access Splatterpunks II: Over The Edge Authored By Paul M. Sammon Displayed In Manuscript
on Splatterpunks II: Over the Edge
so much icky fun, I think the first collection was better, but I just can't get enough, and Splatterpunkscame through! More short horror stories, this time focusing more on female authors.
Hit or miss. In general, the stories are technically good, However, many of them are also badly dated, The fact that trans bodies were ever considered appropriate fodder for body horror says a lot about how far weve come, but aside from that, throwing a trans woman into a story and leering over her body anxiety just felt.
. . cheap. Use of kink for shock a couple times contributed to this feeling, These authors were trying HARD to make it stick, Sometimes I felt like I was reading a horror version of The Aristocrats, If youre going to construct horror, construct it the Barker and Petoud stories were good examples of the genre, and Petoud was as gory as you could possibly want, but the gore had a purpose, you know
And what is up with horror writers leaning on lesbian relationships I swear the book had eight to ten incidents of girl lovin and precisely zero of boy lovin.
Aside from general use of male homosexuality for shock value in “For You, The Living, ” Its not just this book, and I still see it in modern works, but the phenomenon really stuck out here and it made me wonder once again about the relationship of the queer community to horror and how that relationship has evolved.
Theres probably a doctoral thesis in there somewhere but Ill leave it for someone with more coffee and less time, Youre welcome.
Moments where I was truly, viscerally disturbed by these stories were fairly rare considering, Its hard to say if that was a reflection on their quality or the fact that they were tapping into a zeitgeist that is twenty years gone, “The Human Centipede” and “Saw” have ruined us, apparently, Alas, to be so jaded, and yet to have paid three bucks for this book, There's some good stories in here, but a lot of it is embarrassing, cringey bullshit, Quite disappointing. Splatterpunk usually isn't a genre I'm especially fond of, but I bought this anthology because it was fifty cents at a book sale and contained work by writers I know I tend to enjoy.
Also, its focus on fiction by women or featuring female protagonists made me hope that it would be free of the aspect of splatterpunk I'm most often put off by that is, stories that read like straight dudes' boring, misogynist sexual fantasies about raping and torturing women, disguised by the thinnest possible patina of "no, don't you see, it's satire/social commentary/bold literary transgression in the spirit of the Decadents/whatever".
I was right about that there are several stories here that deal with women being raped and/or tortured, but on the whole they're way more interesting and nuanced than that, or at least more interested in women's experiences, agency, and interiority.
That said, many of the pieces in SPLATTERPUNKS II still have a kind of immature tryhard edgelord factor that seems very, very's and is very, very much what tends to make me roll my eyes at splatterpunk even when it doesn't read like a Ted Bundy wet dream.
A few are tinged with the kind of libertarian "I hate everyone equally"/"You're all just sheeple" misanthropy that would feed into altright cultureyears down the line it's fascinating and depressing to consider the ideological trajectory there, as this anthology definitely hails from an era in which misanthropic libertarians tended to side with the left on at least some issues e.
g. trans rights, racism is bad,
Most of the content in this anthology isn't actively bad, but a lot of it just wasn't quite to my taste, Still, an engaging read, and a fun/weird blast of pure, unadulteratedgoth bullshit, Elizabeth Massie's "Hooked On Buzzer", which I first encountered in a different anthology about ten years ago, still freaks me out I highly recommend it, Kathe Koja's contribution is also memorably horrible/haunting and original, although I felt it lapsed too much into summary and telling the reader that things happened instead of depicting them in the last third before recovering admirably for a strong, surreal conclusion.
I wouldn't have wanted to pay more thanorfor this collection, but in no way do I regret spending that fifty cents!
P, S. Much like "Androgyny" from BORDERLANDS II, there are a couple stories in here that deal with trans characters specifically trans women in a way that clearly tries for empathy and emotional realism but does come off as VERY dated bystandards, and which may be upsetting/offensive to some readers.
Poppy Z. Brite's "Xenophobia" attempts a satirical critique of dumb white bro racism, but ends up just being kind of actually racist, so heads up for that one, too, Reach beyond the limits of convention and rationality and into the darkest corners of the human soul in this new volume of tabooshattering short fiction,
A good splat collection, If that's your thing, you'll like it, If it's not, you won't, Simple as that. Beginning a reread of the horror authors I read back in High School/PostCollege, An average offor this collection, Some good ones, but a lot that just hit the "trying to be shocking" that you can get from horror, The better stories don't feel so "earlys", But a good start Splatterpunks I and the two Book of the Dead anthologies, and more single author books, Some people think disgusting or plain weird equals horrific, If that's the case, any halfway talented writer could write "horror" stories, and this is what has happened in this collection, for the most part, Some stories are enjoyable, others are forgettable,
The worst part about the book though is editor Paul M, Sammon's shrill histrionics over female empowerment and such claptrap, Now, I am not speaking of someone who makes a strong expression of his desire for women's equality in the Splatterpunks II's introduction, No. Paul M. Sammon is the kind of liberal nutcase who is out for blood, spewing his ugly hatred and filth all over the pages,
In his personal acknowledgments, refers to Reagan, Bush, Sr, Pat Buchanan among others as "criminals here on earth" who should also, "after death, rot in the agonizing eternities of their own private hells, "
The editor's immature, pathological spewage is NOT why I bought a horror anthology, I got this to be entertained and discover some good writers, not hear some liberal nutjob's ravenous rants over some kind of delusional war meant to keep women "secondclass citizens.
"
Sammon, if you're still involved in publishing, keep your opinions to yourself, Thank God I bought this used, so that no cent of my cash ended up in your pocket, You psychotic, liberal twit. This book was ok. Certainly nothing to write home about, There were some interviews amp other essays that I don't feel really went with the stories, They may have been ok with more of the same but they didn't work mixed in with the fiction, I bought it used and certainly don't feel an overwhelming need to go out amp find the first one, Probably the best thing about it was it was a pretty fast read, Often a bit much. I guess I prefer my horror with more aesthetic style and less abuse, . . some of the stories weren't bad though some good authors featured, I probably would have liked the book as a whole better if the editor weren't so keen on defining and validating the term "splatterpunk" at every given opportunity.
Another reviewer mentioned that the editor did a lot of "spewing' his "liberal" claptrap around, but I didn't read any of the notes or the introduction, only the stories, so I couldn't tell you about that.
I have mixed feelings about this book, Splatterpunk is kind of hit or
miss for me, I like scary, intense, shocking stuff, but I prefer it to have some substance and originality, Some fo these stories did, some didn't, I liked For You, the Living, a zombie story with the twist that the virus affects everyone slightly differently but they all become crazed sexually in one way or another.
All Flesh is Clay was interesting, about a man who "sculpts" people's bodies after they did and brings them back to life, Heels was good, about a serial killer who is a foot fetishist and how he meets his fate, Lacunae was a cautionary tale of a transgender woman whose forray into strange illegal drugs leads to madness,
Overall, there was some stuff that was good, and, overall, it was worth reading, I was bored with the interviews and didn't read them, or the other material, I only read the stories, I would say three to three and a half, Most excellent anthology, with many remarkable authors who surprise us by writing stories in this genre, I think this edition is as good or better than the first Splatterpunks, Which is rare and somewhat unusual, A nice surprise. Paul M. Sammon has written for The Los Angeles Times, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers Du Cinema and Cinifantastique, His fiction has appeared in many collections and he is editor of the best selling American Splatterpunks series, As a film maker Paul M, Sammon has produced, edited and directed dozens of documentaries on films such as Platoon, Dune and Robocop, He is the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and his latest book is about the making of the movie Starship Trooper directed by Paul Robocop Verhoeven.
.
Hit or miss. In general, the stories are technically good, However, many of them are also badly dated, The fact that trans bodies were ever considered appropriate fodder for body horror says a lot about how far weve come, but aside from that, throwing a trans woman into a story and leering over her body anxiety just felt.
. . cheap. Use of kink for shock a couple times contributed to this feeling, These authors were trying HARD to make it stick, Sometimes I felt like I was reading a horror version of The Aristocrats, If youre going to construct horror, construct it the Barker and Petoud stories were good examples of the genre, and Petoud was as gory as you could possibly want, but the gore had a purpose, you know
And what is up with horror writers leaning on lesbian relationships I swear the book had eight to ten incidents of girl lovin and precisely zero of boy lovin.
Aside from general use of male homosexuality for shock value in “For You, The Living, ” Its not just this book, and I still see it in modern works, but the phenomenon really stuck out here and it made me wonder once again about the relationship of the queer community to horror and how that relationship has evolved.
Theres probably a doctoral thesis in there somewhere but Ill leave it for someone with more coffee and less time, Youre welcome.
Moments where I was truly, viscerally disturbed by these stories were fairly rare considering, Its hard to say if that was a reflection on their quality or the fact that they were tapping into a zeitgeist that is twenty years gone, “The Human Centipede” and “Saw” have ruined us, apparently, Alas, to be so jaded, and yet to have paid three bucks for this book, There's some good stories in here, but a lot of it is embarrassing, cringey bullshit, Quite disappointing. Splatterpunk usually isn't a genre I'm especially fond of, but I bought this anthology because it was fifty cents at a book sale and contained work by writers I know I tend to enjoy.
Also, its focus on fiction by women or featuring female protagonists made me hope that it would be free of the aspect of splatterpunk I'm most often put off by that is, stories that read like straight dudes' boring, misogynist sexual fantasies about raping and torturing women, disguised by the thinnest possible patina of "no, don't you see, it's satire/social commentary/bold literary transgression in the spirit of the Decadents/whatever".
I was right about that there are several stories here that deal with women being raped and/or tortured, but on the whole they're way more interesting and nuanced than that, or at least more interested in women's experiences, agency, and interiority.
That said, many of the pieces in SPLATTERPUNKS II still have a kind of immature tryhard edgelord factor that seems very, very's and is very, very much what tends to make me roll my eyes at splatterpunk even when it doesn't read like a Ted Bundy wet dream.
A few are tinged with the kind of libertarian "I hate everyone equally"/"You're all just sheeple" misanthropy that would feed into altright cultureyears down the line it's fascinating and depressing to consider the ideological trajectory there, as this anthology definitely hails from an era in which misanthropic libertarians tended to side with the left on at least some issues e.
g. trans rights, racism is bad,
Most of the content in this anthology isn't actively bad, but a lot of it just wasn't quite to my taste, Still, an engaging read, and a fun/weird blast of pure, unadulteratedgoth bullshit, Elizabeth Massie's "Hooked On Buzzer", which I first encountered in a different anthology about ten years ago, still freaks me out I highly recommend it, Kathe Koja's contribution is also memorably horrible/haunting and original, although I felt it lapsed too much into summary and telling the reader that things happened instead of depicting them in the last third before recovering admirably for a strong, surreal conclusion.
I wouldn't have wanted to pay more thanorfor this collection, but in no way do I regret spending that fifty cents!
P, S. Much like "Androgyny" from BORDERLANDS II, there are a couple stories in here that deal with trans characters specifically trans women in a way that clearly tries for empathy and emotional realism but does come off as VERY dated bystandards, and which may be upsetting/offensive to some readers.
Poppy Z. Brite's "Xenophobia" attempts a satirical critique of dumb white bro racism, but ends up just being kind of actually racist, so heads up for that one, too, Reach beyond the limits of convention and rationality and into the darkest corners of the human soul in this new volume of tabooshattering short fiction,
ers called Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror "a forceful anthologycummanifesto of splatterpunk that makes a strong case for splatterpunk as valuable, morally confrontational art, An authoritative and intelligent collection for horror fans willing to go all the way" Kirkus s and "a work of 'dangerous visions, '" Booklist
Splatterpunks II: Over the Edge continues in the groundbreaking tradition of the first volume by featuring acknowledged masters of the bizarre Clive Barker, Martin Amis, and Brian Hodge established women writers Kathe Koja and Poppy Z.
Brite underground favorites and Bram Stoker Awardwinners Nancy Holder, Melanie Tem, and Elizabeth Massie, Steve Rasnic Tem and Michael Ryan Zimmerman help round out this second daring collection,
Provacative, shocking, and frightening, as well as literate, intelligent, and revolutionsary, Splatterpunks II: Over the Edge promises to open your eyes to a new, and perhaps dangerous, way of looking at the world.
A good splat collection, If that's your thing, you'll like it, If it's not, you won't, Simple as that. Beginning a reread of the horror authors I read back in High School/PostCollege, An average offor this collection, Some good ones, but a lot that just hit the "trying to be shocking" that you can get from horror, The better stories don't feel so "earlys", But a good start Splatterpunks I and the two Book of the Dead anthologies, and more single author books, Some people think disgusting or plain weird equals horrific, If that's the case, any halfway talented writer could write "horror" stories, and this is what has happened in this collection, for the most part, Some stories are enjoyable, others are forgettable,
The worst part about the book though is editor Paul M, Sammon's shrill histrionics over female empowerment and such claptrap, Now, I am not speaking of someone who makes a strong expression of his desire for women's equality in the Splatterpunks II's introduction, No. Paul M. Sammon is the kind of liberal nutcase who is out for blood, spewing his ugly hatred and filth all over the pages,
In his personal acknowledgments, refers to Reagan, Bush, Sr, Pat Buchanan among others as "criminals here on earth" who should also, "after death, rot in the agonizing eternities of their own private hells, "
The editor's immature, pathological spewage is NOT why I bought a horror anthology, I got this to be entertained and discover some good writers, not hear some liberal nutjob's ravenous rants over some kind of delusional war meant to keep women "secondclass citizens.
"
Sammon, if you're still involved in publishing, keep your opinions to yourself, Thank God I bought this used, so that no cent of my cash ended up in your pocket, You psychotic, liberal twit. This book was ok. Certainly nothing to write home about, There were some interviews amp other essays that I don't feel really went with the stories, They may have been ok with more of the same but they didn't work mixed in with the fiction, I bought it used and certainly don't feel an overwhelming need to go out amp find the first one, Probably the best thing about it was it was a pretty fast read, Often a bit much. I guess I prefer my horror with more aesthetic style and less abuse, . . some of the stories weren't bad though some good authors featured, I probably would have liked the book as a whole better if the editor weren't so keen on defining and validating the term "splatterpunk" at every given opportunity.
Another reviewer mentioned that the editor did a lot of "spewing' his "liberal" claptrap around, but I didn't read any of the notes or the introduction, only the stories, so I couldn't tell you about that.
I have mixed feelings about this book, Splatterpunk is kind of hit or
miss for me, I like scary, intense, shocking stuff, but I prefer it to have some substance and originality, Some fo these stories did, some didn't, I liked For You, the Living, a zombie story with the twist that the virus affects everyone slightly differently but they all become crazed sexually in one way or another.
All Flesh is Clay was interesting, about a man who "sculpts" people's bodies after they did and brings them back to life, Heels was good, about a serial killer who is a foot fetishist and how he meets his fate, Lacunae was a cautionary tale of a transgender woman whose forray into strange illegal drugs leads to madness,
Overall, there was some stuff that was good, and, overall, it was worth reading, I was bored with the interviews and didn't read them, or the other material, I only read the stories, I would say three to three and a half, Most excellent anthology, with many remarkable authors who surprise us by writing stories in this genre, I think this edition is as good or better than the first Splatterpunks, Which is rare and somewhat unusual, A nice surprise. Paul M. Sammon has written for The Los Angeles Times, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers Du Cinema and Cinifantastique, His fiction has appeared in many collections and he is editor of the best selling American Splatterpunks series, As a film maker Paul M, Sammon has produced, edited and directed dozens of documentaries on films such as Platoon, Dune and Robocop, He is the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and his latest book is about the making of the movie Starship Trooper directed by Paul Robocop Verhoeven.
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