Customer Reviews

The Death Panel: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness

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I don't often read genre fiction, but this happened to fall into my lap while juggling planes between semesters, and an anthology seemed like a good way to satisfy the short attention span that a vacation from campus turmoil demanded. So I was quite shocked to find myself so engaged in these nasty little tales of revenge, insanity, and good old-fashioned murder.

First off, there is some solid and powerful writing to be found in this collection. Yes, as promised, these stories delivered the goods as far as violence, gore, shock value, and the occasional character development, but there are also some big surprises to be found here, too.

And the biggest surprise is David James Keaton's cinematic "Nine Cops Killed For A Goldfish Cracker," a ferocious but remarkably complex street fable with the momentum of a bullet. Layer upon layer of righteous confrontations, racial overtones, brutal but hilarious domestic turmoil, and possibly even a dash of religious symbolism combine to make this a dense but incredibly satisfying read. Yes, at least nine police officers are tragically killed in increasingly violent yet darkly comic showdowns, but as the story roars headlong to its inevitable conclusion, I challenge anyone not to root for any protagonist who lovingly cradles a cookie jar full of goldfish as he commits murder after murder to keep a roof over the head of his very pregnant but formidable wife (and girlfriend!). There is enough material in Keaton's fascinating powerhouse of a story for at least ten full-length crime novels or films.

Another highlight in The Death Panel is a vile little number by John Everson called "The Mouth." Quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever read, I am, however, glad something this toxic made it to the printed page. But I have to admit that the chances of me revisiting this story are unlikely. It's a fun one to recommend, though, to friends and enemies alike, and it maintains a staggering level of perversity up until its gruesome finale.

Also, David Tallerman takes advantage of the hard-boiled theme of this anthology to slip in a bit of fantasy with an oddity of a tale that I found to be a refreshing respite from the increasingly grim proceedings. "Rindelstein's Monsters," which reminded this reader of a mixture of James Whale and H.P. Lovecraft, is a playful story that answers an intriguing question I'm surprised no one thought to address during the recent resurgence of werewolves in pop culture.

"The Name Game" I found to be a twisty little Hitchcockian gag with exactly the payoff I craved, while "Lipstick Swastika" (excellent title) couldn't have had a more satisfying comeuppance for the villainous but voluptuous Nazi. "Parental Guidance" reminded me of Stephen King's early days and his story "Quitter's Inc." from Night Shift (high praise), while Tom Piccirilli's "Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid" also kept my attention until the final bloody revelation. And Kelly M. Hudson's "What Makes an Angel Cry" hinted at an impressively realized world and mythology outside of the brief glimpse provided.

All in all, I highly recommend this book to both horror and crime readers, as well as for graduate students such as myself looking for a guilty pleasure outside of academia. I realize a wildly creative hybrid such as this anthology might be an oddity, but if stories of this quality are representative of these two genres, The Death Panel has created a new fan, and literary fiction may have to take a vacation for awhile instead. At least until it catches up.

While this book probably wouldn't be the best to give Grandma for her birthday, it might be just the kind of twisted stress relief you might need for a visit with extended family. The stories cover a wide swath of the horror genre, so while not every single story was something I enjoyed, if you're at all a fan of a good demented read, this is for you.

My favorite story in the mix is David James Keaton's "Nine Cops Killed for a Goldfish Cracker." Although certainly not devoid of slaughter (as the title makes perfectly clear) the story has the only narrator I felt myself really rooting for. There's much more to the story than cops and crackers, and Keaton's sense of language is of a different degree of sophistication than the rest of the anthology's tales. I'm hoping to see a collection of this writer's stories out sometime soon. If the rest of his stuff is this good, he'll be a hit fast -- you'll want to be able to say you liked him before everyone had heard of him.

This isn't to say the other stories aren't a good read, though I did find myself more than once annoyed that it seems women exist in these stories only to be killed. I wasn't so much offended as a feminist but as a reader. Knowing what's coming from the first pronoun is annoying.

The story destined to burn its way into your brain is "The Mouth," by John Everson. I described its basic premise to my mother, who screamed and told me to stop. While the story does have a dark (very dark -- very, very dark) humor to it, the story's language felt somewhat rough around the edges -- not in terms of foulness, which doesn't offend me, but that it might have benefited from a few more rounds of revision. Still, though, read it -- if only because I did and now certain images are seared into my consciousness and therefore should be in yours, too.

It's interesting that not one of the authors is female (yes, Kelly M. Hudson is a guy, and if you don't believe me, read "What Makes an Angel Cry" -- although you should read it anyway) but the editor is a woman. What does this mean? I don't know, frankly, but it's something to ponder as you read the book. Because you should. Have I mentioned that?

Holy smokes! Barricade the doors and lock up your daughters; "The Death Panel" is as grisly, garish, and depraved a collection of horrific crime you'll ever read - an abattoir of the human dark side with a taste of the supernatural - a rogues gallery of degenerates who you guess are lurking out there, but hope you never encounter. Any one of these stories would nicely fit into Frank Miller's "Sin City" - larger-than-life crime fiction eschewing subtlety for a mostly monochromatic pallet of blood, bone, and perversion.

Like most anthologies, "Death Panel" has its strengths and weaknesses. Among the gems I'd place Tom Piccirilli's "Blood Sacrifices and the Catonic Kid" near the top - a clever and ironic tale of a wise old con out for revenge. Randy Chandler, who writes noir like he's related to crime classicist Raymond, get the collection of to a strong start with "Lipstick Swastika", the story of a hotel detective and loathsome female Nazi death camp guard on the lam. And there's "Detail" by Fred Venturini, where CSI meets "Car And Driver." Simon Wood's "Parental Guidance" adds some brutally new dimensions to tough love. While Brandon Ford's "The Neighbor" majors in stomach-turning perversion, yet has that same gruesome magnetism that draws spectators to a plane crash.

I was less than enamored with "What Makes and Angel Cry". Seems author Kelly Hudson may have tried to pick up on a theme perfected by Charlie Huston's vampire Joe Pitt series, but failed to measure up to Huston's hip and irreverent delivery. "Rindelstein's Monsters", by David Tallerman, was built around an intriguing "post Rapture" existence, but unfortunately fell short of what I was hoping would develop into a unique approach to the overdone apocalypse stories. Others, like John Everson's "The Mouth", while undeniably original, pretty much pegged the nausea needle, and Zach Sherwood's "Board up the House" was just a bit oblique and ambiguous for my tastes.

So while definitely not for the squeamish, this is a well-edited collection of crime horror; thirteen fast-paced reads that waste little time in the niceties of prose or setting that might upstage the terror and shock of the main event. In short, the Comet Press has compiled an edgy and gruesome set of tales to incite pitchfork-wielding mobs - a perversely entertaining form of guilty pleasure guaranteed to satisfy that "Tales from the Crypt" part of your psyche.

This violent and dark collection is one of the better anthologies I've read in a while, and is strictly for adults only. The diversity of the stories is sure to keep the reader on their toes. Highlights include tales by Tom Piccirilli, Randy Chandler, Brandon Ford, Tim Curran, and Fred Venturini. A special story - the book's guilty pleasure -- "The Mouth", is written by John Everson, and not to be read by anyone with a weak stomach. Fans of Edward Lee's hardcore stories will be right at home with "The Mouth". Even my least favorite stories here are above average, so you are sure to have a good time with all of them. "The Death Panel" is a quick read and definitely recommended.

The Death Panel is a collection of dark crime/thriller/horror stories that covers alot of ground. Some of the stories are hard boiled detective riffs like the wonderful Detail by Fred Venturini about an ex-cop that specializes in cleaning out cars and keeping his mouth shut. Others are hybrid detective/horror stories like What Makes and Angel Cry by Kelly M. Hudson about a bar on the line between heaven and hell while others are just plain strange like John Everson's The Mouth about a sexually obsessed man and a woman with genitalia where her mouth should be and her mouth where her genitalia should be. Weird, gross, and most importantly memorable sum up the collection. Of course top honors goes to Tim Curran, whom also wrote the best story in Vile Things, this time out with Fly By Night, a great horror/detective hybrid that left me begging for more. The great thing about Comet Press and the Death Panel is that most of the stories here are by unknown or underground authors while also including known writers as well, this time Tom Piccirilli and John Everson. It seems that the Death Panel specializes in damn good writing whether its an unknown or a best seller and all the stories collected here are new as well. All from 2009 or 2008 which is also a pleasure. I can't tell you how many short collections I've bought only to find out all the stories have been published somewhere else 10 years ago. Not so here.

The Death Panel is a fun fast paced read with wonderful stories throughout. Just like with Vile Things, not all of the stories are gems, but all of them were fun to read and enjoyable. Many of the same authors from Vile Things have entries here and will have entries in Comet Press's forthcoming Sick Things, a collection of creature shorts, which just shows Comet Press's dedication to publishing new talent and maintaining a stable of amazing authors. Recommended.