Skull Full of Spurs [Hardcover]

Richard Laymon (Author), Brian Hodge (Author), Jason Bovberg (Author), Kirk Whitman (Author), Allen G. Douglas (Author), Jack Ketchum (Author), Yvonne Navarro (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Dark Highway Pr; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966262913
• ISBN-13: 978-0966262919
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,777,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born back in the early days when black and white photographs were considered normal instead of artsy. As a child I always thought I'd grow up to be an artist, and I was was convinced I'd spend my life doing line drawings of long, leggy models like the ones in the daily newspapers. Life, however, did not cooperate: a foul-up in grammar school resulted in a transfer to a local high school instead of the technical, arts-heavy one I'd planned to attend.

Following that was a move that really made things start winding around. By the time I returned to Chicago for the second time in 1981, I'd worked as a waitress, a nurse's aide, a bookkeeper and gift shop cashier, an accounting clerk, and a secretary in everything from office furniture stores to a hotel to a journalism society. In 1981 I came back to my old job in a Chicago law firm and settled down in the Windy City for awhile. In 1982 I tried to write because my mother said "You could do this." The seed had still been planted, and I sold my first story in 1984. Since then I've written around a hundred stories, most of which have been or are scheduled to be published.

My first novel, AfterAge, was published in 1993 and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. In 1995 my second solo novel, deadrush, was published, and it also was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, this time in the category of Superior Achievement in a novel. Final Impact, the third solo novel, was published in 1997, and won both the Chicago Women In Publishing's Award for Excellence in Adult Fiction and the "Unreal Worlds" Award for Best Horror Paperback of 1997 from the Rocky Mountain News. Since then I've published several more solo novels, Red Shadows (a follow-up to Final Impact), DeadTimes, and That's Not My Name, her first suspense novel. That's Not My Name, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Paleo, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 2 all won at the Illinois State level of the IWPA 2001 Mate E. Palmer Communications contest (two first place and one second place, respectively), plus I somehow swept all three awards of the Short Story category with "Ascension," "Divine Justice," and "Santa Alma." I've also written a number of media tie-in novels, including several Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Hellboy, Elektra, and Ultraviolet. Full info about all her books can be found on her website along with a lot of free excerpts.

I moved to my beloved Arizona in 2002 and currently work on historic Fort Huachuca. in southern Arizona. Numerically, I'm up to about twenty novels and one non-fiction book, with those never-ending plans for more. I love heat, Godiva chocolates, and Great Danes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Twisted, Twisted, Twisted, March 21, 2002

By 

Sebastien Pharand (Orléans, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skull Full of Spurs (Hardcover)

Skull Full Of Spurs lives up to its name: It is truly a roundup of weird Western tales that will shock you, scare you and entertain you to the uttermost degree. I had a blast reading this book and anyone who's a fan of horror fiction will, too.

The book contains 12 stories, all of them good, none of them bad. But of course, some stand out against the others. Jack Ketchum's "Luck" is a great little campfire tale, Rick Hautala's "The Screaming Head" is about a horrifying folklore legend that comes to life and Yvonne Navarro's "Divine Justice" plays with the idea of heaven and hell in a Western setting.

But there are three great masterpieces of the bizarre in this book. Richard Laymon's "The Hangman" is a classic ghost story mixed with the elements of the Western tale and ends up being a great, satisfying read. Lawrence Walsh's "The Devil's Crapper" is a funny and twisted story that will make you laugh with every word and every sentence. And Adam-Troy Castro's "The Magic Bullet Theory" (the longest story in the book) is an epic tale that is brilliantly written and highly satisfying.

And if that's not enough for you, there are also stories by Edward Lee, M. Christian, Nancy A. Collins and a very twisted, very disturbing story by Robert Devereaux. Skull Full Of Spurs has it all; horror, action, fantasy, humour... It has something to please every reader of the genre. This is one collection you'll want to come back to time and time again. So saddle up part'ner and get ready to be entertained!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird Western Tales had nothing on this book., June 26, 2003

By 

Kevin B. Price (Versailles, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skull Full of Spurs (Hardcover)

Inspired by Joe R. Lansdale and DC comics such as Weird Western Tales and Jonah Hex, Dark Highway's Skull Full of Spurs left a big ole smile on this cowpoke's face. Jack Ketchum's story Luck, about a man who continues to get himself killed over and over and the unfortunate fates of his killers was one of the books highlights. Another was Richard Laymon's story The Hangman, a great and surprisingly funny story about a vengeful ghost. The stories about the midget sheriff, a magic bullett which hangs in midair in the middle of main street and Cthulhu mythos in the old west are all also great. Pick this book up.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A round up worth reading", June 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Skull Full of Spurs (Hardcover)

I'm always wary of any collection of stories. Usually you get couple good ones, a couple mediocre ones and the rest is largely forgettable if not just plain crap. This anthology breaks that mold by having quality throughout. From the first spell-binding tale by Brian Hodge of a man who just won't die, to the last by Robert Devereaux of sexual insatiability, these stories keep you wanting to read the next.

This book is a must-have for your next camping trip to scare the dickens out of the kids. Read them "The Hangman" by Richard Laymon and "The Screaming Head" by Rick Hautala and there will be nightmares in abundance. If those don't do the trick there's another half dozen that will keep that campfire stoked all through the night.

I look forward to a to sequel "Skull Full of Spurs" in the near future.