Sleep Disorder [Hardcover]

Jack Ketchum (Author), Edward Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

The first collection of collaborations between Jack Ketchum and Edward Lee

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For years Ketchum (Peaceable Kingdom) and Lee (City Infernal) have written taboo-breaking horror fiction that's invariably provocative and sometimes good taste-challenged. This collection of their five collaborative stories is the literary equivalent of a frat-house Halloween party, full of cheesy shocks, raunchy sex and gross-out humor. "I'd Give Anything for You" and "Love Letters from the Rain Forest" have carbon copy plots involving nymphomaniacal young women who spurn wimpy suitors for studly hunks and pay for their choice with grisly fates. "Eyes Left" delivers more of the same, offering its account of an alluring female zombie who turns tables on a group of drooling barflies as a morality tale on the wrongness of sexual objectification. The title story, about a man unhinged in waking life by a secret existence lived in his slumbers, relies on a trite narrative shortcut-a tape recorder that catches the truth while he sleeps-to unravel its mystery. Only "Masks," about magically endowed masks that bring out the subconscious impulses of an intimate couple, succeeds in conveying the strangeness of uncanny experience. The book also includes first drafts of two stories, one by each of the authors, that show Lee to be the more prone of the pair to inventive descriptions of bodily functions. This book is unlikely to earn either author new readers, but neither is it likely to deter the hardcore fans at whom it clearly is aimed.
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Review

Both (Ketchum and Lee) are supremely entertaining... this is a slick effort that brilliantly melds their styles and themes. -- Chi Magazine

Tremendous talent is not even a strong enough word for what has been trapped within these pages. -- Horror-Web.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 149 pages
• Publisher: Gauntlet Press; Limited edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887368698
• ISBN-13: 978-1887368698
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Aging > Sleep Disorders

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Sleep...Can't Sleep...Can't Sleep......., February 14, 2004

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sleep Disorder (Hardcover)

Sleep disorder is a rare book that is truly worth the cost of finding, if you are a fan of Ketchum and Lee. There are seven stories in all, 5 stories, plus 2 more that are the original first drafts of Sleep Disorder and Id Give Anything for You. Whenever you put Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum together, it spells horror in a highly entertaining and gruesome way. Fantastic collection, dont miss out on it. Here is a brief description of the stories.

Id Give Anything For You  Clare is a beautiful woman, who becomes exasperating dating, or rather gold digging, a young and very rich man named Roderic, who is fat, slack muscled, and pale as a fish belly. Seeing a stud on the side named Wardell, Clare finally decides that the fine restaurants and the jewelry and the high living just arent worth the price of dating a man like Roderic when Wardell satisfied her so much better. Besides, along with Roderic came his mother and her man servant Fudd, both of whom disliked Clare. Dont leave us, Roderic begs Clare. Id give anything for you! But Clare leaves, not knowing just how much Roderic is willing to give.

Love Letters From The Rain Forest  Clara Holmes, a beautiful woman, dates droll and dreary professor Howard Moley in an attempt to get at his family fortune, but finds him too boring to be worth the shot at money, so she dumps him. Howard, a mycologist, expert on fungi of every category, flies off to Brazil on a grant to study the rainforest. He still sends Clara love letters, telling her of his wonderful discoveries. Clara replied by sending Howard pictures of her in bed with other men, right about the time she receives a letter from Howard telling her how he has fallen ill. Howard has one more letter to send Clara.

Masks  not my favorite, a tale of a worldly and traveled man, his penchant for using his collection of masks for pleasure, and a surprise ending as to which mask we really wear.

Eyes Left  The dead are walking and talking and living among us. Protected now by the Government so that they have rights, they are still cause for amusment by three friends who hang out during happy hour at the World Café to watch the ladies stroll by. Admiring the scenery and guessing which ones are dead, spouting off about the minority rights of the dead, and wondering what it would be like to bed one. And then she came in, had a drink with them, and made them an offer.

Sleep Disorder  Bill Dumont is a rich, successful, powerful man, and a bastard to boot. Ask his ex wife Laura or his girlfriend Annie, or Millie, the hooker he frequents. But Bill has a problem, he talks in his sleep. When he starts somnambulating, Annie moves out. Bill sets up a tape recorder, because he doesnt believe his sleep disorder is all that bad. Bill is in for a surprise.

Good Seeing You  First draft of the short story Sleep Disorder by Jack Ketchum. Dont skip over it, its different and stands apart from the collaborated version.

I Would Do Anything For You  First draft of the short story Id Give Anything For You. Dont skip over it, its different and stands apart from the collaborated version.

All these wonderful tales followed up by an Afterward written by Jack Ketchum with some interesting tidbits on how this collaboration came into being.

This is one of those books that is worth the price of finding. Enjoy!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If ever two authors were ideally suited for one another..., September 20, 2004

By 

Kelli Owen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sleep Disorder (Hardcover)

Tremendous talent is not even a strong enough word for what has been trapped within these pages... Ketchum's visceral visions combined with Lee's love of the truly twisted make for a wicked trip down some very unnerving paths.

"I'd Give Anything For You"... if ANYONE ever says that to you - run! don't look back... just run! Nothing like making sex a horrible thing and a visual that stays with you long after you've finished it!

"Love Letters From the Rain Forest"... good guys finish last, but hey sometimes they only appear to. A bitter tale that waits to grab you until the very end and even though you smell it coming, you wince and cheer at the same time!

"Masks"... good horror should always make you nervous along the way and then reinforce your fears at the end, Masks takes its job seriously!

"Eyes Left"... not your normal zombie story, and in case you wondered, there ARE things worse than death!

"Sleep Disorder"...gotta love a good revenge tale =) Evil, bitter, nasty - oh yeah, women are bad, bad things...

And when you're done you get to read 'Good Seeing You' aka first draft of 'sleep disorder' - an amazing tale that was lovingly altered and twisted in just the right way for a wonderful collaboration piece!

And then 'I would do anything for you' first draft [note the 'do' and 'give' in the title change] a raunchy ride that gets tweaked into an unsettling argument for abstinence! Almost funny in parts but the end takes all the grins away and replaces them with grimaces...

Sharp concise writing, no frills in your face pacing, and characters that you love or love to hate... This collaborative collection is an amazing thrill ride that was over much too soon. If you are a fan of either of these writer's it's a must have - if for nothing else than to see how well they work with another writer - that is just as twisted as they are!

Rating - FIVE, no ifs, ands, or buts about it ... get this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disorderly Conduct!, January 7, 2007

By 

J. L. Comeau (Fairfax, VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleep Disorder (Hardcover)

What do you get when you put together two of the finest writers of hardcore horror working today? Well, you get something like the collaboration between Leopold and Loeb, but far more subversive and a hell of a lot more fun. And that's why they got together for this collection, says Jack Ketchum, "We did this just for fun." And he's not kidding, TombRats! Sleep Disorder is more fun than a barrel of vampire bats, and perfect Halloween reading for horror fans. This volume collects a number of edgy stories of supreme terror and, in pioneering Gauntlet Press fashion, shows the two authors working on their own and the final collaborations that meld these two titanic talents. You'll love the title story (written in individual form and collaborative form), "Sleep Disorder", which treads the very brink of madness with a sense of humor that underscores a full-on screamer of a plot, and that's just for starters. These stories range in tone and atmosphere, but the horror is full-throttle throughout. Very explicit in tone and content--not for the kiddies!