Wetbones [Paperback]

John Shirley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Leisure Books (1999)
• ISBN-10: 0585298920
• ISBN-13: 978-0585298924
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, with a great big helping of Revulsion, January 28, 2001

By 

Ryan Costantino (Nowhere, Special) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wetbones (Mass Market Paperback)

This isn't your namby pamby, tip toe around the details Horror. This is in your face, Oh my God I can't believe that just happened, Horror. Good Horror.

The story is both involving and intriguing as well as extremely heart wrenching. Also, it's undeniably gross. A Lovecraftian tale of the less subtle variety; of things existing just beyond the threshold of our reality and the next.

An unspeakable horror, capable of reducing a human to an amorphous pile of gore and bones in seconds. A creature that endows men with the power to control the thoughts, and actions, of others. A creature that thrives on the darkest perversions. A creature that hungers to be very much a part of our world.

You will be amazed. You will be shocked. Your eyes will bulge, your gorge will rise.

The talent of John Shirley is apparent here. This was the first piece of writing I had ever read by the author (except for the lyrics on Blue Oyster Cult's album Heaven Forbid) and now I can't wait to read more of this demented man's work.

A word of warning to the faint of heart: Wetbones is what some might call Splatter Horror. It bears all the subtlety of an upside down crucifixion. So pregnant women, people with heart conditions, and those with weak stomachs, proceed with caution. But by all means proceed.

Don't let the numerous typographical errors sway your judgement either, this is a damn fine example of Horror fiction, even if the editor assigned to it was a complete idiot.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a contemporary horror masterpiece!, February 9, 2000

By 

jason wallach - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wetbones (Mass Market Paperback)

A lot of things can be said about this book but "dull" has no place in any description about this book. And yes, stick to Stephen King if you want the same old predictable and formulated horror novel written from the imagination and not the soul / from experience. The only problem with WETBONES is that it's horribly misunderstood. The author presents us with a familiar surrounding - the filthy and one dimensional city of Los Angeles. However, we find out that it's actually 4 dimensional. For the most part the other reviews here do describe some of what goes on in this book so I won't bore you with attempting to elaborate... just read this book.

John Shirley speaks from his own horrors of drug and sex addiction and when an artist pours his soul into his work it ceases to be pornography, it is art. This book is dark and ugly and highly confrontational in regards to addiction and its consequences as well as the nature of humanity. It is raw and visceral and honest in ways I've never experienced before. This book is a profound story with a message which may be too honest for most people to handle... John Shirley pulls no punches and even I wished that I could put the book down and forget I had heard of it, but I couldn't because it's too compelling as a horror novel, as a drama, as well as somewhat of an autobiography in symbolic and metaphorical ways. John Shirley simply made it severe enough that people would take notice. Whether you love it or hate it WETBONES leaves its mark. It's a pretty hardcore book and not for the squeamish. It is ultimately about hope and pulling through the darkness of our souls (and what feeds on them)however it is a long and hard journey through that darkness and the only way past it is through it. Read this book and if you don't feel anything than stick to flat and "dull" works of other horror writers who only wish they could write like Shirley. Wetbones is a journey to places within ourselves that we don't want to be or see, but that's the beauty of it and the formula for really good horror. Out of a possible 5 stars I give it 10. There is no other book like this and more than likely there never will be again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AN IMAGINATIVE, BUT STICKY MESS!, August 16, 2000

By 

David D. Warner (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wetbones (Mass Market Paperback)

WETBONES is a novel about addictions. In it, you will find vivid depictions of heinous behaviors fueled by compulsive dependencies on both substances and actions, including alcohol, crack, sex, power, ego, self-mutilation, torture and murder. Set in LA, Hollywood and Malibu, (where else?), the characters are a mixed bag of active addicts, addicts in recovery, future addicts and even an addict-come-preacher who has to fight his own cravings and compulsions before he can save his daughter from the greatest addiction of them all - the need to feed the blood lust. But that's not where the real horror lies. The real horror here is that Shirley attributes addictions - all addictions - to myriad species of inter-dimensional, worm-like parasites that infect human hosts and feed off the pleasure the hosts receive from indulging their addictions. These astral worms, or Akishra, in turn reinforce the addictions and manipulate their hosts in mind and body by supplying "reward" or "punishment" - direct stimulation to the pleasure and pain centers of the brain. What I found profoundly disturbing about this novel is Shirley's reduction of addictions to entirely external forces. Effectively, he removes all personal responsibility from the addict and places the onus of the addicts' behavior squarely on otherworldly shoulders. He demonstrates graphically, that the things that we crave can possess even the most innocent among us.

WETBONES is the first of John Shirley's novels that I've read. It was a recommended selection from Amazon.com based, I'm sure, on my recent purchases of books by Poppy Z. Brite, Douglas Clegg and Brent Monahan. I'd previously read many rave reviews of Shirley's work and decided to give this novel a try. I found WETBONES to be an imaginative story that was riveting, well written and utterly decadent. I loved it. And I will definitely pick up a few of Shirley's other novels for future reading. But while I found the story to be engaging and well crafted, I was distracted throughout the entire book by a string of careless typographical errors. The book was littered with them on practically every other page. This is certainly no reflection on the author. He crafted an ingenious and highly imaginative story. For the connoisseur of the sticky macabre, this is one of the stickiest and certainly one of the scariest. But my question is this ... Where was the editor? A respectable publishing house would never have been so careless as to allow this imaginative, but sticky mess out the door. If I were rating strictly the author, this book would have received 5 stars ... but because of the sad, sorry shape of the supposedly edited product, I could only rate the overall package 3 stars. And I suggest that Mr. Shirley start looking for a more professional publisher. His work deserves better than this.