The Collection

It's a good collection. Five star? Nope. There are incredible stories included in it like "The Baby" and "The Washingtonians" and then there is some dreck like "The Passenger". But read it. They cant all be homeruns.

This author usually writes novels in the horror genre, but apparently he dabbles in the horror short story. This is a collection of short stories he has written over the years and there is not a stinker in the bunch!! Some of these stories actually terrified me, and I am a very long-time fan of horror. Mr. Little does it without gore or obvious "jump out of the closet" type stuff. His writing is fluid and intelligent and I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Bentley Little has done it again! This collection of short stories is an absolute must have for anyone interested in this hilarious author's writings. Little's stories are a deft mix of humor, horror, and weirdness that are an excellent way to pass a few hours. I am continually amazed that many people fail to grasp the humor in this man's novels and stories. Little is a master of black comedy and satire (or as he refers to it in several of his stories here, "slightly exaggerated" situations).I don't think it is helpful to go through a story-by-story analysis. Since many of the stories in "The Collection" are very short, an in-depth analysis of them would undoubtedly give away crucial plot information. I'll try to touch on a few recurring themes that Little revisits more than once.Little has an interesting view of history. This theme caught my eye because I have a degree in history, and enjoy reading and studying the topic. Two stories are notable with this theme. The first, and the one story that made me buy the book, is "The Washingtonians." A man finds a letter written by George Washington in a relative's trunk. The letter discusses eating children and making tools out of their bones, and is judged to be authentic. When the man visits a local university, he finds out that history, as we know it, is a total sham concocted to keep people in line and present a positive image of the powers that be. It is sufficient to say that by the time you reach the end of this story, you'll see a whole new meaning to the phrase, "the British are coming!"The second story with this historical theme is "Colony." A newly elected president finds out that America isn't what it appears to be. Let's just say that the Declaration of Independence is a facade to placate the people. The president, with the help of Nixon crony H.R. Haldeman (who turns out not to be dead, just in hiding), stages a new war for independence.These two stories highlight Little's pessimistic view about accepted knowledge. Knowledge is often not a set of rigid facts or figures, but something softer and hazier that can be manipulated by people for whatever goals they desire. Sometimes, historical lies cover up something that can be truly terrifying.Another theme in the book is his humor, especially in satire. The story that best fits this rubric is "Confessions of a Corporate Man." In this brilliant gem of a tale, Little viciously skewers corporate America's attitude of competition. Disagreements between various departments in a company turn into full-blown wars involving murder, sex, and betrayal. It is bloody, but screamingly funny, as anyone who works (or has worked) in an office will quickly accede. Another tale, "Life with Father," shows us what happens when recycling is taken WAY too far.The humor isn't just satire, sometimes it is as black as the coffee at an AA meeting. Just check out "The Show," about a snuff theater where the victim on stage might be someone you least expect. Then there i

Being a person who loves short horror stories and is fond of some of Bentley Little's novels, I figured I couldn't go wrong with a collection of stories from the author of The Store and The House. But there was more to it than that. These are not just the good stories of a novelist who needed to make a few bucks in his starving artist days or wanted to be included in a collection. I think that horror fans should consider this collection the current decade's answer to Clive Barker's wonderful collections (Books of Blood, In the Flesh, Inhuman Condition) a generation back. These stories do not just entertain, they blow the reader's mind and expand into territories of transgressive imagination previously unmapped. They also have a great sense of twisted humor. Kind of a mix of Fellini (in his Satyricon mode) and Monty Python. I always thought that horror and humor were natural allies. Both involve surprise, loss of control, exaggeration to the point of the grotesque and a sense of an environment in which something is out of whack or unnatural. These tales, written at various stages of Mr. Little's career, run the spectrum of human and cosmic absurdity and weirdness. In "Roommates" a man in need of a roommate to share his apartment expenses puts an advert on a bulliten board and is instantly besieged by all manner of freaks and undesirables just clamoring to move right in and bring their delusions, violence, filth, wall-sized board games, pet monkeys and general creepiness with them. In "The Washingtonians" a man discovers that not only was George Washington his century's real life Hannibal Lecter crossed with Pol Pot (he wanted to found a nation based on cannibalism and dark occult practices, killed and ate Thomas Jefferson, and the story of his cutting down the cherry tree is an allegory for of his habit of sacrificing virgins), but that he is worshipped by a cult of equally crazy modern day elitists with a secret headquarters beneath Mount Vernon who wear powdered wigs and ivory dentures during their rituals. Yes, someone really wrote such a story! Even stranger is "Pillow Talk" in which the protaginist is menaced by talking sex-obsessed pillows who would probably feel right at home with the talking (and very bossy!) bowl of macaroni and cheese in "Blood." These are just a few of my favorites. Get the book and discover your own!

Bentley Little has an ability few other people writing today have: the ability to scare the socks off ANYONE! The stories he presents to us here, in a book apporpriately called "The Collection," are no less than his best. And that, my friends, is something worth checking out.The stories here vary widely, and some aren't even horror at all. In fact, one deals with the possibility that the Revolutionary War had ended quite differently. Another, along similar lines, asks us the question, "How much do we really know about our founding fathers?" Then, of course, you have the spine-tinglers. Ghost towns are brought up repeatedly, as Little knows how to wring out the best of those stereotypical settings. In one story, a man just says something, and it happens! In another, an anbandoned town's trash turns out to be more than just litter! And in yet another story guaranteed to frighten you half-to-death, Little brings back the bathhouse from his awesome novel "The Town." This time, it "flies" away into horror (you'll understand when you read it).This is definitely a "Collection" that I am glad to have on my bookshelf. Though Little's imagination is sometimes extremely morbid (even more-so than mine!) he never fails to write a good story. As a bonous, along with each installment in this collection, Little includes a small passage of how the story came about, and why he likes it. This is Bentley Little's latest gift to us. He brings us his fears of fanatics, voodoo witches, zombies, nightmares, paper, potatoes, and midgets, and gift-wraps them between two covers. So open up and enjoy. Just don't turn off the lights.

Bentley Little proves once again why he is the best horror writer working today. These 32 stories effectively showcase his incredible range, from quiet horror like "Monteith" to the hardcore splatter of the edgy "Llama" to the unclassifiable weirdness of "The Man in the Passenger Seat." This guy can do it all! Perhaps most of interest to his fans are the short introductions which precede each work and explain where the author got the idea for each piece. A must-read for all serious horror fans.