The Death Panel: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness - Softcover

Tom Piccirilli; Scott Nicholson; John Everson; Simon Wood; Randy Chandler; Brandon Ford

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982097999 ISBN 13: 9780982097991

Publisher: Comet Press, 2009

Synopsis

The Death Panel: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness features 13 stories from authors of crime, suspense, and horror. Sadistic serial killers, German war criminals, cops and zombies, the mob and monsters, detectives and were-creatures, all rolled up into one roller coaster ride of an anthology. Ultra violent, hardboiled, with an unhealthy dose of the macabre, The Death Panel is a no-holds-barred, in-your-face hard ride to hell.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

HORROR WORLD

"...if you’re looking for something a little different to read in your horror fiction, a book with stories that are edgy and cool as all hell, then pick up The Death Panel, and then be prepared to be blown away by some of the best genre short story fiction written in the last few years. Yes, this book is that good."

BOOKGASM

"With sharp writing and a crisp design to match, the anthology makes a strong case for 2009's best. It's only Comet Press' third release, but already, the small-press label has distinguished itself as a reliable name brand. Pick it up, if you've got the balls."

MONSTER LIBRARIAN

"If you are a horror fan who wants to expand your horizons, I highly recommend picking up The Death Panel."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lipstick Swastika by Randy Chandler

Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid byTom Piccirilli

What Makes an Angel Cry by Kelly M. Hudson

The Neighbor by Brandon Ford

The Name Game by Scott Nicholson

Fly by Night by Tim Curran

Detail by Fred Venturini

Parental Guidance by Simon Wood

Rindelstein's Monsters by David Tallerman

The Hooker in the Backseat by Erik Williams

The Mouth by John Everson

Nine Cops Killed For A Goldfish Cracker by David James Keaton

Board The House Up by Zach Sherwood

About this title

Review:

Bookgasm -

Sarah Palin is good for something after all. Her fearmongering over the health care mess coined a phrase that inadvertently gave Comet Press a terrific title for a crime-based anthology, in THE DEATH PANEL: MURDER, MAYHEM, AND MADNESS, edited by Cheryl Mullenax.

The loose theme yielded some tight writing. Thirteen stories are included, many from young upstarts rather than established vets, and this is a rare case where there's nary a dud among them. However, that assumes you have a strong stomach and a mind that's not easily offended. And if that sentence causes an eyebrow or two to twitch, are you in for a treat.

The fatal fun begins with Randy Chandler's "Lipstick Swastika," in which impotent hotel detective Trench investigates a fourth-floor guest of Twilight Towers: a buxom German woman who is rumored to be a N@zi war criminal. What happens when e'er the two shall meet was a wild, welcome surprise, setting the reader up for an expectation-shattering 200 pages to follow. As I read this first story, I thought Trench had franchise potential written all over him, and sure enough, the "About the Authors" section at the end confirms that Chandler beat me to the punch.

"The Neighbor" is next, and it's your first indication that the book doesn't flinch in the gore department. Brandon Ford tells the tale of two trailer park denizens, one of whom has a taste -- both physically and sexually -- for dead girls. Its gruesomeness is one-upped -- or three-upped, or whatever -- later with John Everson's "The Mouth," about a kink-seeking deviant who meets a mentally handicapped woman whose vagina is where her mouth is supposed to be, and vice versa. True love! The term "outrageous" doesn't even begin to cover this one.

After that punch to the gut, it's nice to have Simon Wood onboard with the playful "Parental Guidance," a jet-black comedy about a loving father who spills his secrets to a neighbor about making his son behave. It's too bad ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS isn't around anymore, because this clever number would be a shoo-in for an adaptation.

With sharp writing and a crisp design to match, the anthology makes a strong case for 2009's best. It's only Comet Press' third release, but already, the small-press label has distinguished itself as a reliable name brand. Pick it up, if you've got the balls. --Rod Lott -- Bookgasm, December 24, 2009

About this edition

• Publisher: Comet Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0982097999
• ISBN 13: 9780982097991
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211
• Editor: Cheryl Mullenax