High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale

by Joe R. Lansdale

This collection of Joe R. Lansdale stories represents the best of the “Lansdale” genre—a strange mixture of dark crime, even darker humor, and adventure tales. The stories are varied in setting and theme, but they are all pure Lansdale—eerie, amusing, and occasionally horrific.

In “The Pit,” modern gladiators square off against one another using Roman methods. An alternate-history tale called “Trains Not Taken” shows Buffalo Bill as an ambassador and Wild Bill Hickok as a clerk. Lansdale’s love of large lizards and humor are evident in the stories “Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program” and “Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland.”


The pit
Not from Detroit
Booty and the beast
Steppin' out, summer, '68
Incident on and off a mountain road
My dead dog, Bobby
Trains not taken
Tight little stitches in a dead man's back
Dog, cat, and baby
Mister weed-eater
By bizarre hands
The fat man and the elephant
The phone woman
Letter from the South, two moons west of Nacogdoches
By the hair of the head
The job
Godzilla's twelve step program
Drive-in date
Bob the dinosaur goes to Disneyland
The steel Valentine
Night they missed the horror show

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Collections, Fantasy, Crime

267 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.

He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[Dave Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

[image error]

If I wasn't a fan of Joe R Lansdale already I am now. The man can seriously write and with such an original style and voice. Brutal, unflinching and with lashings of dark humour. This collection of short stories is five star quality all the way.

There was a few stories from this one that I had already read in a previous collection, By Bizarre Hands. Those were:

Tight Little Stitches on a Dead Man's Back
The Pit
Steel Valentine
Night they Missed the Horror Show

All are absolutely top draw. But this collection is jam packed with brilliant additions that were worth the admission price alone. Like a triple feature, drive-in movie spectacular. My top five (you know I love a good ranking) are:

1 Incident On and Off a Mountain Road
2 Steppin out Summer '68
3 Not from Detroit
4 By the Hair of the Head
5 Drive in date



All fantastic and 'Booty and the Beast' and 'Mister Weed Eater' deserve a special mention too. Add all these together and you've got one of the best collections of short stories going. If you haven't read Lansdale do yourself a favour and start right now. He's one of the best kept secrets on the horror circuit and a real hot ticket. Just make sure you're not easily upset or offended because this is one R rated show that's going to shock and entertain in equal measures.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this in that quasi-mythical time before Goodreads. In fact, I thought I'd lost it but my brother found it when he was cleaning out the trunk of his car a few years ago. I'm waiting on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book I'm missing so it seemed like a good time to give it a whirl. Thanks to the magic of getting older and forgetting a lot of stuff, it was like a mostly new reading experience.

I was 23 when this came out and it was early in my Lansdale fandom. Now I'm pushing 46 and I've read over 50 Lansdale books. Half a life later, this is still a kick ass short story collection. It shows off Lansdale's versatility. There are funny stories, horror stories, crime stories, sf stories, and just plain fucked tales.

I've been on Goodreads for 15 years and still don't know how to competently review a short story collection. Mr. Weed Eater, the tale of a blind man plaguing a good Samaritan, is still one of my favorites. Trains Not Taken, an alternate history tale where Wild Bill Hickok is just a clerk, hit a lot harder than it did back in the day. Other stories, like The Night They Missed the Horror Show and An Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, are just as kick ass as they were back when I could barely grow decent facial hair.

I wouldn't say there's a dud in the bunch. There's a plethora of n-words scattered throughout, something that might turn off some readers but that's how the caliber of people Lansdale frequently writes about talk.

High Cotton is a short story collection that packs a wide variety of punches. Five out of five stars.

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

High Cotton is a collection of Joe R Lansdale’s favorites of his own short stories, all culled from previous collections and anthologies, and each story is preceded by an introduction from the author. Written and published over the span of about 15 years, these stories show one of my favorite authors growing and evolving and trying out new things in the short form. The only other Lansdale collection I’ve read is By Bizarre Hands, so I’d previously read only a handful of the stories found here—but revisiting Lansdale is never a waste of time.

Because this is a “greatest hits”, so to speak, the quality of these stories is crazy good, and the lineup is consistent. Only one story fell below 3 ⭐️ for me (my rating of each story can be found below). High Cotton features a delectable assortment of horror, sci-fi, western, and some good-ole Lansdale combinations that just can’t be labeled . . . and does it matter? I think not.

Joe R Lansdale is an author I’ve read lots from in the past couple years, but I’m still woefully behind on his short stories. He’s so damn prolific! This collection pushed me to want to try more, and I’ll get on that right quick.

Story Ratings:

The Pit - 5 ⭐️
Not from Detroit - 5 ⭐️
Booty and the Beast - 5 ⭐️
Steppin’ Out, Summer, ‘68 - 5 ⭐️
Incident on and off a Mountain Road - 5 ⭐️
My Dead Dog, Bobby - 4 ⭐️
Trains Not Taken - 4 ⭐️
Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back - 5 ⭐️
Dog, Cat, and Baby - 4 ⭐️
Mister Weed-Eater - 5 ⭐️
By Bizarre Hands - 5 ⭐️
The Fat Man and the Elephant - 4 ⭐️
The Phone Woman - 5 ⭐️
Letter from the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches - 3 ⭐️
By the Hair of the Head - 5 ⭐️
The Job - 5 ⭐️
Godzilla’s Twelve-Step Program - 4 ⭐️
Drive-In Date - 5 ⭐️
Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland - 2 ⭐️
The Steel Valentine - 5 ⭐️
Night They Missed the Picture Show - 5 ⭐️

= 4.52, rounded up to 5

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection features several of my favorite shorts by Lansdale, including Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back and Night They Missed The Horror Show, to name a couple.
My only caveat would be that if you are easily offended, then steer well clear of this one. If you like gritty, fearless, gory and often times hilatious horror writing, then you can't go wrong.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm speechless. Seriously. After the story about the guy carrying his dead friend half-eaten hanging out of the alligator I just sat there with my mouth hung open. Most of the stories will have that effect on you.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reminded of me of pulling into a small town down south where everyone has a shot gun behind the door, drinks like a fish and has their own set of rules. Watch out if you are different.

High Cotton is filled with more disturbing imagery than my worst nightmare. It's a sick sick world, fighting pits, heads on sticks, dead bodies in action poses, drive in movie dates pulled from the trunk. I felt claustrophobic but I liked it.

Looking forward to reading more from this author. Bring on the sickness!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn. It's been close to 20 years since I first read most of these stories (in Lansdale's earlier collections) and it's amazing how much they have stuck in my brain through all that time. Oh, sure, I didn't remember every word or phrase, but rereading these stories was like experiencing a muscle memory -- the past was still in there.

Truthfully, I am much less tolerant of the extreme violence contained in some of these tales than I was 15 or 18 or 20 years ago. I don't know that I'll revisit many of these stories a third time. But to a one these are fantastic stories and I'm glad to have experienced them again here.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I just finished it, and "Drive-In Date" has left a bad taste in my mouth. And I know they're all rednecks, but n*gger this and n*gger that in every story gets a little old. "Incident On & Off a Mountain Road" and "Tight Little Stitches" were excellent, though. Let's say 2 & 1/2 stars. Well, hell, I'll say three. Now that I think about it some more, and try to ignore "Drive-In Date", most of the stories were pretty freaking good.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lansdale is a competent writer, and he has some terrific ideas. I've seen two film interpretations of his work, "Incident on and Off a Mountain Road," and "Bubba Ho-Tep," and I did enjoy them. That said, he is so misogynistic that it's quite off-putting. Of course, you could make a good argument that he doesn't make men look so hot, either! :-/

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal, unflinching, and unapologetically disturbing, not a book for the easily offended. Mr. Lansdale shines in this brilliant collection of Southern decadence. Each story packs a wallop and stays with you long after you've read it, with intense imagery and macabre humor. Kids, don't try this at home.

[Craig Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a longtime Lansdale fan, I am happy this collection is back in print as a kindle ebook. Golden Gryphon Press published two retrospective collections of Lansdale short stories, HIGH COTTON (2000) and BUMPER CROP (2004). High Cotton is the better one, a best-of volume that showcases the author's most well-known short stories (but none of his award-winning novellas) from the early 1980’s through the mid 90’s.

I had already read all except one story, but that was years ago so I was glad to re-experience them again:

1. The Pit – A dark, funny, violent story of a small redneck town that captures strangers and pits them against each other in gladiator-style death matches.

2. Not From Detroit – Adapted from a minor scene in The Nightrunners. A surprisingly deft, touching story about an older couple one rainy night when Death pulls up to their door in a black Cadillac to claim one of their souls.

3. Booty and the Beast – The only short story not included in any other Lansdale collection. A nasty little noir crime tale that unfortunately jumps the shark in the last two pages.

4. Steppin' Out, Summer, '68 – One of my favorite Lansdale stories. Funny, brutal Southern gothic at its best

5. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road – A woman vs. psychopath killer jaunt. In addition to the suspense, what makes this story hold up so well is the crisp clarity of the action scenes and the evocative images of the child corpses in the moonlight on the side of that mountain.

6. My Dead Dog, Bobby – Years ago, this was the funniest short story I had ever read, but I found it does not hold up as well on repeat readings.

7. Trains Not Taken – An alternate universe story in which Japan colonized the West Coast. European and Asiatic cultures are clashing along the Rocky Mountains, and Native American uprisings seek to take advantage of the chaos. A great milieu, although the story itself does not take much advantage of it, concerning itself only with variants of Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill who failed to achieve glory without a Wild West. I would love to see Lansdale explore this world in more detail…

8. Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back – A visceral post-apocalyptic romp that combines several campy B-movie tropes with a heartfelt story of embittered parents grieving the loss of a child. This is the kind of fictional stew only Lansdale can pull off. Nominated for a World Fantasy Award.

9. Dog, Cat, and Baby – Another nasty short-short with a surprise bloody ending

10. Mister Weed-Eater – A bizarre but masterful tale of good deeds gone awry. The hardest part is believing the first five pages really happened!

11. By Bizarre Hands – Disturbing but predictable. Improves on subsequent readings. There is a play version, as well, that I wish had been included in this volume

12. The Fat Man and the Elephant – A skewering of religious zealots and racists. Funny but a little on the nose.

13. The Phone Woman –Another memorable story that begins as a comedy, then takes a dark turn into the macabre and disturbing. Based partially on true events.

14. Letter from the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches – Another alternate universe story: this time Native Americans are systematically exterminating both white and black populations, the Japanese are still settled on the West Coast, and John the Baptist has usurped Jesus as the Christian Messiah. Again, I would like to see Lansdale flesh out this new world at greater length.

15. By the Hair of the Head – An old-fashioned, eerie, atmospheric ghost story effectively told

16. The Job – A short-short that underwhelmed me when I first encountered it but showcases more emotional depth on second and third readings.

17. Godzilla's Twelve Step Program – Funny satire on AA and monster movies. Had me laughing out loud on several occasions.

18. Drive-In Date – Another quintessential Lansdale story. Horrible and funny at the same time.

19. Bob the Dinosaur Does to Disneyland –Lansdale claims this is one of his most popular stories, but I’ve read it a few times and it still just seems like a throwaway short-short to me.

20. The Steel Valentine – One of my favorites. A tight hard-boiled crime tale of a man fighting to save his life from a vicious dog and a madman.

21. Night They Missed the Horror Show – Won a Bram Stoker award. The horror derives not from the supernatural but from the realistic twin demons of racism and perversion run amuck.

[Aaron Polson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fledgling horror writer, I'm trying to digest some bits and pieces from masters of the genre. Consider this review more of a discussion of what I liked in the book. Like I said, I'm a fledgling writer myself, and once you start creating something, you realize how much easier it is to criticize than create--so I'm trying to keep it on the positive.

I enjoyed much of High Cotton. Personal highlights include "Mister Weed-Eater", "The Night They Missed the Horror Show", "Incident on and Off a Mountain Road", and my favorite, "Steppin' Out, Summer, '68". Each of these tales forced my hand, made me keep turning those pages to see what bizzare sight waited around the corner. Each contained just the right mix of black humor for my taste.

In this mix of 21 tales, the reader really gains a respect for Lansdale's style of storytelling. He is from East Texas, and you hear the voice throughout, even when the story might be a bit wide of the darkly humorous horror for which he's known. A warning to the squeamish: this book will offend your senses and offers enough racial ephitats to make political correctness roll around in it's grave.

Lansdale knows how to entertain, and when he's on his game, he's among the best.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a general Joe R. Lansdale Review, then a review of this book. He is kinda fun, God bless his twisted little heart. Picture what Steven King would write like if he lived in a Double-Wide Trailer and read the old World Weekly News for News, not Entertainment! He's........unique!!


As a reference point for movie buffs - he wrote Bubba Ho Tep. He's mostly horror stories, but has written excellent mysteries aswell.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for this, based off of Bubba Ho-Tep, and one of my favorite authors (Bradley Denton) constantly being compared to Mr. Lansdale, but I was really disappointed. High Cotton was basically shallow trashy stories about rednecks doing things that were more sensational than interesting.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

read about half of them, disturbing certainly... a little too much hate and anger for me, both racist sexist etc. still LOVE dead in the west will try others of his have zepplins west at home looking forward to it

[Tim Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewing anthologies and short story collections can be weird. Do you look at it as a whole? Do you look at the parts? Do you consider the broader context. I'm still not sure. I'm going to try to look at the stories here individually because the context is given to us by the author.

While this is the first collection of his short stories I've read, I'm not new to Lansdale's work. I read the first two or three Hap and Leonard mysteries when they first came out. I've read most of his comic work. I've read a number of his steampunk and pastiche works. What I haven't read is his horror stuff...because I'm really not a horror fan. Never have been. Probably never will be. But his work is strong enough and he works in enough genres to take the plunge.

"The Pit" if it's anything feels like swamp noir. If there were a femme fatale in the tale it might harken to Charles Williams and the swamp noir of his Fawcett originals. But there isn't. There's a brutal tale of human depravity and the capacity of otherwise normal humans to, if not embrace it, be swept in its tide. This is a noir tale brutally and well told.

"Not From Detroit" is a love story and a bit of a trickster story rolled into one. Lansdale telegraphed large portions of this one, but it really didn't matter because it was so well done. I think every writer wants to play with a personified Death. This one may not be up there with Gaiman or Pratchett's, but he has style. And I wouldn't mind meeting him again some day.

"Booty and the Beast". Awful pun. Great story. This one is pure noir. Our femme fatale is working to her ends. The poor suckers are working to theirs. Nobody ends up happy. And that's the way it should be.

"Stepping Out, Summer, '68". That old canard, tragedy is when I cut my finger; comedy is when you step into an open manhole. This one is really summed up in the author's introduction to the story. There is a certain kind of stupid in the world that just seems to invite abuse. Or at least make it acceptable. I see it every day. The utter dumbass who is firmly convinced he's the smartest man in the room. Our "protagonist" doesn't seem to be an inherently bad person. Just a dumbass. But it's because of that and because we have to to deal with his ilk every day that his fate is comedy and not tragedy. The blackest of comedy, but comedy nonetheless.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book to read one story. "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" is a story I had heard about. I was curious to read it, so I got this book read it and put the book down. It was a good story but it didn't compel me to keep reading. I had the books for a little while from the library anyway so I figured I might as well read the other stories too. I'm glad I did.

Lansdale wants to write his people. The best part of this book is the dialogue. These people have authentic voices. This of course leads to a LOT of ethnic slurs. It's sad but true. The important thing is that while reading, the people dropping these words weren't people to be emulated or looked up to. They were people to be pitied or detested. They were ignorant people in strange situations.

There are some stories in here that left me underwhelmed, so don't take my five star rating to mean that every story in here blew me away. In fact there were one or two stories that if I had never read them I'd be okay. I'm giving the book a five star rating because the stories that I liked, I LOVED. I was taken away with Lansdale's writing and I'm always glad to find a writer that makes me want to hang out with them.

Lansdale goes on my list with Patricia Highsmith and Jim Thompson. These are writers that have experienced some commercial success but I don't think they quite get the recognition that they really deserve.

[Elli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe R. Lansdale is a new author for me. He is an excellent writer; I'd say easily a 5 star writer. And he is a storyteller par excellent. You can just hear him relating these stories to yourself as part of an enraptured audience. He combines humor and pathos, poverty and neglect and humanity out of the worst of conditions. These stories involve a lot of mystery related genre. Some just don't resonate with me, like what if .... happened in history, and then base a story on it. Or horror. The undead. And some of the gruesome. But those I liked, I really liked. An old couple, neither wanting to survive the other....then outsmarting the devil to make it happen. Or 3 ne'er do well youngsters in a ne'er do well situation and the story really takes you around plus getting a feel for the people and the times...and their responses to the impossible. Two animals and a baby...all thru the eyes of a cat...and written rather like an old fashioned primer. And a few more. I don't thnk this will be the last I read of his works.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy is, as he claims, a competent and professional writer. Unfortunately, he is not a good enough writer to get away with what he's attempting.

In order for horror and suspense to work, not only must disbelief be suspended, but the reader must relate. We have to have something at stake. Lansdale's characters are uniformly horrible, and at no point does the reader experience the sensation of 'my god, what have I done' that accompanies good horror stories. We do not feel complicit in the bad acts, and we do not feel sadness when bad things happen to people.

The author relies far too heavily on misogyny, rape, and racism, in place of characterization and plot. While those things are indeed horrifying, they do not stand in for fully-fleshed character personalities, and they don't provide the 'creepy' tone that Landsale is going for.

He is pretty good at flat-out gore, though.

[Pete Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very small handful of these stories fell completely flat for me. But that's the risk in any soufflé, as I reckon it. That said, these little literary experiments push the boundaries of genre and good taste boldly. When they succeed, you get "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back", the most perfectly realized piece of short Apocalyptic fiction I've /ever read/. So appropriately horrible it's like a save-your-soul bible-throwing sermon from the future. Vivid, original, unforgettable, diabolically poetic. "Not from Detroit" does another thing just as well: gives "not going quietly" an east Texas twist and a smirk.

From there, fully a dozen of these stories are solidly entertaining. If not for "Mister Weed Eater" and "The Job", which are uncharacteristically empty and dismal affairs, this would be a hard collection to beat!

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got into Joe R. Lansdale because there's an incredibly brilliant cult film called BUBBA HOTEP, about Elvis Presley slaying evil Egyptian mummies in an East Texas nursing home. That movie is based one on of Joer R. Lansdale's stories, but it's not included in this collection.

Nevertheless, there are some great stories here. The mood ranges from fall-down laughing funny and relatively innocent, such as "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program," to unbelievably terrifying and disturbing, such as "The Night They Missed The Drive-In."

Not all of these stories worked for me, but that's only because I'm not a hard core horror junkie. I don't mind a chill or two, but I prefer my horror to have happy endings and a certain amount of warmth. Obviously that's not what great horror is about. Joe R. Lansdale is a genuine talent, a true successor to short story horror masters like Richard Matheson.

[Heath Lowrance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Lansdale's most popular stories. Very good stuff, and a reminder of what an original voice he was, right from the very beginning of his career. Most of these stories are pretty brutal and pretty graphic. Others, like "Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" are surprisingly whimsical, even if they DO have that twisted Lansdale touch.

Favorites include the aforementioned "Bob the Dinosaur", the truly disturbing "By Bizarre Hands", the black comedy "Night They Missed the Horror Show", the action-packed and scary "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road", the Alfred Hitchcock-esque "The Steel Valentine", and the tragic-funny "Godzilla's Twelve-Step Program".

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe R. Lansdale is not right in the head, and I mean that in the best possible way. His tales of the fantastic are darkly funny, twisted, and utterly without redemption. If you were dissatisfied with King's "Full Dark, No Stars" give "High Cotton" a read - what King was aiming for, Lansdale hits dead on. My favorite stories are "Steppin' Out, Summer," "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road," and "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program," but all of the stories have something to recommend them. FYI: There are NO happy endings. None at all. But there are some damned funny ones.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

While ostensibly High Cotton is a collection of horror stories, the real horror on display throughout many of Lansdale's stories is the rampant racism of the south. The ignorance and hatred most of these characters spew forth is scarier and more real than any moon-faced serial killer. The question I am left with at the end of the book is wondering how true these attitudes are today. Have people progressed any or is their racism just better hidden? High Cotton is a powerful collection that still packs a wallop!

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free podcast reading of a Joe R. Lansdale story:

This week on Pseudopod....

A fight for your life is a fight to the death...

It's "The Pit" by famed writer Joe R. Lansdale, read for you by John Bell!

[Michele Stufano]

The collection contains:

"Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" {originally published in Midnight Graffiti, Fall 1989}
"Booty and the Beast" {originally published in Archon Gaming (1995)}
"By Bizarre Hands" {originally published in Hardboiled #9 (1988)}
"By the Hair of the Head" {originally published in Shadows #6, ed. Charles L. Grant (1983)}
"Drive-In Date" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
"Dog, Cat, and Baby" {originally published in Masques #2, ed. J. N. Williamson (1987)}
"The Fat Man and the Elephant" {originally published in By Bizarre Hands (1989)}
"Godzilla's Twelve Step Program" {originally published in Writer of the Purple Rage (1994)}
"Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
"The Job" {originally published in Razored Saddles, ed. Joe R. Lansdale & Pat LoBrutto (1989)}
"Letter From the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" {originally published in Last Wave #5 (1986)}
"Mister Weed-Eater" {previously published by Cahill Press, 1993}
"My Dead Dog Bobby" {originally published in The Horror Show, Summer 1987}
"Night They Missed the Horror Show" (winner of Bram Stoker Award) {originally published in Silver Scream, ed. David J. Schow (1988)}
"Not from Detroit" (based on scene from The Nightrunners) {originally published in Midnight Graffiti, Fall 1988}
"The Phone Woman" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
"The Pit" {originally published in The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction, ed. Ed Gorman (1987)}
"The Steel Valentine" {originally published in By Bizarre Hands (1989)}
"Steppin' Out, Summer, '68" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
"Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" {originally published in Nukes, ed. John Maclay (1986)}
"Trains Not Taken" {originally published in RE:AL Spring (1987)}

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely the most disturbing and horrifying collection of stories I have ever read! If you are easily offended, you may want to keep clear of this one. That said, the stories were such that you just have to keep on reading to see what kind of perversity Lansdale comes up with next. I've read a few other books by Lansdale including some of his Hap and Leonard stories and his wonderful THE BOTTOMS. Most of the stories in High Cotton come from the same East Texas southern redneck bigoted arena as his novels, but then takes them to an extreme next level. Some of the ones to look out for include The Pit, Booty and the Beast, Steppin' Out Summer '68, Incident on a Mountain Road, and especially, Drive-In Date and Night They Missed the Horror Show. The last two mentioned really take it to the next level so be warned! Also included are some gentler stories in the science fiction/alternative history vein but for the most part these are really gut-wrenching. Lansdale also pulls no punches in describing the bigotry of the people in his stories. The "N" word was used more in this collection than in Huckleberry Finn. Overall, I would recommend this for the not so squeamish.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is captivating. It has about two dozen stories in it, all by this amazing author. Once i started reading it I couldn't put it down for 2+ hours. I haven't read the entire thing and I am very eager to finish the whole book. I would recommend this book to those who like graphic horror and gore, and those who don't mind vulgar language.
This author is great. In his stories he explores many diverse ideas and topics, most of them with a scary theme. this is the first book I've read by him and i would definitely love to read more of his works.
I deeply enjoy disturbing, graphic content and in my opinion these stories are wonderful. I was entertained by all the violence and such depicted in this book. 10/10 would recommend. It goes into great detail and I am excited to finish it.

[Cevri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific collection of short stories that are weird, twisted, disgusting, horrific, disturbing and absolutely hilarious. While none of the stories are original to this collection, it's great place to start for those who want to read some Lansdale as all the stories were picked by the author himself. Each story has a brief introduction by Lansdale as well.

Be warned though: some (all) of these stories can be hard to stomach. The despicable characters from these stories will engage in torture, sadism, "mash" murder, necrophilia, desecration of corpses, animal cruelty and copious amounts of racism/misogyny. Not for the faint-hearted!

[John Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this collection in High School, have gone back to the weird well of Lansdale several times since then. This collection is a great display of the writer's talents. He can be funny, he can be horrifying, and almost always make you stop and think. Sometime you wonder, What does this say about us as humans? Other times you may just ask, What the hell did I just read? But, I promise you'll enjoy many (if not all) all these stories.

Favorites:
Night They Missed the Horror Show
The Pit
Not From Detroit
Incident On and Off A Mountain Road