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Dating Secrets of the Dead: Signed, Numbered
David Prill is best known for his homegrown mix of odd humor and horror as displayed in The Unnatural and Serial Killer Days.
Here, in his first collection, you will find the dating rituals and concerns of the recently deceased explained, a circus of vengeful sideshow freaks, and a brand-new novella, “The Last Horror Show”—a coming of age semi-autobiographical tale set in a small Midwestern town in the 1960s, the last summer “The Chasm of Spasms,” a Midnight Spook Show, appeared at the local movie theater.
Here, in his first collection, you will find the dating rituals and concerns of the recently deceased explained, a circus of vengeful sideshow freaks, and a brand-new novella, “The Last Horror Show”—a coming of age semi-autobiographical tale set in a small Midwestern town in the 1960s, the last summer “The Chasm of Spasms,” a Midnight Spook Show, appeared at the local movie theater.
139 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 14, 2007
Back in 1995, David Prill wrote The Unnatural, a strange and funny look at America’s Pastime: competetive embalming. I don’t know why. But it was deadpan and sly and even charming. He followed this up with 1996’s Serial Killer Days, which is about an annual small-town festival which culminates in the murder of the festival queen. Again he took the rituals of American life and twisted them into something totally unique and very very funny. In 1998, he published Second Coming Attractions, a Prill-ian (Prill-esque? Prill-ish?) peek inside the world of religious filmmakers. And after that? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. We kept waiting and hoping, and in 2002 finally the long drought was over with Subterranean Press’s publication of Prill’s new collection Dating Secrets of the Dead.
The title story is a look at teenage dating after death. The tone is brilliant—very reminiscent of one of those old health class filmstrips (or, for younger readers, the health & hygiene films they sometimes showed during MST3K). It is an unusual writer who can balance the funny, the charming and the grotesque, but Prill is very good at it. You’re rooting for Jerry and Caroline even as you’re laughing at the inevitable outward manifestations of the deacying process.
The second story is much darker. “Carnyvore” is a much more straightforward horror story, right out of the old EC Comics: self-righteous townsfolk cause the failure of a traveling circus and the carnies take their revenge. It’s not a humorous story, but Prill does take the old Cryptkeeper’s delight in the justice imposed on the hypocritical “normals” by the carnival folk.
The final story is yet another departure for Prill. “The Last Horror Show” is a Bradbury-esque tale of the gradual end of the traveling horror show and the boy who grows up as the shows fade away. Prill does a marvelous job of capturing a kid’s joy in the schlocky live horror shows that traveled around a film circuit providing live screams and chills and laughs before a horror movie. It’s easy to get caught up in Davy’s enthusiasm. But Prill does an equally fine job at showing us the people behind the show, with their own hopes and dreams, and how they try to hold onto them as those dreams inexorably fade away. “The Last Horror Show” really shines.
Three very different stories from one talented writer. I can only hope that Dating Secrets of the Dead is merely a hint of things to come.
The title story is a look at teenage dating after death. The tone is brilliant—very reminiscent of one of those old health class filmstrips (or, for younger readers, the health & hygiene films they sometimes showed during MST3K). It is an unusual writer who can balance the funny, the charming and the grotesque, but Prill is very good at it. You’re rooting for Jerry and Caroline even as you’re laughing at the inevitable outward manifestations of the deacying process.
The second story is much darker. “Carnyvore” is a much more straightforward horror story, right out of the old EC Comics: self-righteous townsfolk cause the failure of a traveling circus and the carnies take their revenge. It’s not a humorous story, but Prill does take the old Cryptkeeper’s delight in the justice imposed on the hypocritical “normals” by the carnival folk.
The final story is yet another departure for Prill. “The Last Horror Show” is a Bradbury-esque tale of the gradual end of the traveling horror show and the boy who grows up as the shows fade away. Prill does a marvelous job of capturing a kid’s joy in the schlocky live horror shows that traveled around a film circuit providing live screams and chills and laughs before a horror movie. It’s easy to get caught up in Davy’s enthusiasm. But Prill does an equally fine job at showing us the people behind the show, with their own hopes and dreams, and how they try to hold onto them as those dreams inexorably fade away. “The Last Horror Show” really shines.
Three very different stories from one talented writer. I can only hope that Dating Secrets of the Dead is merely a hint of things to come.
August 4, 2009
Ah, the simple pleasures of small town life. That first, awkward date with the girl of your dreams. The excitement when the carnival comes to town. Those endless days of waiting for the traveling spook show to roll back through again. It's practically a Norman Rockwell painting... until David Prill gets ahold of it. Then, homespun and naïve go crashing through the window as a whole new world sets up camp.
Take the tender story of young love, the titular story of the collection, and it's a 50s hygiene film approach to a very different kind of wooing. Some say that infatuation never changes, but they never had to deal with decomposition. Courting from six feet under has its own unique challenges, as this primer on manners so vividly illustrates. Perhaps, too vividly at times for some, but it is information every non-growing kid should have.
Besides, that's not gore; "Carnyvore," now that's gore. Why is it that any time the topic of carnies comes up in horror that you just know that you're in for a stomach-turning time? This tale of the down-sizing of a traveling carnival dangles the ghastliness to come in front of the reader from the first sentence. By turns darkly witty and appalling, it makes a valid point about making decisions of political incorrectness without consulting the alleged victims. If your town has experienced the heated "dwarf-tossing" debate, you already know that sometimes the crusaders seldom hear the protests of the people actually affected, leaving many with heaps of dignity and empty pockets.
Both stories entertain and titillate, but it is in the final piece that Prill really hits his stride. This is an author whose true strength lies in long fiction. "The Last Horror Show" is heads above the other stories -- shrunken heads, maybe, but heads nonetheless. Perfectly captured on paper is the wholesome/claustrophobic atmosphere of small towns everywhere. Tiny dots on a map where the only excitement seems to come from outside the city limits and offers the only escape from growing up and growing old in the same dull burg. Prill allows us to follow along in the years between child and young man, measured out in precious visits from "Dr. Ogre Banshee's Chasm of Spasms," or whatever its next incarnation is called.
The hero moves against the distant backdrop of the Vietnam war, protests, and all world events that pale in comparison to the allure of the spook show. Somewhere in the pancake make-up and cheap special effects is the only reality he wants, even as he sees it slipping away -- a shred at a time for the show and for his innocence. It's a powerful, recognizable image that doesn't fade after you set the book aside.
Prill's wit is dry and very dark. His message in Dating Secrets of the Dead is a personal one to each reader; no two people will take away from it the same impressions. See what you read between the lines of the switchback. And get your hopes up for another new novel that must surely be dying to come out of David Prill. -Lisa DuMond-
Take the tender story of young love, the titular story of the collection, and it's a 50s hygiene film approach to a very different kind of wooing. Some say that infatuation never changes, but they never had to deal with decomposition. Courting from six feet under has its own unique challenges, as this primer on manners so vividly illustrates. Perhaps, too vividly at times for some, but it is information every non-growing kid should have.
Besides, that's not gore; "Carnyvore," now that's gore. Why is it that any time the topic of carnies comes up in horror that you just know that you're in for a stomach-turning time? This tale of the down-sizing of a traveling carnival dangles the ghastliness to come in front of the reader from the first sentence. By turns darkly witty and appalling, it makes a valid point about making decisions of political incorrectness without consulting the alleged victims. If your town has experienced the heated "dwarf-tossing" debate, you already know that sometimes the crusaders seldom hear the protests of the people actually affected, leaving many with heaps of dignity and empty pockets.
Both stories entertain and titillate, but it is in the final piece that Prill really hits his stride. This is an author whose true strength lies in long fiction. "The Last Horror Show" is heads above the other stories -- shrunken heads, maybe, but heads nonetheless. Perfectly captured on paper is the wholesome/claustrophobic atmosphere of small towns everywhere. Tiny dots on a map where the only excitement seems to come from outside the city limits and offers the only escape from growing up and growing old in the same dull burg. Prill allows us to follow along in the years between child and young man, measured out in precious visits from "Dr. Ogre Banshee's Chasm of Spasms," or whatever its next incarnation is called.
The hero moves against the distant backdrop of the Vietnam war, protests, and all world events that pale in comparison to the allure of the spook show. Somewhere in the pancake make-up and cheap special effects is the only reality he wants, even as he sees it slipping away -- a shred at a time for the show and for his innocence. It's a powerful, recognizable image that doesn't fade after you set the book aside.
Prill's wit is dry and very dark. His message in Dating Secrets of the Dead is a personal one to each reader; no two people will take away from it the same impressions. See what you read between the lines of the switchback. And get your hopes up for another new novel that must surely be dying to come out of David Prill. -Lisa DuMond-
March 15, 2020
A clever, short read! Nothing but fun and imagination!
March 17, 2010
This is a slim hardcover I received as a gift two years ago and recently read. Zombie and carny tales (Geek Love is still my all-time favorite book) have always been a favorite of mine so seeing as this collection features both a zombie love story and a vicious little carny tale I was already biased before turning the first page. The writing goes down easy and is filled with lots of great dry humor and I enjoyed all of the novellas.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews