Bleeding Shadows

by Joe R. Lansdale

Bleeding Shadows is Joe R. Lansdale's largest, most varied collection to date. Weighing in at 488 pages and 150,000 words, these stories, poems, and novellas--supplemented by the author's introduction and by an invaluable set of story notes--move effortlessly from horror, adventure, and suspense to literary pastiche. It is, by any measure, a major addition to an already impressive body of work.

The volume opens with 'Torn Away,' in which a small town sheriff encounters a man on the run from his own predatory shadow. The stories that follow come from all points of the narrative compass. In 'Morning, Noon, and Night,' a young boy stumbles across a monstrous, multi-faceted killer from which there is no escape. 'The Bleeding Shadow' is a tale of music, monsters, and deals-with-the devil set in post-WWII Texas. In 'Star Light, Eyes Bright,' an ordinary husband makes a startling discovery, one that leads to an unimaginable act of personal transformation. Elsewhere, the author offers us twisted Christmas stories ('Santa at the Cafe'), tales of a zombie apocalypse ('A Visit with Friends'), and one story--'Christmas with the Dead'--that encompasses both of these elements. Other highlights include a pair of informed, affectionate acts of literary homage. 'Metal Men of Mars' pays tribute to the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, while in 'Dread Island,' the masterful novella that concludes this collection, the world of Huckleberry Finn merges seamlessly with the worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and Joel Chandler Harris.

Sometimes funny, often horrifying, and always compulsively readable, this generous gathering of stories--few of which have previously appeared in book form--constitutes a significant publishing event. Bleeding Shadows is an indispensable, vastly entertaining volume, one that no admirer of Joe R. Lansdale's distinctive brand of fiction can afford to miss.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Poetry, Lovecraftian

488 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleeding Shadows is a collection of short stories by Joe R. Lansdale. Don't tell anyone but I skipped most of the poems and a couple of the stories I couldn't get into or had read before.

Torn Away: A small town sheriff brings a suspicious man in for questioning and gets a lot more than he bargained for...

Right out of the gate, Lansdale reminds me just how good he is at writing short stories. This one feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone or something. Short and sweet if you like the idea of a man on the run from supernatural forces.

Bleeding Shadows: A PI is hired to find a hooker's missing brother, who is a blues man playing sounds that no human should hear...

I read this one in a Lovecraft anthology once. It's still creepy as hell the second time through.

A Visit With Friends: In a world gripped by a zombie outbreak, a married couple chats about another couple down the street.

This tale is one of suburban creepiness and sexual deviancy. It's pretty crazy.

Christmas Monkeys: This one is a poem about monkeys attacking on Christmas.

Christmas with the Dead: In a world gripped by a zombie outbreak, a man reminisces as he prepares for Christmas.

This one is gory, violent and somewhat sad.

Quarry: A writer acquires a Zuni fetish doll. Carnage ensues when the doll comes to life and goes on a rampage.

This is a sequel to the Richard Matheson story Prey and quite good.

Six-Fingered Jack: The Big O has put a bounty on Six-Fingered Jack and one man means to collect.

This is a noir tale about murder and betrayal. Good stuff.

Mr. Bear: Jim gets stuck sitting next to Smokey the Bear on a plane. From there, things only get worse, with drinking, drugs, dead hookers, and all sorts of other foulness.

Hilarious, dark, and awesome.

Old Man in the Motorized Chair: A cantankerous old retired detective is watching a TV show about snakes when the sheriff arrives, asking for help on a case. Stubby will help but only during commercials...

Love. Imagine Sherlock Holmes living in West Texas and even more insufferable.

Soldierin':
A couple black men head west to join the colored people's army. Inappropriate hilarity ensues.

I could see this story offending the shit out of some people. Still hilarious though.

Hide and Horns: A buffalo soldier encounters a black man with one leg pinned under a dead horse and the white men on his trail. Inappropriate hilarity ensues.

See above, adding Chinese stereotypes to the mix.

The Stars are Falling: A man returns home from the War and finds things have changed.

The Metal Men of Mars: John Carter leaves Helium in search of adventure and encounters a gold dragon. This story was from a John Carter anthology and pretty good. It was even written in a style mimicking ERB's, although easier to read.

Morning, Noon, and Night: A boy meets Lansdale's version of a vampire in the woods. It was pretty good and I'd read a full length Lansdale vampire tale.

Santa at the Cafe: A department store Santa is in a cafe when a robbery happens. This short story had more twists than most novels.

Starlight, Eyes Bright: A man goes for a walk after dinner and finds a glass-like rock from space lying on the sidewalk. It reminds me of a collaboration between Ray Bradbury and HPL and is pretty damn good.

Dread Island: This was the story I actually bought the collection to read. Huckleberry Finn and Jim raft to a sinister island in the Mississippi. Mark Twain + Joe Lansdale = a river of awesome strangeness. How many other stories feature Brer Rabbit and the Necronomicon?

Story Notes: I always find Lansdale's story notes to be nearly as entertaining as the stories themselves.

This wasn't my favorite Lansdale collection but I liked it quite a bit. Most of the stories weren't ones I'd read before and the kindle version was a good deal. 4 out of five stars.

[Evans Light]

I'll be updating this review with ratings of individual stories as I work my way through, not necessarily in order.

This book is MASSIVE for a collection of new short stories! So happy to have plenty of new Lansdale shorts to last me for the next few months (if I can manage to make it last that long).

**** Torn Away

Lansdale kicks off this collection with a nice dark fantasy, a small town sheriff encounters a strange man sitting in his car by the tracks...and something is hot on his heels. A nice way to open the collection, this story would make a great Masters of Horror episode, like his Incident On and Off a Mountain Road.

**** The Bleeding Shadow

This story is twice as long as the one that preceded it, and although the flavor of the locales and characters are quite different, it also shares the theme of a man being chased down by an unstoppable...something. The story is told through the eyes of an African-american amateur detective and set in the 1950s, and concerns tracking down a lover's brother, a blues man, who may have bit off more than he can chew.

The storytelling is wonderful, classic Lansdale all the way around in this one. Full of thrills, chills and chuckles.


**** A Visit with Friends

I can't really give too much away about this story without ruining the experience, since it's an "onion" type of Lansdale story, where you slowly peel back each layer of your assumptions regarding what's going on. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed this one.

**** Christmas Monkeys

This is one of those very short and sweet snippets of Lansdale insanity. You either love 'em or you don't.

I love 'em. If you've read his micro-short "Dog, Cat and Baby" in the Dark Masques collection then you know the kind of cloth this is cut from, a "Godzilla's Ten-Step Program" kind of thing.

**** Christmas with the Dead

Lansdale tries his hand at zombies (I'm sure he has before), and mostly succeeds. I'm not a huge fane of the zombie genre in general, but I did enjoy this story. Not a whole lot new or groundbreaking here - I guess the most you can say is that Lansdale has somehow managed to write a homespun and downright cozy-feeling zombie tale with this one. Not sure how they managed to stretch this out into a movie though. (http://www.horror-movies.ca/2012/10/t...)

UPDATE: I just watched that trailer. Ugh - I don't recommend it. That movie looked cheap and terrible and nothing like the story I just read at all.

*** Quarry

The subtitle of this story notes that it's an "Associational sequel to Richard Matheson's PREY". I love Matheson, and the title "Prey" sounded familiar, but I pulled out my copy of "Richard Matheson Collected Stories Vol. 3" and read the original story again to freshen my memory. It's a story about a small cursed figurine of a Zuni warrior named HE WHO KILLS. Great little tale, I'm going to read it to the kids one of these days.

Anyway, Lansdale tries his hand at telling the story of another unlucky owner of HE WHO KILLS. It's not bad, by any means, but reading this immediately after the original made it pale a bit in comparison. Probably best to let a little time pass between the two.

**** Santa at the Cafe

I had to start with this story, since I had entered my own Santa-themed story previously in a Lansdale-judged short story competition (The Package).

This story bore no resemblance. Smooth and flowing in typical Lansdale fashion, this crime tale would fit perfectly as a subplot in PULP FICTION. Very enjoyable, and ince to see that the quality is stilll high, even deep into the latter part of the collection.

[Gregor Xane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy by the name of Dan Schwent lent me this book, and I must say I'm mighty grateful. This is an excellent collection of short stories.

I've gotten to the point where I can't say much more about Lansdale's short fiction than 'I just love it.' I don't think I've read a bad story by the man. All of his stuff fits somewhere between 'good' and 'great.'

This is a big, fat collection of shorts that'll give you your money's worth.

Which stories did I like best?

A Visit with Friends
Mr. Bear
Soldierin’
Hide and Horns
The Folding Man
Dread Island

Thank you, Mr. Dantastic!

[John Bruni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge Lansdale fan, and I tend to read everything he publishes, even when it's just a short story in a magazine or anthology. Shockingly, I'd only read a handful of these stories before. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of new material to devour, and as per usual, I was not disappointed. I would have to say that "The Stars are Falling" is the best of the book, maybe even one of Lansdale's best stories ever. I would love to see Andrew Dominik make this into a movie someday. "The Folding Man" is pretty crazy, "Mr. Bear" is hilarious, hell, even the poems are good. And then, of course, there is "Christmas with the Dead" and "Dread Island," which everyone probably has already read. There isn't a bad story in the lot, but come on. Lansdale can't write a bad story.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be biased. I have met Joe Lansdale many times over the years at various book signings. Great guy and very nice-above and beyond nice actually. I get to call him Joe which I think most fans get to do-we are not blood brothers or anything. But he is always kind. So you could make a case for my review of Bleeding Shadows being a big rubber stamp. It isn’t. Joe is an innovative storyteller and this anthology is chock-full of good examples of that. Some of these selections were rereads for me but the stories are so good that was not a problem. Favorite? The Stars Are Falling which ironically enough has no fantastic or supernatural elements-not what you might expect. There’s a variety of fun tales to read here and just like the majority of Joe’s writing they defy categorization. The phrase smorgasbord of delight comes to mind. Great stuff and if you have not had “The Lansdale Experience” Bleeding Shadows might serve as a good introduction.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of weird western and horror and mystery and just all around fun. Lansdale is one of the most consistent authors writing today. Highly recommended. Oh and for those of you who know me....I finally found poetry I like. There are a bunch in this collection.

[Anthony Emmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to Joe Lansdale's work. If you only have one of his works at home, this s the one to have on our shelves. It's hard to classify his work, because it doesn't fit in a single genre other than the very broad category of speculative or fantastic fiction.

On a side note, his poetry is whimsical and fun. :)

[Eamonn Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleeding Shadows is a large collection of short stories and novellas by Joe R. Lansdale, a master of these forms. It contains a brief introduction by the man himself, a bunch of tales and then story notes at the end in which he says something about them. I’m always interested in story notes by talented authors but the casual reader can skip them.

The title story ‘Bleeding Shadows’ is the second one in the book. Richard’s in the Blue Light joint drinking beer when ‘fine looking’ Alma May comes in and asks him to find her brother Tootie, a no-good waster who lives off her earnings as a whore and spends his time drinking and playing the blues, which he’s good at. Richard does some detective work but has no licence because ‘black people couldn’t get a licence to shit broken glass in this town’. He goes to the worst part of Chicago and finds that Tootie is involved with some supernatural goings-on involving blood-soaked records. Lansdale’s descriptions of indescribable music rival Lovecraft’s and his prose sings. You can see why this is the title piece.

‘Quarry’ is ‘an associational sequel to Richard Matheson’s ‘Prey’ written for an anthology called He is Legend, a tribute to Matheson. ‘Prey’ may be better remembered from the movie Trilogy of Terror and features a little spear-carrying Zuni warrior doll who chases Karen Black around her apartment. In ‘Quarry’, writer Jeff goes to an antique and collectables shop and buys the doll, kept safe by a chain around its neck until his cat knocks it off. Jeff’s wife has just left him, perhaps because being a writer isn’t manly. The Zuni doll lets him prove he is. I assume the theme was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
‘Six Finger Jack’ is next. Big O has been double-crossed and offers a bounty on Six Finger Jack, to be collected when the hunter brings back Jack’s distinctive hand. Our hero keeps his gun ‘clean as a model’s ass’ and is just the man for the job, especially as he’s banging Jack’s old lady, Loodie. This is a roller coaster of a gangster story with colourful lingo, beautiful similes and outrageous violent action. Lansdale is never boring but this is great even by his standards.

‘Mr. Bear’ follows ‘Six Finger Jack’ and it deserves mention but I’m starting to wonder how to separate the wheat from the chaff in this review when everything is so good. I skip the zombie stories on principle. Lansdale does them better than most but there are far too many zombies now. Anyway, ‘Mr. Bear’ is just about the craziest story I ever read. Jim is sat on a plane wondering who will sit next to him when a celebrity bear turns up, gets drunk, gets Jim drunk and practically takes over his life. The bear is rude, crude, very dangerous and very funny.

Three yarns in the middle of the book take the reader off the wild west. ‘Soldierin’’ and ‘Hide and Horns’ feature Nat Wiliford, a black soldier and cowboy whose one Hell of a shot and one Hell of a guy. I loved them but I was raised on westerns. ‘The Stars are Falling’ is a tragedy set in East Texas just after World War One. Deel comes back from the war but returning to his old life is not so easy when wife and child are like strangers. Lansdale reckons this is one of his best and I won’t disagree. None of these tales has any hint of the fantastic.

Unlike ‘Metal Men of Mars’ which is as fantastic as can be. Written to celebrate Edgar Rice Burroughs, it has John Carter leaving beautiful, naked Deja Thoris behind to go seek adventure because he’s bored. The writing still sings - ‘A drawbridge lowered with a mild squeak, like a sleepy mouse having a bad dream’. Burrough’s influence on pulp fiction is immeasurable but I haven’t read him yet, though I did enjoy the film John Carter of Mars.

‘Starlight, Eyes Bright’ was written as a new piece for Lansdale’s much-lauded collection By Bizarre Hands. Simply told, Jim finds a piece of glass when out for his evening constitutional and later, in bed, tells his wife Connie about it. Jim’s straining to describe his find reminded me of Lovecraft’s ‘The Colour Out of Space’. The events here are different but the sensibility is the same. A short piece that packs a punch.

‘Dead Sister’ is Chandler with horror themes. Beautiful blonde Cathy Carter with ‘eyes that would make a monk set fire to his bible’ comes to our detective because someone keeps digging up her dead sister’s grave. He stakes it out and sure enough a man in a long coat with a face ‘as white as a nun’s ass’ comes and digs there, with his hands, like a dog. This became comically gross by the end.
‘Shooting Pool’ shows that real-life evil can be truly scary and ‘The Folding Man’ has a terrifying fantasy creature for contrast. The volume concludes with a novella ‘Dread Island’ which puts Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Brer rabbit and Cthulhu all together on the Mississippi with assorted side characters. The verbose style of narration wasn’t to my taste and I’m not familiar enough any of these American heroes to enjoy it much but many will, no doubt.

Most of these stories were written for themed anthologies which are a great publishing tool for everyone. Big-name writers like Joe R. Lansdale have fun with the theme and get paid, too. Their name on the cover sells the book and the lesser-known writers get to sit alongside them in print, earn a bit and get their names out to the public. Anthologies are probably equal to magazines now in the short story market, and maybe bigger.

Alas, short stories still lag far behind novels when it comes to publishing bucks but at least they’re still around. Lansdale combines solid, fast-paced plots with exciting characters, all delivered in lively, beautiful prose with similes that might make Raymond Chandler jealous. He has that earthy, blue-collar, grassroots American flavour which has made Stephen King rich but his version is rougher. Lansdale isn’t as famous as King, or as rich, but he’s just as good a writer, maybe better, and I guess he’s doing all right. Long may he continue.

Final Warning: This book contains blood, shit, piss, fucks, killers, guns, dead people and dead animals. Not for pussies.

[Susan]

"Torn Away" read 12/14/2014
"The Bleeding Shadows" 12/16/2014
"A Visit with Friends" 12/17/2014
"Christmas Monkeys" 12/18/2014
"Christmas with the Dead" 12/19/2014
"Quarry" 12/20/2014 (finished after movie: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
"Six-Finger Jack" 12/22/2014
"Mr. Bear" re-read 12/23/2014
"The Old Man in the Motorized Chair" 12/24/2014 (I'd like more, please)
"Apache Witch" (poem) 12/25/2014 -- re-read aloud to Lisa 5/8/2015
"Soldierin'" 12/26/2014
"Death Before Bed" (poem) 12-27-2014
"Apocalypse" (poem) 12/28/2014
"A Strange Poem" 12/29/2014
"Little Words" (poem) 12/30/2014
"The Man" (poem) 12/31/2014

"Dead Air" (poem) 1-1-2015
"Dog in Winter" (poem) 1-2-2015 -- awesome little poem! -- reread aloud to Lisa 5/8/2015
"Hide and Horns" 1-28-2015
"The Stars Are Falling" 1-29-2015
"The Metal Men of Mars" 1-30-2015
"Morning, Noon, and Night" 1-31-2015
"Santa at the Café" 2-2-2015
"What Happened to Me"
"Oink" re-read aloud to Lisa 5/8/2015

"Star Light, Eyes Bright"
"Dead Sister"
"Shooting Pool"
"The Folding Man"
"Dread Island"

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading "Santa at the Café", "Christmas Monkeys" and "Christmas with the Dead" on Christmas Eve! Fun!!!

I'm a big Lansdale fan, so a book like this is a buffet for me! Pretty much great stories throughout, with only a couple of clunkers. My favorite of the group is "Mr. Bear" which just absolutely killed me! I also very much enjoyed his "Story Notes" at the end! Lots of cool insight in that section! Especially cool was the fact that I had felt I had read "Soldier'n" and "Hide and Horns" before, but after reading the "Notes" on them, I realized he had in fact written his Deadwood Dick novel, and I had read it - "Paradise Sky"! Loved it too!

Good read all around, with a good lesson too! Never "moon" a black car full of nuns. Never.

[David Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I read and reviewed in 2022 was Born for Trouble, the Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard, by Joe R. Lansdale, and it looks like this may become an annual tradition for me. That is, truly, the kind of tradition I can get behind. Anyone who follows this blog knows that most days if you were to ask me who my favorite writer was, I might hem and haw a little, because that’s a damn hard question, but eight times out of ten, the answer would be Lansdale.

Why Lansdale? Glad you asked! As Bleeding Shadows makes abundantly clear, Lansdale is equally at home writing horror, science fiction, fantasy, crime fiction, you name it. And those just happen to be the genres I like the best. Lansdale is, first and foremost, a born storyteller, regardless of the genre he’s working in. My guess is, the man’s grocery shopping list would be of at least passing interest.

Bleeding Shadows is a big, meaty collection, 150,000 words comprised of short stories, novellas, and even some poetry. The work here spans a good chunk of Lansdale’s writing career, all of it compulsively readable, and few have appeared in book form before. There’s horror here of both the harrowing and eldritch variety, taut suspense, offbeat humor, affectionate nods to some of Lansdale’s favorite writers, and, as always, wonderful dialogue.

I hope by now I’ve made it clear that this is an entertaining, satisfying collection. Everything here is worthy of a read, but I want to call out one piece in particular. Dread Island is the WTF-iest in a book filled with WTF moments, a novella that somehow twists up Huckleberry Finn, H.P. Lovecraft, and the Uncle Remus stories, into a sprawling tale that defies categorization, and yet works wonderfully.

Also, if, like me, you’re a sucker for author story notes, Lansdale’s here are extensive and illuminating. Pick up Bleeding Shadows, and start your year off right.

[Craig Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can only read a single Joe R Lansdale story collection, I would steer you to one of his “best-of” collections: High Cotton, The Best of Joe R Lansdale, or Sanctified and Chicken Fried.

But if can read two, then you should also choose Bleeding Shadows. This is his most mature collection of short fiction, crossing multiple genre boundaries, enjoying the peak of both his craftsmanship and popularity.

Here are my reviews of each story:

Torn Away--A dead Civil War soldier is resurrected by a witch and separated from his shadow. Now, he can assume any form he wishes and is immortal-- as long as the shadow does not catch up to him. A blend of horror and whimsy written for a Twilight Zone tribute anthology.

The Bleeding Shadow – JRL’s take on the legend of Robert Johnson with a heavy dose of Lovecraft and blues music. JRL does not reveal whether this is a horror story or a crime thriller until the midway point. In a collection like this, it could go either way.

A Visit with Friends – A zombie story with an adult twist: some people want to include the zombies in their kinky sex play!

Christmas with the Dead -- Follows in the pulp tradition of JRL’s other post-apocalyptic tales like "On the Far Side of Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk" and "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back". Only Lansdale could stage a Christmas celebration in the middle of a zombie war. Highly inventive. Originally published in hardback in the U.K, and also adapted into an independent film.

Quarry – A presumptuous man buys a cursed voodoo doll named He Who Kills. Mayhem ensues. This thin story is a sequel to Richard Matheson’s “The Prey” and was written for a Matheson tribute anthology.

Six Finger Jack – A noir story about killing a six-fingered man for some reward money. This is interesting enough, although the story took an easy ending rather than going for something more creative or interesting.

Mr. Bear – A very funny story that begins as absurdist fantasy (a man sits down next to Smoky the Bear on an airplane) and ends up as satire. Like a lot of celebrities, Smoky turns out to have problems with alcohol, women, and of course people who start forest fires.

Old Man in the Motorized Chair – Stubbs Fine is the redneck curmudgeon corollary to Mycroft Holmes and Nero Wolfe. He sits in his armchair and solves mysteries in between episodes of reality television. This is a very funny story, and I hope Lansdale turns him into a series character.

Soldierin’ and Hide and Horns – Two of my favorite JRL stories. Blends historical fact and pulp fiction into a tall tale of the Wild West. Features Nat Love, the black cowboy from the novella Black Hat Jack and the award-winning novel Paradise Sky. (The events of these stories are incorporated in Paradise Sky in revised form.)

The Stars Are Falling – An excellent historical revenge tale of a soldier who comes home from WWI to find his wife has taken up with another man.

Metal Men of Mars – A new John Carter of Mars story commissioned by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. John Carter runs afoul of a madman trying to replace all Martians with steam-powered creatures that are half-man, half-robot.

Morning, Noon, and Night – Boy versus vampire. A creepy, atmospheric, and sad tale.

Santa at the Café – It’s New Year’s Eve, and no less than five people show up to rob an all-night diner. This is a tight hardboiled noir story with a predictable ending.

What Happened to Me—A haunted house story that turns out not to be about a haunted house, or even a ghost. Well written and poignant.

Starlight, Eyes Bright—A rather dry (and frankly boring) tale about a man who finds a piece of colored glass by the side of the road and believes it is portal to communicate with an alien race. This is the only story in the collection that I intensely disliked.

Dead Sister—A private investigator in 1958 is hired to find out who is robbing local graves and why. Another blend of supernatural and noir. Light but entertaining.

Shooting Pool—A short crime story set in a small-town pool hall. A fine meditation on the meaning of death.

The Folding Man--A boy moons a car full of nuns on Halloween night. They are not nice nuns. They carry both a grudge and a powerful supernatural monster. I thought this story was average, but other people like it more than I did. It won the 2010 Bram Stoker Award.

Dread Island—A literary mashup. Narrated by Huck Finn, it follows Huck and Tom Sawyer to a haunted island where they find the corpse of Captain Hook, join with Brer Rabbit to fight the Tar Baby, encounter an H.P. Lovecraft monster, and ultimately meet Amelia Earhart. Highly imaginative but unevenly paced. The author nails the Huck Finn voice almost perfectly. This novella was previously published separately as a limited-edition chapbook.

Poems: Includes 10 poems, most of which are narrative free verse. The results are mixed but I enjoyed "Apache Witch" and "Little Words".

[Greg D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I have never heard of this author before. I picked up the book at a clearance sale at a local bookstore near where I live. Once I got it home and opened the book cover to begin reading, I was hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed this authors many stories. Now, I have to admit, there were a handful of stories I didn't like and I glossed over them. But, in most part, this book contained some great stories with some amazing storytelling. I, for one, especially enjoyed the two stories about Buffalo Soldiers. I don't know why but I saw a little bit of Quentin Tarantino in these stories (think Django Unchained). I was hooked on these. And, I was also hooked on the first story, "Torn Away". This was the one that initially drew me in. "Christmas with the Dead" was also a winner. I could go on. To put it simply, this author is a great writer and a great storyteller. And, you can see it clearly in this collection of stories. Highly recommend.

[Jodi O'Shea-Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, long, whatever...

Admittedly, Mr. Lansdale is amongst my top five favorite authors, be it short stories, novellas, novels, and, yes, even some rather strange poems. The man is a genius but unlike so many other great writers, he can not be placed into one or even two comfortable little niches. His genius shines through anywhere he sets down his pen, and this anthology is no exception.

[Hush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great showcase for Joe Lansdale's versatility and natural storytelling. You can feel the heat of the Texas sun and the cruel beauty of the place glaring out from each tale.

It's a bit sprawling at 500 plus pages but there's something good on every page.

I want to read more about Jim.

[Kevin Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read.

This is the fourth anthology I have read by Joe R Lansdale and the tales are as usual from this author a mix of horror, weird western and a little dose of Sci fi all mixed with the dark humour that Mr Lansdale is famous for, obviously some stories were better than others, but I didn't skip any or find a tale I did not like. Very highly recommended.

[George Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

New and reimagined ideas!

Very interesting collection of short stories. I read this because I've enjoyed the Hap & Leonard series and although quite different this book did not disappoint. The dialog is very smart and snaps at points but the complete twisting and reworking of old and birth of new ideas is fantastic.

[Preston Postle · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much would you pay for a mash-up including Huck Finn, Br'er Rabbit, and Cthulhu? A million dollars? Well, this collection is just about the only place on earth you'll find such an oddity, friend.

Pony up and read!

[Noah Rozov · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read Joe Lansdale's story "The Stars are Falling" of 2010.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, without reading the longer stories.

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Little Bit of My Blood - Introduction
Torn Away - 3/5 - Story about the loss of a shadow.
The Bleeding Shadow - 5/5 - Classic story about a deal with the devil.
A Visit with Friends - 4/5 - Chilling zombie story.
Christmas Monkeys - 3/5 - Strange poem about monkeys. And Christmas. And Revenge.
Christmas with the Dead - 4/5 - Sad but moving holiday tale.
Quarry - 3/5 -
Six-Finger Jack - 3/5 - Hero gets played, pays the price.
My Bear - 4/5 - You can take the bear out of the wild...
Old Man in the Motorized Chair - 5/5 - Sherlock Holmes for the Texas set
Apache Witch - 3/5 (poem) - Spooky
Soldierin’ - 5/5 - A Nat Wiliford story; how he joined the army.
Death Before Bed - 3/5 (poem)
Apocalypse - 3/5 (poem)
A Strange Poem - 2/5 (poem)
Little Words - 3/5 (poem)
The Man - 2/5 (poem)
Dead Air - 3/5 (poem)
Dog in Winter - 3/5 (poem)
Hide and Horns - 5/5 - Another Nat Wiliford story; tries to do a good deed.
The Stars Are Falling -3/5 - Sad story of a soldier coming home from the war.
The Metal Men of Mars - 4/5/ - An adventure from Barsoom
Morning, Noon, and Night - 3/5 - Strange horror tale about a man with special powers.
Santa at the Cafe - 4/5 - A Christmas tale for the bank robbing set.
What Happened to Me - 5/5 - Eerie tale of an ancient elemental and the house it haunts.
Oink - 3/5 (poem) - Three little pigs, kinda.
Starlight, Eyes Bright - 3/5 - Tale of transcendence and being left behind.
Dead Sister - 5/5 - Fun P.I. on the case of a grave robbing ghoul.
Shooting Pool - 4/5 - Kinda Landsdale’s version of Stand By Me.
The Folding Man - 4/5 - Weird, scary story about a black car.
Dread Island - 5/5 - Huck Finn meets Brer Rabbit while a Lovecraftian horror tries to come through a hole in the sky.

[Chris Sachnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owe a lot to this book. It made me discover and fall in love with joe Lansdale. I am a band-new, hungry fan. I have added everything I could find of his to my Amazon wish list, and I am considering paying FULL PRICE for some of his works. That is the depth of my admiration.

I think he first really hooked me reading about his black cowboy hero. The constant colloquial phrases rang true, and he is a character you can't help but root for. I was further ensnared reading the story of the retired detective, who can solve crimes without leaving his house. As I read further, I was pulled in deeper and deeper. There was a line in one of the stories about a man who finds a piece of strange glass that was so beautiful and repulsive to me all at once...I can't say if I've ever come across anything like it before.

To sum up, this book has opened a bunch of new doors for me. Behind those door are things that I'm almost positive I will like. That is a sign of a good piece of writing, and a sign of a book I would recommend to anyone.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleeding Shadows is another collection of short stories I acquired in the Humble Bundle. Previous collections I have read have been a mixed bag. Often the stories are good ideas but don't have a satisfactory conclusion due to the brevity.

However, Joe R. Lansdale's book has higher quantity, higher quality and much more variation with the stories and they all reach a good conclusion.

The variation within the book really impressed me. You are reading about the paranormal, then zombies, a western, then aliens; there's so many good ideas – Lansdale is certainly not a one-trick-pony. You are even treated to some poems as well to mix it up further.

This book is a great example of how to collate a short story collection.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this from the local library after Dung Beetle gave it 4 stars (I'm also a fan of Lansdale's work) Joe is up to his usual: spooky, gory, twisted tales. I'm loving it; tho I may need to take a break or two, as he pulls no punches.

I really appreciate that he varies his protagonists - male and female, different races etc. And while he revisits Depression-era Texas quite regularly, he still manages to tell a new story each time. A bit of dark humor shows thru as well: "Mr. Bear" is creepily amusing once you catch on to who he really is.

[Skeldof · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this as part of a Humble Bundle so it's a little outside my usual interest. I tried to like it and some of the stories had a glimmer of hope in their ideas. However I really didn't like the simplistic and repetitive writing style of Lansdale.

I'd previously finished "New Amsterdam" by Elizabeth Bear who has a wonderfully descriptive and wide ranging lexicon that creates fantastic imagery. Lansdale was a shocking contrast. "There just aren't words to describe it" as his characters repeatedly stated.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of the creepy, but I'll make an exception for Joe Lansdale. Really engaging horror and mystery short stories. Random zombies. Funniest Xmas horror poem ever, and it may remain in my brain for years. Fair warning - I stayed up late more than one evening because I had to finish the story.

[Eric Atkisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal collection of short stories and novellas across multiple genres, including horror, mystery, westerns, sci fi, and more. Joe Lansdale is simply one of the best and most versatile writers alive, and no one can tell a story half as well as that man. No one.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine collection of stories/novellas by Mr. Lansdale - including DREAD ISLAND, probably the best mash-up of Mark Twain, Joel Chandler Harris and H.P. Lovecraft that you're ever gonna find anywhere.

[Paul Hasbrouck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of horror short stories. The Bleeding Shadows story is a great deal with Devil tale, set among the African-American community of Texas in the 1940's. Others are noir crime tales, a very different take on ghouls all with the atmosphere of Texas.

[Jason Ragle · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a huge variety of stories and poetry in this book. Several I really loved (Christmas With the Dead, Dread Island) and some that for me just didn't take. The book also contains a section with some author commentary which is just as fun as another story.