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The Grave Stompers: Six Tales from the Southern Earth
There’s blood in the Southern Earth. Meet twin brothers bound to the sacred rite of grave stomping and a young girl indebted to a darkness in the woods. Visit a small town where pro-wrestling takes the place of human sacrifice and an alternate reality where meteorite-born mutations rend the fabric of society. It’s a world where giant catfish roam the man-made depths of Kentucky Lake, racial horror haunts the shadows of small-town life and all we can do is wonder at our own twisted roots in the soil.
132 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2015
Robert J. Lamb does a great job of capturing the weirdness of the American South without resorting to cliche or formula. The title story and "The Catfish Milkers" are the standouts for me, blending lyrical prose with hard-won observations about Southern life, mixed in with a variety of the weird that feels like old folklore but is sui generis in its oddness. Wrestling fans should also check out "Vreck Stone's Last Match," a stirring tribute to the grueling world of the indies.
June 25, 2018
I picked this up because of my familiarity with the author on Stuff to Blow Your Mind. I often find myself interested/already a fan of fiction he brings up, so when I found out he's a writer as well... well, hot damn!
With that said, I was ready to be underwhelmed, because good taste in fiction does not a good writer make. So when the first story was affecting, unexpected, and unapologetically strange, I was pleasantly surprised.
A few favorites were:
The Grave Stompers: Follows twin brothers who are drawn to the vocation of grave stomping, which is exactly what it sounds like- handy for packing the body down into the earth to protect it from scavengers. And possibly unrest. Then when tragedy looms nearer to the brothers themselves, their lifelong calling takes on a new significance.
Vreck Stone's Last Match: In retrospect, professional wrestling and weird fiction seem like a natural pairing. Though not Weird Fiction in the genre sense, it's clearly written by an author steeped in it. As the rookie protagonist joins a veteran wrestler for a surprisingly well-paying match (at least for the rural local league they're in), their road trip through the Southern backwoods takes on the feel of a portal story. By the time they've arrived at the venue ready to start the match, there's enough menace in the air that their audience may as well be gibbering beings from beyond.
The Catfish Milkers: Combines the frighteningly dangerous hijinks of ambitious youth with some good old fashioned homicidal cultists.
I think I'll definitely check out Lamb's other work, and hope to see more published from him soon.
With that said, I was ready to be underwhelmed, because good taste in fiction does not a good writer make. So when the first story was affecting, unexpected, and unapologetically strange, I was pleasantly surprised.
A few favorites were:
The Grave Stompers: Follows twin brothers who are drawn to the vocation of grave stomping, which is exactly what it sounds like- handy for packing the body down into the earth to protect it from scavengers. And possibly unrest. Then when tragedy looms nearer to the brothers themselves, their lifelong calling takes on a new significance.
Vreck Stone's Last Match: In retrospect, professional wrestling and weird fiction seem like a natural pairing. Though not Weird Fiction in the genre sense, it's clearly written by an author steeped in it. As the rookie protagonist joins a veteran wrestler for a surprisingly well-paying match (at least for the rural local league they're in), their road trip through the Southern backwoods takes on the feel of a portal story. By the time they've arrived at the venue ready to start the match, there's enough menace in the air that their audience may as well be gibbering beings from beyond.
The Catfish Milkers: Combines the frighteningly dangerous hijinks of ambitious youth with some good old fashioned homicidal cultists.
I think I'll definitely check out Lamb's other work, and hope to see more published from him soon.
November 1, 2018
Was expecting a bit more, but was a quick and interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews