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Predators
Slit; Hardshell; The Roadside Scalpel; The Man Who Collected Knives; Dead Things Don't Move; Mistaken Identity; To Die For; Slasher; Life Near the Bone; The Society of the Scar; Goddam Time; Mind Slash Matter; The Defiance of the Ugly
Hardcover
First published February 1, 1993
5 people are currently reading
1524 people want to read
About the author
Ed Gorman
469 books119 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 18, 2015
Good anthology. As with most, there were hits and misses. Mind Slash Matter by Edward Ellen (more a novella than a short story) was utterly fantastic.
April 3, 2017
An enjoyable collection of horror tales. I loved the opening story by Koontz, "Hardshell." There are other good ones by F. Paul Wilson, Billie Sue Mosiman, John Betancourt, and more.
August 26, 2017
Only liked a few of the stories.
January 2, 2015
I found the stories here barely average overall, and often straining to fall under the category of a story of "Predators". Which is fine, but perhaps another title then.
I bought the book for one story, being a Rex Miller completist. His co-authored story was one of the better ones, which is to say it was just average itself.
Oh well.
I bought the book for one story, being a Rex Miller completist. His co-authored story was one of the better ones, which is to say it was just average itself.
Oh well.
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August 1, 2020Den her er så intenst 90er-agtig , at den næsten skulle have heddet Predatorz. Det er ikke et kompliment.
March 11, 2009
Wow; this one is very good so far apart from a novella right in the middle. :) It is moving much faster for me than the Stephen King I am reading right now for almost a month. Sigh. These were all really good and the length is great. Not too long, just a few pages. These are some of the good ones so far:
"Rubber Smile"
"Slasher"
"Slit"
"Ecology of Reptiles"
And at least half the stories are truly good. I recommend this...
"Rubber Smile"
"Slasher"
"Slit"
"Ecology of Reptiles"
And at least half the stories are truly good. I recommend this...
August 28, 2020
I was super excited to read this book but after a few stories I had to throw my book away. Perhaps I’m not a horror fan is all but I found parts of this book to be very disturbing yet not scary. I was really thinking for some good thrillers but instead all I got was shock value. Besides being disturbing and somewhat of a trigger for me given I am a sexual assault survivor, some of the stories were terribly boring. This is probably one of the worst collection of short stories o have ever read.
March 1, 2023
Taken as a whole the book is pretty good. The stories range from the familiar (rapists and murderers) to the outre (vampires and aliens). That said, there is probably at least one story in here for every reader. Some thrilled me, some bored me, one or two genuinely made me shiver.
March 19, 2013
I read this as a tenth grader and found it pretty entertaining.
May 27, 2016
great collection
February 15, 2025
Predators and predation is the theme (in case you can’t tell from the title.) Interpretations of said-theme are wide and varied within this collection. Some are hits for me, some near-misses, some puzzling in how far they strayed from the assignment.
It starts with Dean Koontz—isn’t there a law or something that says King opens all these anthologies? The story is “Hardshell,” about a detective tracking a superhuman beast. Koontz is not as good as King, nowhere near Barker, but he’s better than John Saul and this one didn’t hurt too bad.
There’s a surprisingly unoriginal offering from the very good and usually very original John Shirley. It deals with a premise that was a hoary cliché even when this thing came out about three decades ago. If I want a story about haunted horror movies, I’ll watch John Carpenter’s “Cigarette Burns,” again; if I want the cursed rubber masks, I’ll order one from the Silver Shamrock corporation, thank you very much.
The best story in the collection was probably John Betancourt’s “The Man Who Collected Knives.” It deals with a knife dealer and collector whose obsession leads him to hallucinate a small animal made of blades—I imagined it as arachnoid. The thing speaks to him, and as you can guess, it doesn’t spend most of its time advising him to help old ladies with their groceries. This one has economy and, more importantly, symmetry, which makes me think it would make a good entry in an anthology series. Sadly, the “Masters of Horror” is no more, and none of the streaming series I’ve seen seem quite up to snuff. How do you outdo Meatloaf skinning himself alive with a butcher knife, or George Wendt having a Norman Bates-esque oedipal breakdown with his skeleton family?
Also quality was Billy Sue Mosiman’s “Life Near the Bone.” It takes a quote from the great transcendentalist / naturalist Henry David Thoreau and sees what happens when a grad student takes it too seriously. After all, if one is to forego possessions, might not a bit of knifework be required to sever one from the things of the world?
Rounding out my triumvirate of top picks is “Mind Slash Matter” by Edward Wellen. It deals with the travails of an ageing screenwriter whose mind and body are failing him. If that wasn’t enough, there’s someone (or multiple someones) trying to kill him. Thankfully he’s guided by a friendlier version of HAL, a computer that helps him navigate the otherwise unnavigable world. And it’s a good thing this story works, since it’s by far the longest entry in the book. It’s easily novella length and probably shading toward novel-length. Don’t ask me for an exact wordcount, though, because as obsessive-compulsive as I am, I’m not crazy enough to count word by word.
Do I recommend the book? I don’t know. How bored are you?
It starts with Dean Koontz—isn’t there a law or something that says King opens all these anthologies? The story is “Hardshell,” about a detective tracking a superhuman beast. Koontz is not as good as King, nowhere near Barker, but he’s better than John Saul and this one didn’t hurt too bad.
There’s a surprisingly unoriginal offering from the very good and usually very original John Shirley. It deals with a premise that was a hoary cliché even when this thing came out about three decades ago. If I want a story about haunted horror movies, I’ll watch John Carpenter’s “Cigarette Burns,” again; if I want the cursed rubber masks, I’ll order one from the Silver Shamrock corporation, thank you very much.
The best story in the collection was probably John Betancourt’s “The Man Who Collected Knives.” It deals with a knife dealer and collector whose obsession leads him to hallucinate a small animal made of blades—I imagined it as arachnoid. The thing speaks to him, and as you can guess, it doesn’t spend most of its time advising him to help old ladies with their groceries. This one has economy and, more importantly, symmetry, which makes me think it would make a good entry in an anthology series. Sadly, the “Masters of Horror” is no more, and none of the streaming series I’ve seen seem quite up to snuff. How do you outdo Meatloaf skinning himself alive with a butcher knife, or George Wendt having a Norman Bates-esque oedipal breakdown with his skeleton family?
Also quality was Billy Sue Mosiman’s “Life Near the Bone.” It takes a quote from the great transcendentalist / naturalist Henry David Thoreau and sees what happens when a grad student takes it too seriously. After all, if one is to forego possessions, might not a bit of knifework be required to sever one from the things of the world?
Rounding out my triumvirate of top picks is “Mind Slash Matter” by Edward Wellen. It deals with the travails of an ageing screenwriter whose mind and body are failing him. If that wasn’t enough, there’s someone (or multiple someones) trying to kill him. Thankfully he’s guided by a friendlier version of HAL, a computer that helps him navigate the otherwise unnavigable world. And it’s a good thing this story works, since it’s by far the longest entry in the book. It’s easily novella length and probably shading toward novel-length. Don’t ask me for an exact wordcount, though, because as obsessive-compulsive as I am, I’m not crazy enough to count word by word.
Do I recommend the book? I don’t know. How bored are you?
December 1, 2025
A bunch of stories worth reading, but nothing exceedingly outstanding.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews