What do you think?
Rate this book
Cosmic Interruptions
Cosmic Interruptions is a collection of speculative fiction by Joe R. Lansdale. The stories here have been grouped as part of a four part set, this first volume loosely falling into the speculative fiction, science fiction, and off-beat fantasy realm. The stories range from alternate universes to dark futures to the warping of time and space, and a variety of unclassifiable items. There is action, humor, whimsy, and a large dollop of what was once called A Sense of Wonder. Future volumes will gather tales of crime and mystery fiction, horror and East Texas Gothic, and historical and western stories. This is a unique chance to gather not only Lansdale's popular stories, but some that are lesser known and should be known more broadly.
528 pages, Hardcover
Published October 31, 2018
10 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Joe R. Lansdale
818 books3,891 followersChampion 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2019
Genre definition is contentious. This contained a lot of tales that could easily go under the horror umbrella for me.
I'm not the biggest fan of Sci-Fi but the shorts here all engrossed me. It's certainly down to Lansdale's sumptuous writing style and my perception that the stories are all set in Star Wars Original Trilogy type settings. (My minds eye had everything a bit knocked about and rusty. A subtle blend of the old and new)
Saying that, this isn't all space ships and aliens. A broad spectrum of topics are covered here including the undead, shotgun toting nuns and a bisexual King Kong amongst many others.
This as the first time I've read Joe's work so a sizeable collection of shorts may have been a silly introduction. What Cosmic Interruptions has done is made Joe Lansdale one of my 'must read' authors. It's a select group that I'm excited to dive into more.
I have the next collection from SST to read that covers crime/thriller but it's Volume 3 that I'm most excited for as it's all about the Horror.
I'd recommend Cosmic Interruptions to anyone that wants well written fiction that can be controversial whilst underlined with a wicked sense of humour.
Now, I need to find when the At The Drive-In reissue is happening and start picking up those Hap & Leonard novels.
I'm not the biggest fan of Sci-Fi but the shorts here all engrossed me. It's certainly down to Lansdale's sumptuous writing style and my perception that the stories are all set in Star Wars Original Trilogy type settings. (My minds eye had everything a bit knocked about and rusty. A subtle blend of the old and new)
Saying that, this isn't all space ships and aliens. A broad spectrum of topics are covered here including the undead, shotgun toting nuns and a bisexual King Kong amongst many others.
This as the first time I've read Joe's work so a sizeable collection of shorts may have been a silly introduction. What Cosmic Interruptions has done is made Joe Lansdale one of my 'must read' authors. It's a select group that I'm excited to dive into more.
I have the next collection from SST to read that covers crime/thriller but it's Volume 3 that I'm most excited for as it's all about the Horror.
I'd recommend Cosmic Interruptions to anyone that wants well written fiction that can be controversial whilst underlined with a wicked sense of humour.
Now, I need to find when the At The Drive-In reissue is happening and start picking up those Hap & Leonard novels.
July 22, 2021
This is the first of a massive three-volume retrospective of Joe R. Lansdale's short fiction from SST Publications. These are all (nominally) science fiction stories. I had read them all before in other collections, but I purchased this book anyway because I wanted the entire series. Plus, it gave me a chance to revisit some tales I have not read for many years:
"Bill the Little Steam Shovel" -- Bill the Little Steam Shovel feels underappreciated by the bigger, older vehicles as he struggles with new adult urges. I don't know how to even classify a story like this. It's like a twisted children's story that is way too grown up for children. Very funny.
"In the Cold Dark Time" -- In the aftermath of an apocalyptic war, a wounded veteran realizes the only reason he has to go on living is his work helping starving orphans. A punchy tale, if predictable.
"Duck-Footed" -- The citizens of Mud Creek, Texas find themselves slowly turning into ducks as they blindly follow the teachings of a televangelist. An effective satire of religion, conservatism, and alien invasion stories. Originally published as a standalone chapbook from Subterranean Press.
"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.
"Trapped in the Saturday Matinee" -- An extra in a Godzilla movie finds himself living his life inside the world of the movie, unable to escape back to reality. After he saves Marilyn Monroe, he realizes there must be an interdimensional portal that would allow them to escape from this movie into something less dangerous--a rom-com, maybe. A light-hearted romp.
"Letter From the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" -- Native Americans are systematically exterminating both white and black populations, the Japanese have settled the West Coast, and John the Baptist has usurped Jesus as the Christian Messiah. Set in the same alternate universe as Zeppelins West, Ape Man's Brother, and "Trains Not Taken".
"Starlight, Eye 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.
"Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock" -- "Down by the sea near the great big rock, they made their camp and toasted marshmallows over a small, fine fire…." It is the perfect family holiday, until they all go stark raving mad and try to kill each other. Turns out, the great big rock is not a rock at all… The most haunting aspect of this story is how easily it could happen even in the absence of any malevolent presence.
"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.
"Fish Night" -- Two salesman stranded in the desert see a prehistoric vision in the night sky. I have read this story a few times, and it grows on me each time. A nice blend of magical realism with just a faint hint of the trademark Lansdale bite. Adapted into a memorable episode of Death, Love, & Robots (season 1) on Netflix.
"Bar Talk" -- Two strangers strike up a conversation in a bar, but it takes a bizarre turn when one of them claims to be a spy from Mars. Adapted into an 8-minute short film in 2013 (available online).
"On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks" -- Begins with a bad hombre trying to sexually exploit a naked, muzzled 12-year old zombie in a bar… from there, it gets really stark and offensive… great stuff! Lansdale was writing dark brutal zombie stories 25 years before Walking Dead and World War Z made them part of the American cultural zeitgeist again. Won a Bram Stoker Award (1989) and a British Fantasy Award (1990).
"Personality Problems" -- A humorous take on the Frankenstein legend told from the monster's point of view. He simply does not understand why everyone hates him so much.
"Morning, Noon and Night" -- Boy versus vampire. A creepy, atmospheric, and sad tale.
"Godzilla's Twelve-Step Program" -- Godzilla and his pals Kong, Reptilicus, Gorgo, and Gamera are trying to kick their addiction to rampaging and killing humans. I do not know if the author is making fun of AA, or maybe this is a message to be true to yourself no matter the cost. All I know, it is very, very funny.
"The Fat Man" -- Two middle school boys sneak into the house of an eccentric, obese neighbor with a strange moon tattoo on his stomach. They discover an alien force that threatens their whole town. An early sci-fi horror hybrid story that reminds me of Phillip K. Dick's "The Father-Thing".
"The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning" -- Features literature’s first detective, C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe. Lansdale does a remarkable job capturing the cadence and style of the old 19th century crime stories, especially at the beginning. Then he mixes in elements of the Frankenstein origin story and H. P. Lovecraft’s mythos.
"The Dump" -- A Texas-style tall tale set in an eerie trash dump. Otto is the perfect pet to read about a few nights before Halloween. Adapted as episode #9 of Love, Death & Robots (Season 1) on Netflix in 2019.
After the War -- A 2-sentence short-short about the final pair of humans left on Earth.
"Hell Through a Windshield" -- This is a comedic quasi-essay about the author's love of drive-ins that morphs into a fictional horror story. Some of the ideas and scenes were later incorporated into his classic cult novel, The Drive-In.
"The Tall Grass" -- When his train stops in the middle of a prairie after midnight, a man decides to stretch his legs and have a cigarette. He gets lost in the head-high grass and comes face to face with horrible fallen creatures. Adapted into a terrific episode of Death, Love, & Robots (season 2) on Netflix.
"Big Man: A Fable" -- Tim Burke takes a pill that has the potential to correct his physical shortcomings, but the side effects may spell the end of all humanity. Imaginative and hilarious, reminds me of early Harlan Ellison. I love the opening lines: "Tim Burke was the only one to take the experimental pill. Nothing as complex as this pill had ever been invented, but since he was five foot one, his penis was small, he was balding, had flat feet and one leg shorter than the other, and an oversized mole on his nose that made that part of his face look like an odd-shaped potato, he thought, what the hell?"
"The Shaggy House" -- Two elderly neighbors notice the homes on their cul-de-sac look decrepit and worn. They begin to suspect the new house that just appeared on the vacant lot may be to blame. A Bradbury-esque tale. Inspired by a scene from the author's early novel The Nightrunners. Later adapted into the illustrated children's book Something Lumber This Way Comes.
"King of the Cheap Romance" -- After her father’s death, young Angela Fish must race across the polar ice caps to deliver a vaccine to a Martian colony. Inspired by the works of Robert Heinlein, this woman-vs-nature adventure tale is not set on the red lifeless desert Mars we know today, but rather a fantasy Mars that existed in 1950’s pop culture, a planet filled with ice sharks, gold-skinned aliens, bats as big as spaceships, and mysterious temple pyramids.
"Rex" -- A boy and his dog investigate a flying saucer that lands behind their house. As the story goes on, we learn the boy is not very nice (to his dog or the alien). While this alien is not particularly malevolent, it does have a keen sense of justice. A slight and whimsical story.
"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel" -- Captain William Beadle and his crew pilot a giant metal steampunk robot to defeat the Dark Rider and his minions. The Dark Rider (who is revealed to be the Time Traveler from H. G. Wells' Time Machine) has inadvertently opened a rip in space-time that is causing the past, present, and future to collide. It is also bleeding into H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle universe. This was the very first steampunk novella I ever read. It's still a personal favorite, but honestly it has not aged as well as some of his other stories.
"Way Down There" -- A team of superheroes race to save the planet from a global pandemic and a new ice age. Guided by the poet Virgil, they must travel to the center of the Earth into the depths of Hell itself to restore the balance of good and evil. A slapstick genre-mashup of Dante's Inferno and Edgar Rice Burrough's Pellucidar.
"Bill the Little Steam Shovel" -- Bill the Little Steam Shovel feels underappreciated by the bigger, older vehicles as he struggles with new adult urges. I don't know how to even classify a story like this. It's like a twisted children's story that is way too grown up for children. Very funny.
"In the Cold Dark Time" -- In the aftermath of an apocalyptic war, a wounded veteran realizes the only reason he has to go on living is his work helping starving orphans. A punchy tale, if predictable.
"Duck-Footed" -- The citizens of Mud Creek, Texas find themselves slowly turning into ducks as they blindly follow the teachings of a televangelist. An effective satire of religion, conservatism, and alien invasion stories. Originally published as a standalone chapbook from Subterranean Press.
"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.
"Trapped in the Saturday Matinee" -- An extra in a Godzilla movie finds himself living his life inside the world of the movie, unable to escape back to reality. After he saves Marilyn Monroe, he realizes there must be an interdimensional portal that would allow them to escape from this movie into something less dangerous--a rom-com, maybe. A light-hearted romp.
"Letter From the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" -- Native Americans are systematically exterminating both white and black populations, the Japanese have settled the West Coast, and John the Baptist has usurped Jesus as the Christian Messiah. Set in the same alternate universe as Zeppelins West, Ape Man's Brother, and "Trains Not Taken".
"Starlight, Eye 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.
"Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock" -- "Down by the sea near the great big rock, they made their camp and toasted marshmallows over a small, fine fire…." It is the perfect family holiday, until they all go stark raving mad and try to kill each other. Turns out, the great big rock is not a rock at all… The most haunting aspect of this story is how easily it could happen even in the absence of any malevolent presence.
"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.
"Fish Night" -- Two salesman stranded in the desert see a prehistoric vision in the night sky. I have read this story a few times, and it grows on me each time. A nice blend of magical realism with just a faint hint of the trademark Lansdale bite. Adapted into a memorable episode of Death, Love, & Robots (season 1) on Netflix.
"Bar Talk" -- Two strangers strike up a conversation in a bar, but it takes a bizarre turn when one of them claims to be a spy from Mars. Adapted into an 8-minute short film in 2013 (available online).
"On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks" -- Begins with a bad hombre trying to sexually exploit a naked, muzzled 12-year old zombie in a bar… from there, it gets really stark and offensive… great stuff! Lansdale was writing dark brutal zombie stories 25 years before Walking Dead and World War Z made them part of the American cultural zeitgeist again. Won a Bram Stoker Award (1989) and a British Fantasy Award (1990).
"Personality Problems" -- A humorous take on the Frankenstein legend told from the monster's point of view. He simply does not understand why everyone hates him so much.
"Morning, Noon and Night" -- Boy versus vampire. A creepy, atmospheric, and sad tale.
"Godzilla's Twelve-Step Program" -- Godzilla and his pals Kong, Reptilicus, Gorgo, and Gamera are trying to kick their addiction to rampaging and killing humans. I do not know if the author is making fun of AA, or maybe this is a message to be true to yourself no matter the cost. All I know, it is very, very funny.
"The Fat Man" -- Two middle school boys sneak into the house of an eccentric, obese neighbor with a strange moon tattoo on his stomach. They discover an alien force that threatens their whole town. An early sci-fi horror hybrid story that reminds me of Phillip K. Dick's "The Father-Thing".
"The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning" -- Features literature’s first detective, C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe. Lansdale does a remarkable job capturing the cadence and style of the old 19th century crime stories, especially at the beginning. Then he mixes in elements of the Frankenstein origin story and H. P. Lovecraft’s mythos.
"The Dump" -- A Texas-style tall tale set in an eerie trash dump. Otto is the perfect pet to read about a few nights before Halloween. Adapted as episode #9 of Love, Death & Robots (Season 1) on Netflix in 2019.
After the War -- A 2-sentence short-short about the final pair of humans left on Earth.
"Hell Through a Windshield" -- This is a comedic quasi-essay about the author's love of drive-ins that morphs into a fictional horror story. Some of the ideas and scenes were later incorporated into his classic cult novel, The Drive-In.
"The Tall Grass" -- When his train stops in the middle of a prairie after midnight, a man decides to stretch his legs and have a cigarette. He gets lost in the head-high grass and comes face to face with horrible fallen creatures. Adapted into a terrific episode of Death, Love, & Robots (season 2) on Netflix.
"Big Man: A Fable" -- Tim Burke takes a pill that has the potential to correct his physical shortcomings, but the side effects may spell the end of all humanity. Imaginative and hilarious, reminds me of early Harlan Ellison. I love the opening lines: "Tim Burke was the only one to take the experimental pill. Nothing as complex as this pill had ever been invented, but since he was five foot one, his penis was small, he was balding, had flat feet and one leg shorter than the other, and an oversized mole on his nose that made that part of his face look like an odd-shaped potato, he thought, what the hell?"
"The Shaggy House" -- Two elderly neighbors notice the homes on their cul-de-sac look decrepit and worn. They begin to suspect the new house that just appeared on the vacant lot may be to blame. A Bradbury-esque tale. Inspired by a scene from the author's early novel The Nightrunners. Later adapted into the illustrated children's book Something Lumber This Way Comes.
"King of the Cheap Romance" -- After her father’s death, young Angela Fish must race across the polar ice caps to deliver a vaccine to a Martian colony. Inspired by the works of Robert Heinlein, this woman-vs-nature adventure tale is not set on the red lifeless desert Mars we know today, but rather a fantasy Mars that existed in 1950’s pop culture, a planet filled with ice sharks, gold-skinned aliens, bats as big as spaceships, and mysterious temple pyramids.
"Rex" -- A boy and his dog investigate a flying saucer that lands behind their house. As the story goes on, we learn the boy is not very nice (to his dog or the alien). While this alien is not particularly malevolent, it does have a keen sense of justice. A slight and whimsical story.
"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel" -- Captain William Beadle and his crew pilot a giant metal steampunk robot to defeat the Dark Rider and his minions. The Dark Rider (who is revealed to be the Time Traveler from H. G. Wells' Time Machine) has inadvertently opened a rip in space-time that is causing the past, present, and future to collide. It is also bleeding into H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle universe. This was the very first steampunk novella I ever read. It's still a personal favorite, but honestly it has not aged as well as some of his other stories.
"Way Down There" -- A team of superheroes race to save the planet from a global pandemic and a new ice age. Guided by the poet Virgil, they must travel to the center of the Earth into the depths of Hell itself to restore the balance of good and evil. A slapstick genre-mashup of Dante's Inferno and Edgar Rice Burrough's Pellucidar.
November 23, 2020
This is an excellent collection of science-fiction short stories by Joe R. Lansdale. Every single story in this collection is top notch, which is not an easy accomplishment. Highly recommended.
October 21, 2022
I'm a big fan of Joe R. Lansdale's work. I'm saving this one (Kindle edition) for when I'm traveling -- I can read one or several stories based on spare time available. I hope to find this one in print some day, but don't know of any plans Subterranean Press may have for a second printing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews