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Collected Stories #2
Angora Fever: The Collected Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Edward D. Wood, Jr. was a name forgotten in the history of Hollywood until the release of the 1994 Tim Burton biopic, Ed Wood , starring Johnny Depp as Ed, and Martin Landau as the horror icon Bela Lugosi, a role for which Landau received the Academy Award. Following service with the U.S. Marines during World War II, Ed followed his dream to Hollywood, hoping to achieve success as a movie director. Ed did realize his goal but his talents did not match his ambitions. Working with practically nonexistent budgets, he directed movies ignored in their day but have since become recognized as cult Glen or Glenda , Bride of The Monster, Orgy of The Dead, and his most "infamous" Plan 9 From Outer Space . Barely skimping by on his movie earnings, Ed turned to writing a series of lurid paperbacks with such titles as "Black Lace Drag", "Let Me Die In Drag" and "Devil Girls". His professional decline continued when he worked for a skin magazine publisher in the late 60's, churning out copy and short fiction in prodigious amounts, an amazing accomplishment considering that by this point Ed Wood had become a serious alcoholic. Edited and with a foreword by Bob Blackburn, a close friend of Ed's widow Kathy, these later stories penned by Ed Wood have finally been collected in this exclusive volume.
470 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2019
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58 people want to read
About the author
Ed Wood
71 books49 followersEdward Davis Wood, Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, actor, author, and editor (often performing many of these functions simultaneously). In the 1950s, Wood made a run of independently produced, extremely low-budget horror, science fiction, and cowboy films, now celebrated for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts, and outlandish plot elements, although his flair for showmanship gave his productions at least a modicum of commercial success.
Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest "name" star, Béla Lugosi, died. He was able to salvage a saleable feature from Lugosi's last moments on film, but his career declined thereafter. Toward the end of his life, Wood made pornographic movies and wrote pulp crime, horror, and sex novels. His posthumous fame began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time.[1] The lack of conventional filmmaking ability in his work has earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following.
Following the publication of Rudolph Grey's biography Nightmare of Ecstasy, Wood's life and work have undergone a public rehabilitation, with new light shed on his evident zeal and honest love of movies and movie production, and Tim Burton's biopic, Ed Wood, earned two Academy Awards.
From the 1950s onward, Wood supplemented his directing and screenwriting income with hastily written pulp fiction, including innumerable pulp crime, horror, and sex novels and occasional non-fiction pieces. As he became increasingly unable to fund film projects, the novels seem to have become Wood's primary source of income.
Wood's novels frequently include transvestite or drag queen characters, or entire plots centering around transvestism (including his angora fetish), and tap into his love of crime fiction and the occult. Wood would often recycle plots of his films for novels, write novelizations of his own screenplays, or reuse elements from his novels in scripts. His first novel, Black Lace Drag was published in 1963 and reissued in 1965 as Killer in Drag. Among his other books are Orgy of The Dead (1965), Devil Girls (1967), Death of a Transvestite (1967), The Sexecutives (1968), and A Study of Fetishes and Fantasies (1973).
Descriptions of Wood's working methods in Nightmare of Ecstasy indicate he would work on a dozen projects at once, simultaneously watching television, eating, drinking, and carrying on conversations while typing. In his quasi-memoir, Hollywood Rat Race, Wood advises new writers to "just keep on writing. Even if your story gets worse, you'll get better."
As Wood's most famous films of the 1950s are not explicitly sexual or violent, the outré content of his novels may shock the unprepared reader. Wood's dark side emerges in such sexual shockers as Raped in the Grass or The Perverts and in short stories such as Toni: Black Tigress, which exploit hot-button topics like violence, rape, racial issues, juvenile delinquency, and drug culture.
Some of Wood's books remained unpublished during his lifetime. Hollywood Rat Race, for example, was written in 1965 and finally released in 1998. The nonfiction book is part primer for young actors and filmmakers, and part memoir. In Rat Race, Wood recounts tales of dubious authenticity, such as how he and Lugosi entered the world of nightclub cabaret.
Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest "name" star, Béla Lugosi, died. He was able to salvage a saleable feature from Lugosi's last moments on film, but his career declined thereafter. Toward the end of his life, Wood made pornographic movies and wrote pulp crime, horror, and sex novels. His posthumous fame began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time.[1] The lack of conventional filmmaking ability in his work has earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following.
Following the publication of Rudolph Grey's biography Nightmare of Ecstasy, Wood's life and work have undergone a public rehabilitation, with new light shed on his evident zeal and honest love of movies and movie production, and Tim Burton's biopic, Ed Wood, earned two Academy Awards.
From the 1950s onward, Wood supplemented his directing and screenwriting income with hastily written pulp fiction, including innumerable pulp crime, horror, and sex novels and occasional non-fiction pieces. As he became increasingly unable to fund film projects, the novels seem to have become Wood's primary source of income.
Wood's novels frequently include transvestite or drag queen characters, or entire plots centering around transvestism (including his angora fetish), and tap into his love of crime fiction and the occult. Wood would often recycle plots of his films for novels, write novelizations of his own screenplays, or reuse elements from his novels in scripts. His first novel, Black Lace Drag was published in 1963 and reissued in 1965 as Killer in Drag. Among his other books are Orgy of The Dead (1965), Devil Girls (1967), Death of a Transvestite (1967), The Sexecutives (1968), and A Study of Fetishes and Fantasies (1973).
Descriptions of Wood's working methods in Nightmare of Ecstasy indicate he would work on a dozen projects at once, simultaneously watching television, eating, drinking, and carrying on conversations while typing. In his quasi-memoir, Hollywood Rat Race, Wood advises new writers to "just keep on writing. Even if your story gets worse, you'll get better."
As Wood's most famous films of the 1950s are not explicitly sexual or violent, the outré content of his novels may shock the unprepared reader. Wood's dark side emerges in such sexual shockers as Raped in the Grass or The Perverts and in short stories such as Toni: Black Tigress, which exploit hot-button topics like violence, rape, racial issues, juvenile delinquency, and drug culture.
Some of Wood's books remained unpublished during his lifetime. Hollywood Rat Race, for example, was written in 1965 and finally released in 1998. The nonfiction book is part primer for young actors and filmmakers, and part memoir. In Rat Race, Wood recounts tales of dubious authenticity, such as how he and Lugosi entered the world of nightclub cabaret.
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December 23, 2023Ed Wood is well-known as the cult classic director of Plan 9 from Outer Space and having a fascinating life worthy of a Tim Burton biopic. His vast output of fiction and novels is far less known, however, which I can already tell is a shame.
The introduction explains how much of his short stories were published in obscure magazines generally focused on sex and violence. There's a warning that his plots are often taboo and tasteless. I can't wait!
So I don't forget my reactions, I'll update this review as I read each story.
"Hitchhike to Hell" - 5/5
Fabulous. We have a serial killer who's not a werewolf but his urges are still somehow tied to phases of the moon. He has a lust for women whose breasts look good in sweaters. He also wears rubber panties and has bisexual tendencies. We follow his plans to slice up another victim when something unexpected happens. If the rest of the stories are this good, this book is going to be a blast!
“Gore in the Alley” - 3/5
A used and abused prostitute gets her chance at revenge. She’s prone to wearing soft fabrics up top and dense materials down below, seemingly enjoying panties that make her sweat (I’m seeing a recurring theme here). It’s enjoyable to see how easily Wood writes from the female perspective. The imagery is very noir and genuinely spooky. Love the pseudonym Wood used for this one, Shirlee Lane. An unimaginative conclusion makes it only average though. On to the next!
”The Hazards of the Game” - 5/5
Ooh! So trashy and so good. A panty model (with a taste for angora wool, of course) and her hitman lover are enjoying another sexy night together, but soon he’s got a job to do. They think about how it’s too bad their occupations make it impossible to get married and have a family. Great twist at the end. Legitimately fantastic in both an ironic and un-ironic way.
"The Hooker" - 3/5
LOL, this story was published under the pseudonym "Ann Gora". His fabric fetish is relentless!! Our protagonist is, unsurprisingly a hooker. She's brand new at the job though. She moved from Wyoming to Hollywood to chase after the dream of tinsel town, only to find herself out of money and selling her body for $10 to make rent. More sweaty panties (another Ed favorite, clearly) and generous descriptions of delicate fabrics. The cruel Hollywood characters, such as villainous landlords, are interesting since Ed knew such people personally. Not a complex narrative, but a number of whirlwind twists at the end keep it surprising.
”Bums Rush Terror” - 3.5/5
Another tale from “Ann Gora”. A horny unhoused man commits unspeakable evil and murders the victim. He then develops a taste for murder and goes on a spree. Per usual, Wood’s villainous characters do not get away with their crimes for long. Grungy to the max (not necessarily a bad thing) with an okay conclusion.
"Blood Drains Easily" - 4/5
"I like to kill people," is the eye-catching first sentence. Not only does this protagonist like to kill, he likes his victims to scream and cry and squirm as he slowly finishes them off. One day he crosses "one of those fairy bastards" and gets excited, because this guy is sure to holler a "C note at least" while he's butchered. But soon enough it's clear this killer messed with the wrong fairy and may experience a fate even worse than something he could cook up.
This story is gory and pretty unhinged, very Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though it pre-dates the film. Not much complexity to dissect, except perhaps a mental episode where he's nagged by a corpse deposited in cement. Ed seems to have written this one in a frenzy, probably in one sitting and without a single edit. There is a rawness about it that is appreciated, even if the plot itself isn't so great.
”A Taste for Blood” - 4/5
Another mystery involving a prostitute. Almost all unnamed dialogue, making it difficult to distinguish between characters, but a well-constructed twist ending.
”The Last Void” - 3.5/5
Fabulous opening sentence. Story tries to be more character-driven, but doesn’t quite succeed. Good pacing of mystery.
The introduction explains how much of his short stories were published in obscure magazines generally focused on sex and violence. There's a warning that his plots are often taboo and tasteless. I can't wait!
So I don't forget my reactions, I'll update this review as I read each story.
"Hitchhike to Hell" - 5/5
Fabulous. We have a serial killer who's not a werewolf but his urges are still somehow tied to phases of the moon. He has a lust for women whose breasts look good in sweaters. He also wears rubber panties and has bisexual tendencies. We follow his plans to slice up another victim when something unexpected happens. If the rest of the stories are this good, this book is going to be a blast!
“Gore in the Alley” - 3/5
A used and abused prostitute gets her chance at revenge. She’s prone to wearing soft fabrics up top and dense materials down below, seemingly enjoying panties that make her sweat (I’m seeing a recurring theme here). It’s enjoyable to see how easily Wood writes from the female perspective. The imagery is very noir and genuinely spooky. Love the pseudonym Wood used for this one, Shirlee Lane. An unimaginative conclusion makes it only average though. On to the next!
”The Hazards of the Game” - 5/5
Ooh! So trashy and so good. A panty model (with a taste for angora wool, of course) and her hitman lover are enjoying another sexy night together, but soon he’s got a job to do. They think about how it’s too bad their occupations make it impossible to get married and have a family. Great twist at the end. Legitimately fantastic in both an ironic and un-ironic way.
"The Hooker" - 3/5
LOL, this story was published under the pseudonym "Ann Gora". His fabric fetish is relentless!! Our protagonist is, unsurprisingly a hooker. She's brand new at the job though. She moved from Wyoming to Hollywood to chase after the dream of tinsel town, only to find herself out of money and selling her body for $10 to make rent. More sweaty panties (another Ed favorite, clearly) and generous descriptions of delicate fabrics. The cruel Hollywood characters, such as villainous landlords, are interesting since Ed knew such people personally. Not a complex narrative, but a number of whirlwind twists at the end keep it surprising.
”Bums Rush Terror” - 3.5/5
Another tale from “Ann Gora”. A horny unhoused man commits unspeakable evil and murders the victim. He then develops a taste for murder and goes on a spree. Per usual, Wood’s villainous characters do not get away with their crimes for long. Grungy to the max (not necessarily a bad thing) with an okay conclusion.
"Blood Drains Easily" - 4/5
"I like to kill people," is the eye-catching first sentence. Not only does this protagonist like to kill, he likes his victims to scream and cry and squirm as he slowly finishes them off. One day he crosses "one of those fairy bastards" and gets excited, because this guy is sure to holler a "C note at least" while he's butchered. But soon enough it's clear this killer messed with the wrong fairy and may experience a fate even worse than something he could cook up.
This story is gory and pretty unhinged, very Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though it pre-dates the film. Not much complexity to dissect, except perhaps a mental episode where he's nagged by a corpse deposited in cement. Ed seems to have written this one in a frenzy, probably in one sitting and without a single edit. There is a rawness about it that is appreciated, even if the plot itself isn't so great.
”A Taste for Blood” - 4/5
Another mystery involving a prostitute. Almost all unnamed dialogue, making it difficult to distinguish between characters, but a well-constructed twist ending.
”The Last Void” - 3.5/5
Fabulous opening sentence. Story tries to be more character-driven, but doesn’t quite succeed. Good pacing of mystery.
March 19, 2025
This collection feels even more demented and misanthropic than "Blood Splatters Quickly" due to the stories being more sex focused. Not that they are erotic. Instead they feel more like a purging. Ed writes about booze as much as sex, and you could make a drinking game out of how many times Ed uses his drag alter ego name "Shirlee" in a story. Which isn't to say these aren't a hoot to read for the most part. Just be ready for an absolutely broken attempt at writing erotica. "Baiting Millie" is especially notable as it's one pages long rambling paragraph that feels especially to be pouring out of Ed's booze addled brain. It all adds up to being a fascinating read.
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