Lost Angels

by David J. Schow

Lost angels are victims of the rigors of love in the City of Night. Los Angeles is where love is found, earned, stolen, sought, regained . . . and ultimately lost again. Schow features an Introduction by Richard Christian Matheson and an Afterword written especially for this edition. Also includes a brand-new short story, "Calendar Girl".

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk, Short Stories, Fiction

252 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 6, 1990

About the author

David J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays, associated with the "splatterpunk" movement of the late '80s and early '90s. Most recently he has moved into the crime genre.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

David J. Schow was known as the "Father of Splatterpunk," as the cover of this collection from 1990 proudly proclaims. It contains five stories, including the excellent Red Light which won the World Fantasy Award in 1987 for best short story. It's a nice variation of Leiber's classic, "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes." Brass is a good story of a haunting, and the poorly titled Pamela's Get is an excellent reality-questioner. I did not care for the longest story in the book at all, The Falling Man, which struck me as an incoherent mess. My favorite was the last story, Monster Movies, a very touching romance about recovery and perseverance with no supernatural element at all and violence of the emotional kind. All of the stories have a very 1980's flavor of me-first hustling philosophy and sex-as-commodity that's a little jarring today, but they're accurate representatives of their era; horror wasn't always a small-press niche, and Schow was one of the best of his generation.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I must admit to being a bit wary - as Schow is considered the "father of splatterpunk" - simply because splatterpunk isn't my cup of tea. I've read some very well-written splatterpunk in my time, and it's a completely valid genre, but it's just not my preference, and I think I've also read stuff which claims the splatterpunk title, but turned out mostly to be an excuse for bad writing and graphic violence.

But this. THIS COLLECTION. I'm assuming the majority of Schow's work falls in the splatterpunk vein, given his title. But this collection is filled with marvelous stories of depth and emotion. My favorites were "Monster Movies," "Red Light," and "Pamela's Get." It should be noted: this is a review of the used paperback, which doesn't include "Calendar Girl."

Knowing that most of his work falls in the realm of splatterpunk, I'm not sure if I'll seek it out. This collection, however, was amazing, and certainly makes me more likely to, eventually.

[We All · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bei racconti, molti parlano di lutto e perdite,non sono troppo horror o splatter come ci si potrebbe aspettare dall'autore, ma tutti sono spiazzanti.