The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale

Throughout his acclaimed career, Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep, Hap and Leonard) has delivered pitch dark, pitch perfect, over-the-top stories with incisive social commentary. In this retrospective of his inimitable horror short-fiction, Lansdale, a ten-time Bram Stoker Award winner, tackles bigotry and cruelty as easily as he does demon nuns and Elder Gods. Bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale is known for his gritty mysteries and his eccentric horror. As a ten time Bram Stoker Award winner, he is cited by many of horror's most acclaimed writers as a huge influence upon them: Stephen Graham Jones, Josh Malerman, Gabino Iglesias, Brian Keene, and Joe Hill, who contributes an original introduction to this collection.

Lansdale's horror stories mash up crime, Southern Gothic, fantasy, and science fiction, filtered through a raw, violent world of dark humor and unique characters. He was one of the first horror writers to portray American racism not as abstract or impersonal, but as realistic, intimate, in-your-face, and impossible to ignore.

In Lansdale's nightmarish visions, discover psychotic demon nuns, a psychopathic preacher, cannibals, 80-year-old Elvis, undead strippers, flying ghost fish, Elder Gods, possessed cars, and the worst evil of all: man.