Crucified Dreams reaches down through the gutters into the shadowy depths of imagination. These savage tales unite noir with horror and the ordinary with the unfathomable. Combing the urban, the paranormal, and the downright terrifying, these award-winning stories go where your deepest fears—and inner demons—are already realized.
A naïve young woman witnesses a brutal murder and discovers the soul-deadening price of being a New Yorker. The family man quits smoking with the sinister assistance of a family-friendly corporation. A truck driver takes a simple shortcut and lands in a living hell and a battle to the death. An aging Hollywood screenwriter’s career is on the wane until he reinvents himself as a less principled man.
Crucified Dreams reaches down through the gutters into the shadowy depths of the imagination. These are the savage tales that unite noir with horror and the ordinary with the unfathomable. Combing the urban, the paranormal, and the downright terrifying, these award-winning stories go where your deepest fears—and inner demons—are already realized.
“…prime pieces by respected genre writers. Readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror will find something within their respective (or overlapping) tastes to enjoy.”
—Hellnotes
“Spanning more than 35 years and pulled from a wide variety of horror, fantasy, mystery, and science-fiction publications, [the stories] reflect a uniform standard of excellence by which any writer would want to measure his own work.”
—Locus
“…this is one of those rare anthologies where you’ll want to read each and every contribution…. [P]ut yourself in the capable hands of Lansdale as he guides you through his wonderfully twisted sensibilities and tastes in reading.”
—Bookgasm
Joe R. Lansdale is the author of more than thirty novels, including the Edgar Award–winning Hap and Leonard mystery series (Mucho Mojo, Two Bear Mambo) and the New York Times Notable Book The Bottoms. More than two hundred of his stories have appeared in such outlets as Tales From the Crypt and Pulphouse, and his work has been adapted for The Twilight Zone and Masters of Horror. Lansdale has written several graphic novels, including Batman and Fantastic Four. He is a tenth-degree black belt and the founder of the Shen Chuan martial art.
Praise for Joe R. Lansdale
“A cult figure.”
—People Magazine
“Outrageously funny.”
—Los Angeles Times
“An immense talent.”
—Booklist
“A folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace.”
— New York Times Book Review
“A terrifically gifted storyteller.”
—Washington Post Book Review
“A zest for storytelling and a gimlet eye for detail.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Lansdale is a storyteller in the Texas tradition of outrageousness…but amped up to about 100,000 watts.”
—Houston Chronicle
“A terrifically gifted storyteller.”
—Washington Post Book Review
“Lansdale’s been hailed, at varying points in his career, as the new Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner-gone-madder, and the last surviving splatterpunk…sanctified in the blood of the walking Western dead and righteously readable.”
—Austin Chronicle
“Like gold standard writers Elmore Leonard and the late Donald Westlake, Joe R. Lansdale is one of the more versatile writers in America.”
—Los Angeles Times
“…since I’m not mincing words, let me say that Mr. Lansdale doesn’t mince them either.
That trip from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ (with some interesting stops along the way) is filled with well-wrought characters, black humor, knife-sharp dialogue, and enough violence to make even the most jaded Quentin Tarantino aficionado sit up and smile.”
—Washington Times
“Joe R. Lansdale’s writing swaggers back and forth through a variety of genres, format, and media, blending elements and tones in unconventional ways, but never losing sight of the importance of story and character. His characters feel authentic, his environments are believable, and his plots are gripping. He’s a great storyteller in the most classic American tradition; one gets the sense that if mankind never got around to technology, Lansdale would be roaming the country, regaling campfire crowds…the one thing he cannot write, will not write, is bullshit.”
—The Kind of Face You Hate
Praise for Flaming London, Zeppelins West, and Flaming Zeppelins
“A madcap excursion.”
—Shelf Awareness
“The comparison to Alan Moore’s great comic series is probably the most apt, both in the form of a collection of historic and literary characters and in the tone of Moore’s delight in the obscene. Lansdale ramps both up to hilarious excess.”
—Voyages Extraordinaires
“Lansdale reminds me somewhat of Terry Pratchett, if Pratchett was an irascible cuss with an affection for scatological humour…. If you want your steampunk serious, sombre, or squeaky-clean, stay far away from Lansdale. For myself, he’s a breath of flatulent air in the midst of steampunk taking itself far too seriously.”
—Steampunk Scholar
Praise for Zeppelins West
“Irrepressible, irreverent and unpredictable…. Legends of the Old West, plus characters both real and fictional, enliven the shenanigans…. This novel is one big joyride from start to finish.”
—Publishers Weekly
Praise for Flaming London
“Wait a minute! What’s going on here? Only one of the wildest-alternate-worlds, rip-in-space-time, SF-pastiche romps this side of fifties B-movies.”
—Booklist
“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison®
“The Monster” by Joe Haldeman
“The Mojave Two-Step” by Norman Partridge
“Front Man” by David Morrell
“Interrogation B” by Charlie Huston
“The Quickening” by Michael Bishop
“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by Octavia E. Butler
“Love in Vain” by Lewis Shiner
“Beast of the Heartland” by Lucius Shepard
“Coffins on the River” by Jeffrey Ford
“Game Night at the Fox and Goose” by Karen Joy Fowler
“Copping Squid” by Michael Shea
“Access Fantasy” by Jonathan Lethem
“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages
“Quitters, Inc.” by Stephen King
“Nightbeat” by Neal Barrett, Jr.
“Window” by Bob Leman
“The Pit” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Loss” by Tom Piccirilli
Crucified Dreams
Joe R. Lansdale, ed.
Crucified Dreams reaches down through the gutters into the shadowy depths of imagination. These savage tales unite noir with horror and the ordinary with the unfathomable. Combing the urban, the paranormal, and the downright terrifying, these award-winning stories go where your deepest fears—and inner demons—are already realized.
$15.95
Crucified Dreams
by Joe R. Lansdale, ed.
ISBN: 9781616960032
Published: 2011
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback
A naïve young woman witnesses a brutal murder and discovers the soul-deadening price of being a New Yorker. The family man quits smoking with the sinister assistance of a family-friendly corporation. A truck driver takes a simple shortcut and lands in a living hell and a battle to the death. An aging Hollywood screenwriter’s career is on the wane until he reinvents himself as a less principled man.
Crucified Dreams reaches down through the gutters into the shadowy depths of the imagination. These are the savage tales that unite noir with horror and the ordinary with the unfathomable. Combing the urban, the paranormal, and the downright terrifying, these award-winning stories go where your deepest fears—and inner demons—are already realized.
“…prime pieces by respected genre writers. Readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror will find something within their respective (or overlapping) tastes to enjoy.”
—Hellnotes
“Spanning more than 35 years and pulled from a wide variety of horror, fantasy, mystery, and science-fiction publications, [the stories] reflect a uniform standard of excellence by which any writer would want to measure his own work.”
—Locus
“…this is one of those rare anthologies where you’ll want to read each and every contribution…. [P]ut yourself in the capable hands of Lansdale as he guides you through his wonderfully twisted sensibilities and tastes in reading.”
—Bookgasm
Joe R. Lansdale is the author of more than thirty novels, including the Edgar Award–winning Hap and Leonard mystery series (Mucho Mojo, Two Bear Mambo) and the New York Times Notable Book The Bottoms. More than two hundred of his stories have appeared in such outlets as Tales From the Crypt and Pulphouse, and his work has been adapted for The Twilight Zone and Masters of Horror. Lansdale has written several graphic novels, including Batman and Fantastic Four. He is a tenth-degree black belt and the founder of the Shen Chuan martial art.
Praise for Joe R. Lansdale
“A cult figure.”
—People Magazine
“Outrageously funny.”
—Los Angeles Times
“An immense talent.”
—Booklist
“A folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace.”
— New York Times Book Review
“A terrifically gifted storyteller.”
—Washington Post Book Review
“A zest for storytelling and a gimlet eye for detail.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Lansdale is a storyteller in the Texas tradition of outrageousness…but amped up to about 100,000 watts.”
—Houston Chronicle
“A terrifically gifted storyteller.”
—Washington Post Book Review
“Lansdale’s been hailed, at varying points in his career, as the new Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner-gone-madder, and the last surviving splatterpunk…sanctified in the blood of the walking Western dead and righteously readable.”
—Austin Chronicle
“Like gold standard writers Elmore Leonard and the late Donald Westlake, Joe R. Lansdale is one of the more versatile writers in America.”
—Los Angeles Times
“…since I’m not mincing words, let me say that Mr. Lansdale doesn’t mince them either.
That trip from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ (with some interesting stops along the way) is filled with well-wrought characters, black humor, knife-sharp dialogue, and enough violence to make even the most jaded Quentin Tarantino aficionado sit up and smile.”
—Washington Times
“Joe R. Lansdale’s writing swaggers back and forth through a variety of genres, format, and media, blending elements and tones in unconventional ways, but never losing sight of the importance of story and character. His characters feel authentic, his environments are believable, and his plots are gripping. He’s a great storyteller in the most classic American tradition; one gets the sense that if mankind never got around to technology, Lansdale would be roaming the country, regaling campfire crowds…the one thing he cannot write, will not write, is bullshit.”
—The Kind of Face You Hate
Praise for Flaming London, Zeppelins West, and Flaming Zeppelins
“A madcap excursion.”
—Shelf Awareness
“The comparison to Alan Moore’s great comic series is probably the most apt, both in the form of a collection of historic and literary characters and in the tone of Moore’s delight in the obscene. Lansdale ramps both up to hilarious excess.”
—Voyages Extraordinaires
“Lansdale reminds me somewhat of Terry Pratchett, if Pratchett was an irascible cuss with an affection for scatological humour…. If you want your steampunk serious, sombre, or squeaky-clean, stay far away from Lansdale. For myself, he’s a breath of flatulent air in the midst of steampunk taking itself far too seriously.”
—Steampunk Scholar
Praise for Zeppelins West
“Irrepressible, irreverent and unpredictable…. Legends of the Old West, plus characters both real and fictional, enliven the shenanigans…. This novel is one big joyride from start to finish.”
—Publishers Weekly
Praise for Flaming London
“Wait a minute! What’s going on here? Only one of the wildest-alternate-worlds, rip-in-space-time, SF-pastiche romps this side of fifties B-movies.”
—Booklist
Visit the Joe R. Lansdale website.
Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison®
“The Monster” by Joe Haldeman
“The Mojave Two-Step” by Norman Partridge
“Front Man” by David Morrell
“Interrogation B” by Charlie Huston
“The Quickening” by Michael Bishop
“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by Octavia E. Butler
“Love in Vain” by Lewis Shiner
“Beast of the Heartland” by Lucius Shepard
“Coffins on the River” by Jeffrey Ford
“Game Night at the Fox and Goose” by Karen Joy Fowler
“Copping Squid” by Michael Shea
“Access Fantasy” by Jonathan Lethem
“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages
“Quitters, Inc.” by Stephen King
“Nightbeat” by Neal Barrett, Jr.
“Window” by Bob Leman
“The Pit” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Loss” by Tom Piccirilli
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