EDITOR'S NOTE: Spring into Terror is a cross-website promotion partnering the several websites in horror book reviews; as complete a listing of the participants as is possible at this time follows this review. And now, without further ado, Fear Zone presents this Special Edition of Macabre Musings: Jeff Strand's GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES!


Delirium Books, 2008

The admixture of Humor and Horror, chills and chuckles, is far from a new idea. However, it is a very powerful and compelling combination. It has long been recognized that something deep within the wiring of the human mind and consciousness not only strongly seeks and desires, but also periodically requires emotional release from strong feelings that we all too often keep hidden or repressed. Both fear and happiness are chief among these strongest and most basic emotions, as is surprise, and so it is no wonder that both horror and humor are ranked amongst the strongest and even most pleasurable of human cathartic emotional releases. Because horror and humor are each such strong and basic human emotions, and typically of highly contrasting opposite natures, their judicious and careful combination can lead to very satisfying results. While horror provides the tension, scares, and thrills, humor can act both to remind the reader that all is, in reality "safe," and to act as a contrasting release valve to momentarily give a needed respite from the otherwise unremitting tension. These pauses for laughter, in return, allow for the graduated re-heightening of the tension and terror. It is a difficult mixture to get just right. Too much or ill-timed humor can go too far beyond the semi-conscious reassurance that the reader is, after all, safe and secure, and lead to reader displacement from the entire story, and the requisite suspension of disbelief originally and cooperatively created between the author and reader. Too little, or unfunny attempted humor has a similar impact and result. Achieving just the right synthesis between horror and humor is thus an extremely difficult and delicate process, and one that requires a true expert in order for the result to entertain rather than disappoint.



Author Jeff Strand, who first burst onto the Horror Genre "scene" around the year 2000, has by now proven himself to be among the foremost and preeminent writers who can successfully combine horror and humor into extremely entertaining stories. He is the author of such successful horror/humor combination books as, Mandibles, Casket For Sale (Only Used Once), Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary), The Sinister Mr. Corpse, Disposal, and The Haunted Forest Tour (co-authored with James A. Moore) among others. It should be noted that Mr. Strand can also write rather exceptional "straight" horror when he wants, as evidenced by his novel, Pressure , which was a 2007 Bram Stoker Award finalist for best novel, and is itself a very compelling and chilling read. However, for sheer fun and enjoyment, one can legitimately argue that author Strand best showcases his unique talents in his short fiction. It is therefore fortuitous indeed, that Shane Ryan Staley and Delirium Books has announced the imminent release of Gleefully Macabre Tales, a limited edition hardcover book collection of thirty-two (32) of Jeff Strand's short fiction tales taken in part from the author's three previous and hard to obtain chapbooks, as well as some notable stories published in various magazines and anthologies, and even two selections from the author's entries into the justly infamous World Horror Convention "gross-out" contest.



For those amongst you who are as yet unfamiliar with Shane Ryan Staley and Delirium Books, since 1999, Delirium Books has deservedly prided itself on designing and publishing books that are both physically beautiful and refined, as well as having truly and consistently superior content between the covers, and always at a reasonable price. In this respect, Gleefully Macabre Tales is no exception. As always, the book uses very nice materials for the paper, boards, etc., incorporates a classy and easily readable font, has nice foil stamping on its covers, as well as wonderful cover art by master artist Alan M. Clark. In addition to the thirty-two stories, the book further includes both an Introduction and concluding Story Notes by author Strand, and all copies of the Limited Numbered Hardcover Edition of three hundred have been signed by both the author and artist.


The collection starts very strongly. The two initial stories encountered are "Really, Really Ferocious, " which involves an extremely creative and very funny twist on the notion of an attack dog, followed by the brilliantly conceived and executed descent into madness and terror entitled, "Socially Awkward Moments With An Aspiring Lunatic." The fact is, none of the stories are in the least repetitive, and virtually all range from at least "good" to "truly great." The range displayed by the author within these thirty-two stories, his ability to alternately scare, titillate, and make you laugh is almost as gratifying as it is amazing. Indeed, even in the one or two "straight" tales of horror that the author has managed to slip into the collection (which, like the author advises, I'll let you discover for yourselves) are quite good; again, as with Strand's "straight" horror novel Pressure. Based on these small tidbits, this reviewer confesses to selfishly hoping that Mr. Strand may yet experience a depression of such magnitude and duration just long enough to allow for the creation of another "straight" horror tale, which is sure to be another gem.


Then again, one can hardly argue with an author who can get you laughing out loud, even against your own will. A true story - I'd taken the time to print out the PDF file of Gleefully Macabre Tales I'd been sent to review, and decided to take the printout along with me to continue reading while going to a doctor's office for a longstanding appointment, as the wait there can be rather lengthy at times. As I reside in the greater Phoenix, AZ metropolitan area, and this was at the height of the Winter tourist season, I arrived to an overflowing office filled with a massed assortment of ill, and ill-at-ease patients, and indeed, to the news, imparted by the Receptionist, a dead-ringer for Nurse Ratched, that the doctor was running rather late. My mood as I thus sat down in the last available chair in the reception room, in the far corner, next to the blaring television, and with the plastic leaves of the fake plant waving in my face, was not exactly what one might describe as festive, though it certainly matched the countenance of the room and the other people within it, all more-or-less silently suffering and filled with a glum antipathy towards everything and everyone else. It was then that I made the fateful mistake of starting Strand's story, "The Socket" - a mere nine pages in length. Whether it was just my perverted nature, the bad day I'd been having, or a combination of factors, not the least of which is Strand's inspired writing itself, I suddenly found myself having found what I was reading so damn funny, that I was starting to burst out laughing. Now, the overall mood of my surroundings was such that even Torquemada would have been embarrassed into silence. This was not the place to laugh. Luckily, I was able to partially cover the first unexpected and unavoidable outburst with a fake coughing fit. Suddenly, there were seemingly one hundred sets of eyes staring at me, even though there couldn't have been more than say twenty people in that waiting room with me. The stares did not seem to be all that sympathetic. I then compounded my error by stupidly reading a few more lines of the story. ... 'Ya know how sometimes the more you don't want to do something (like laugh) and the harder you try to prevent it, the worse things become, and the harder it becomes to impede yourself from succumbing? The second outburst was, unfortunately, a bit more sustained, and far less convincingly a coughing sound, than a laughing sound. There was a lot more staring, this time accompanied by some grumbling. I'd by now already bitten my own tongue in an attempt to forestall any further public outbursts. As I barely managed to regain a semblance of my composure, with my face beet red, I made the inexcusable three-strikes-and-you're-out mistake of trying to hide by burying myself in the printed sheets of the book, and thereupon read yet further into the story. It proved to be my undoing. Between the hilarity of the words and situation, as gruesome as it was, appearing on Mr. Strand's written page, in combination with the now truly dirty looks I was being given by certainly a majority of the waiting room, I finally and totally lost all control and, with genuine tears in my eyes, began laughing hysterically to the point of being both doubled-over in my chair and unable to catch my breath. Indeed, Nurse Ratched actually became concerned enough to send one of the younger nurses out and over to my chair to see if I was experiencing some sort of fit, stroke, and/or heart attack. Ahem - no such "luck." As I eventually was able to speak, I tried to explain to the people around me (some of whom surprised me with their spryness in leaving their adjoining seats during my "fit") about the rather hilarious story I'd been reading. I was then asked to explain the "jokes" and some also asked to read it for themselves.


Uh oh! Those of you fortunate enough to obtain a copy of Gleefully Macabre Tales and to read Jeff Strand's "The Socket," will both hopefully understand just how funny the story is, while at the same time, why it might be rather ... difficult, (or perhaps "uncomfortable' might be a better term), to try and explain the particular jokes to "normal" folk. It should be sufficient to note in this regard that the story's title refers to that portion of human anatomy that normally contains and holds in place one's eyeballs, and that Jeff Strand has a penchant for, and can rightfully claim to be a true master of "gross-out" humor. Amazingly, I was actually "saved" at this point, by my being called back to see the doctor. I was shown into one of the examining rooms, and after having my blood pressure taken, I thought I'd escaped relatively unscathed. That is, until the door of the examining room opened, and instead of the doctor, Nurse Ratched, herself appeared in the doorway. She indicated her curiosity as to what I'd been reading that was so funny and asked if I could allow her to borrow the story to read. I just couldn't see any way to realistically and politely decline, and so, with frog firmly in throat, turned over the pages. I saw her again about 45 minutes later, as I was checking out and setting up my next appointment. She returned "The Socket" to me silently, gave me a sharp look, and then passed me a tongue depressor, saying, "just in case you decide to audition yourself, like that man in the story, " and then she actually winked at me.


I figure that if Jeff Strand can get through to even Nurse Ratched, he is beyond good . Indeed, to be able to manipulate both the horrific and the humorous in one's writing with sufficient skill to enhance the experience of both in readers, is a rather unique talent, and to read Jeff Strand's short fiction is to be both entertained and eventually awestruck by his brilliance as an author. Many of author Strand's tales work upon multiple levels, so that beyond the fearsome and funny, look a bit further and you will find the author also gently skewering certain contemporary conventions or critically commenting on elements of modern society deserving of such approbation. Gleefully Macabre Tales is alternately a wondrously hilarious and frightening, and indeed, gleefully macabre set of stories, and receives my highest recommendation. Try and find a copy while they are still available. Both your brain and your funny-bone will thank you.

**

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