📚 Book Review: “The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team and Other Stories” by Joe R. Lansdale

Not for the faint of heart or those who are easily offended, Joe R. Lansdale, the maestro of twisted tales, invites readers into a carnival of the bizarre with his latest collection, “The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team and Other Stories.” Buckle up, because this literary rollercoaster takes unexpected turns, leaving you both exhilarated and slightly unnerved.

Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team: Picture a group of high school girls, bayonets in hand, marching to their own rhythm. Lansdale weaves a tale that’s part coming-of-age, part horror, and wholly unforgettable. These girls aren’t your average cheerleaders; they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Haunted Toilets and Strange Beasts: Lansdale’s imagination knows no bounds. He introduces us to haunted restrooms, where the porcelain gods harbor secrets darker than their ceramic exteriors. And those strange beasts? Well, let’s just say they’re not your typical woodland creatures.

Off-Trail Shops and Unique Hats: Ever stumbled upon a shop that defies reality? Lansdale takes us on a detour to quirky establishments selling hats that whisper secrets and dreams. Wear one, and you’ll never see the world the same way again.

The Mythological Marbles Player: Forget chess grandmasters; meet the mythological being who dominates the marble circuit. Lansdale’s prose dances between whimsy and profundity as we witness this marble maestro’s victories and defeats.

Ghostly Cars and Shrinking Worlds: Lansdale’s stories straddle dimensions. Buckle up for spectral road trips, where vintage cars carry passengers to the afterlife. And beware—the world might shrink around you, leaving you questioning reality.

The Intelligent Monkey with an Email Account: Move over, AI. Lansdale introduces us to a monkey with a Gmail address, desperate to connect with its human relatives. The inbox is filled with banana emojis and existential musings.

Wendigos, Serial Killers, and Failed Romance: Lansdale’s wicked potpourri includes everything from mythical creatures to chilling murderers. But don’t worry; there’s room for love too—albeit with a twist.

“The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team and Other Stories” is a sideshow of wonders. Lansdale’s prose is sharp, his characters unforgettable, and his imagination boundless. So grab your ticket, enter the tent, and prepare for a literary ride you won’t soon forget.

Joe Lansdale has done it again! He has gathered another collection of his short stories, some of which has appeared in various anthologies, into on volume with author notes setting out some of their origins or just his comments on the story and why he felt drawn to write them. Especially interesting is the notes on the title story which did not go the way I expected at all. A number of the stories are short or very short, but they each have their own impact. Some of the characters may or may not show up in future stories. So if you want to sample or just revel in the diversity of Joe Lansdale's story telling, pick up this title!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this book!

This is an eclectic set of short stories from master story teller Joe R. Lansdale. Some are very short while others are near novella length. Right off the bat let me say unequivocally that there is not a bad one in the bunch; from Weird Western to edge of your seat nightmarish horror to dystopian school games to more unusual tales that fall somewhere along the lines of esoteric thought experiment. It's all good and there's almost certainly something for every reader. I especially like the author comments on the origins of each of the various stories. It's always interesting to me to get insight into the creative process.

I'm not sure but I believe all the stories in this book have been previously published in one form or another. Some I've read before and some I haven't, so it was both familiar and new to me. I should probably state at this point that I am not a huge fan of the horror genre in general but I've been a fan of the impossible to categorize, genre-hopping, mashup style of Joe R. Lansdale from way, way back. Mostly I prefer his crime oriented stuff but Lansdale just has a way of telling a story, an authentic folklorist style that is so rare these days... I firmly believe that if he put his mind to it Joe R. Lansdale could make a grocery list that was an entertaining (and compelling) read.

Needless to say, I enjoyed this collection. The eye-catching cover art is sensational but the content is even better. Great for both longtime fans and those new to the author (You're in for a treat!)

BOTTOM LINE: Good stuff. Recommended.

Stories to keep you thinking — and keep you up at night! Joe R. Lansdale is a master and a clear example of tight prose in concise storytelling space.

Joe R. Lansdale has always been one of my go-to authors when I need something “different.” In this book, he mentions that he likes writing both novels and short stories but if he had to choose, he would write only short stories. His love for the form is on full display here and this collection offers some of his best.

Contrary to other reviews I’ve seen for this book, these are not new stories. Every one, according to the information at the back of the book, details where and when the stories first appeared. They range from horror ‘zines like “Fangoria” to popular anthologies to fairly obscure places like “Ferrari Magazine”. Quite a few, including the titular story, were originally published in various anthologies edited by Lawrence Block, which is where I first encountered them. Even though published elsewhere, most of these stories are still quite recent with almost all of them originating in the last five years.

As for the stories themselves, they vary widely in subject matter, scope, and from serious to silly. Some are gruesome horror pieces, some are intense crime stories, while others can best be described as fables. It’s hard for me to pick favorites but I think I’ll go with the weird westerns due to my own love for that sub-genre. By the way, I owe that love to Joe Lansdale who was among the first writers to delve into such tales back in the 1980s when such stories were still rare. As with any anthology, I enjoyed some of these stories more than others, but I can honestly say, there isn’t a stinker in the bunch.

Lansdale fans will love this collection from Subterranean Press while those looking for a nice variety of high-quality, thoroughly enjoyable stories should absolutely check it out. It is due to be published on Nov 30th, 2023.

From strange to horror to weird fiction, the variety of stories in this anthology is fairly impressive. This is the first book that I've ever read from Joe Lansdale and I enjoyed it for the most part. I will admit that this was hard for me to get through just because of the size of the novel, which is over 400 pages, but besides that, I'd recommend this. My favorite stories were probably Monkey's Uncle and the Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train.

Big thank you to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for this ARC.

Really enjoyed this collection of new short stories by Joe Lansdale, I always like what he writes. This had a very large variety of stories. Some were crime, others horror, and others uncategorized but all were very great and kept me wanting more. Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for the ARC.

The only thing I know I'm in for when I crack open a Lansdale book is I'm in for a wholly Lansdalean experience. Often asked in interviews which genre he writes in, Joe R. Lansdale is know to say, "I write in the Lansdale genre," or something to that effect. And yeah, it couldn't be said any better.

We often think of genre, talk of genre, read in genre, and there's a whole lot out there in this big, vasty literary world to marvel at and take in. Like many, I tend to lean a bit more into certain genres than others, but I often find something to enjoy wherever I may be looking. And, sometimes, I merely like to stretch, stretch out of my genre comfort zone and see what I may find elsewhere. But I'm getting away from myself, here.

What I'm really getting at is this: a collection of Lansdale stories has something for just about anyone in it, and this collection in particular – I've read several Lansdale collections – just might stretch the farthest. More than anything, though, this is one of the best. Possibly the very best. And while I'm at it, I'll just say: the title story very well may be the finest short story Joe R. Lansdale has written yet.

The variety is enchanting and enjoyable and oh so very welcome. Each page turn, each story brought something wondrous with it. Every story a thrill all its own.

If you're a Lansdale fan, you're definitely going to want to get your hands on this one. If you have yet to dive into the world Lansdalean, this is as fine a place as any to start.

If you’ll indulge me for a hot minute, I’d like to talk about my history with short stories. I’ve been a reader of science fiction and fantasy since I picked up I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles from my Junior High library the first week of 7th grade. And while those were both novels (although I could argue that The Martian Chronicles is really a collection of interconnected short stories, but I digress), I quickly discovered that there was breathtaking variety in the many science fiction and fantasy short story anthologies available. I devoured them all—Damon Knight’s Orbit series, Terry Carr’s Universe series, Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, and all the many, many one-off anthologies (most of which seemed to be edited by Roger Elwood). And of course the many magazines, particularly The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I discovered a multitude of writers in this way, writers I still love to this day.

What’s that got to do with the book I’m supposed to be writing about here? Hang on, I’m getting there. As I got older, I gravitated more to novels, with only occasional forays into short stories. But lately that’s been changing. Here’s my point:

It’s been a good year for short stories. After a quick look, I’ve read and reviewed five short story collections this year, all of them excellent. Here’s my second point, and I’m finally bringing it around to why you’re here:

It’s been a downright great year for Joe R. Lansdale fans. My first review of the year was Bleeding Shadows, a nicely chonky collection of his short stories that demonstrated his versatility and range. Then came The Donut Legion, Lansdale’s wildly entertaining novel of donuts, murder, and flying saucer cults. In August we were treated to Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Stories of Joe R. Lansdale, another wonderful collection of short stories that concentrated on, well, crime stories.

And now, arriving November 1st, The Senior Girls Bayonet Team and Other Stories, another nicely chonky short story collection. If anything, this collection is even more varied and wide-ranging than Bleeding Shadows, with longer stories and flash fiction (although they weren’t called that back when Lansdale wrote them). One of the beautiful things about Lansdale, one of the things that makes him my favorite writer, is that he can’t be easily categorized. He jumps from crime fiction, to horror, to fantasy, to weird westerns, to truly oddball satire, too, in this collection, some downbeat, slice of life (dare I say) literary fiction.

You find all that and more here in The Senior Girls Bayonet Team and Other Stories—there’s truly something for everyone, and all of it pure catnip for Lansdale fans.

I’d like to call out just a couple of my favorites:
• THE HUNGRY SNOW—A long, dark-as-pitch weird western with a taste of the Donner Party.
• MONKEY’S UNCLE—Narrated by an intelligent monkey, and that’s all I’m telling you.
• ON THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE OLD SABINE—This one would have been right at home in Things Get Ugly.
• RED BILLIE—I love when Lansdale delves into coming-of-age stories, and this is one of his best.
• THE HOODOO MAN AND THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN—Another weird western, one Lansdale considers his best in that genre.

Bottom line—this is a must-read for Lansdale fans, and for fans of short stories in general. And the cherry on top, the book ends with Lansdale’s extensive, generous story notes, which I personally love.

The Senior Girls Bayonet Team and Other Stories is available for pre-order now. Don’t miss it.

Joe R. Lansdale does it again in this novel it was a great collection of short stories and I enjoyed everything that was happening. Joe R. Lansdale has everything that I was hoping for from previous books.

Joe Lansdale is always a hoot and this one is no exception. Our Lansdale fans will be thrilled. Will definitely be ordering for my library.

I am fairly new to Joe Lansdale but am consistently impressed by his very readable prose, his deftness at setting mood, and his fantastic ear for dialogue. This excellent long collection of stories includes many that are eerie and unsettling, which in a very compressed story really evoke tension. Many are set in different eras, and Lansdale is very effective at capturing a setting. I liked each story, with the curiously humane and upbeat title story standing out. Other winners include opener The Hungry Snow, an eerie and harsh Western, and the splendid The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train. Every page is worth reading.