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Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers

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Member Reviews

Bubba Ho-Tep is one of my favorite movies, and this sequel made me laugh out loud. I do wish there had been space allowed for Mr. Lansdale to dip more deeply into the characters--this just brushes the surface, but you can feel there is so much more that could be said and done. Though with that said, it is a romp that I found highly entertaining. Lansdale is a writer who rarely misses with engaging his readers.

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Tapping out in Chapter 2. I'm not terribly familiar with Lansdale. Read Hell's Bounty and enjoyed it. Saw Bubba Ho-tep and well, it's definitely an acquired taste and just not my bag. I was hoping that maybe reading the prequel might make me dig it a little more, but nope. Just can't get into it.
*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

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A prequel to the hugely enjoyable Bubba Ho Tep, where Elvis Presley, yes that Elvis Presley, teams up with a rag tag group set out to save the world. A delicious tale brought to us by the always readable Joe R Lansdale. A crude, violent, funny and gory sci fi story that leaves you wanting more.

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This book was a straight up trip! This was the first time I've read anything by this author, and boy is it different! It made me laugh and snort more times than I can count, made me roll my eyes more than a few times, and a few times made me reread a passage to make certain did that really just happen?!? Definitely one of the weirdest books I've ever read, and that's saying something! It's a weirdly fun alternate take on history complicated greatly by things that go bump in the night........ it's a trip, and if you are looking for an off the wall story this is for you!

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With a title like BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD-SUCKERS and an author like Joe Lansdale, how could anyone not want to read this book? Throw in the fact that this is the prequel to the awesome story BUBBA HO-TEP, and how could I refuse?

I've never seen the film of BUBBA HO-TEP, but I loved the tale with all of its warped humor and fun characters. There was less humor in this book, which I found disappointing, but there were some cool inter-dimensional monsters, as well as some freaky shadowy vampire-like creatures as minions and what's not fun about that?

The characters here were a mismatched bunch and I would to see an entire novel based on the character of The Blind Man. (He may not be able to see, but all of his other skills as well as his psychic abilities are well honed.) I would also love to know more about Johnny, (sometime narrator of this tale) and John Henry, wielder of the giant hammer. Lastly, the horny house ghost also interested me. Unfortunately, this short novel moved so fast that I didn't get to know these characters as much as I would have liked.

BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD-SUCKERS was full of bloody horror action and a lot of fun, but I guess I was expecting a little more from the Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe Lansdale. But hey, a so-so Lansdale book is better than most good books by other authors, so if this premise sounds interesting to you, I say give it a go! You could do a lot worse.

*Thanks to Subterranean Press for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

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Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers is a prequel to Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis is part of a secret elite government squad of monster hunters. In this novella they battle a group of vampire-ish soul suckers...

There's some good natured fun, a little bit of scares (I don't think the author was really out to do too much horror damage), and a handful of eccentric and quirky characters. The creatures seem like something that dropped in from an abandoned Dean Koontz project - not a bad thing.

It's an okay story. Not Joe R. Lansdale's best efforts but one thing I have always admired about the author is that he is willing to pay homage to the kinds of stories that excited and inspired him as a kid. This is definitely a case of Lansdale trying his hand a bit of old school sci-fi pulp.

I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the old style science fiction/adventure pulp stories.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this title.

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Published by Subterranean on October 31, 2017

Joe Lansdale is a versatile writer. He’s churned out westerns, horror novels, science fiction, and a ton of crime novels. Some of his books approach the subject matter seriously, many are written as comedy, and some are a blend. He never fails to entertain, but occasional efforts, including this one, seem dashed off. Lansdale wrote the story as a prequel to Bubba Ho-Tep, a novella that was made into a movie several years ago, so maybe he was kicking the idea around for a while and felt the need to jot it down.

One of my favorite horror novels is Lansdale’s The Bottoms, a truly frightening story. As you might guess from the title, Bubba and the Cosmic Blood Suckers plays with the horror genre but the story’s tongue-in-cheek nature makes it more funny than scary. Still, the creatures Lansdale describes in the opening chapter (written as a straight horror story) demonstrate how capably Lansdale can scare the pants off his readers. Had he written this as a straight horror story, I might have wet the bed.

So perhaps it's fortunate that Lansdale quickly introduces Elvis and his team of monster fighters, led by his manager, Colonel Parker. Already, I’m sure, you can see the potential for humor. This is a jaded Elvis, at the peak of his career and starting to lose control of his weight. He still has his charisma (and still has a lot of sex), but the charisma is attracting a dark force from another dimension. The “cosmic blood suckers” in the novel’s title actually feed on charisma more than blood, which makes Elvis a prime target.

Johnny Smack, who tells some of the story in the form of journal entries, is one of Elvis’ bodyguards. He is also part of the Hidden Agenda, a group that for centuries has battled monsters. After bodies are discovered of unidentified people who have had their innards sucked out, Richard Nixon sends Hidden Agenda on a mission to tame the responsible monsters. The Colonel, Johnny Smack, John Henry, a charismatic singer named Jenny, a wizard named Jack, and a fellow called the Blind Man join Elvis on the Hidden Agenda team.

The concept is goofy enough to be funny, and Lansdale adds characteristic bits of humor in nearly every paragraph. One of my favorites is a barrier to keep ghouls away that is made from ashes from incinerated corpses mixed with nun pee, but there are too many examples to count. One of the funniest passages involves Elvis’ sexual encounter with a ghost. Well, it’s Elvis, so he really can’t refuse.

I can’t say I laughed out loud at much of the goofiness, but I was consistently amused and entertained. Lansdale can do that without even trying, but the story does give the impression that he didn’t try very hard. I look forward to Lansdale returning to meatier work, but in the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with being amused.

RECOMMENDED

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I never actually read Joe Lansdale's classic story "Bubba Ho-Tep," but I sure enjoyed the movie. Bruce Campbell was perfect as the aging King, fighting a mummy terrorizing a nursing home.

One of the fun things about Bubba Ho-Tep was that you weren't completely sure if this guy's just a whack-job who's out of his gourd, or really Elvis trying to take back some of the vitality he once had. And by the end of the movie the truth doesn't really matter anymore. He's who he believes he is, and who we believe he is.

So this short novel shatters that uncertainty by filling in some of Elvis' backstory. He really was replaced by a double, just as he asserted, and he really did fight Baddies, as part of a team led by Colonel Tom Parker.

Here we find out that Elvis' personality, his...IT factor...is so potent that he's woken up a nest of evil creatures, led my a big, bad mama. There's a fun standoff in a house haunted by a horny ghost, and then another battle they take to the creatures. It's all good, but somewhat uneven. I'm not sure why we needed the narrator. We've got unnecessary asides to visit Nixon. And why would you have so many characters with similar names? John Henry. Johnny. Jenny. Jack. Stop it!

And I usually love Subterranean Press' covers, but it seems weird that Elvis is relegated to the background on this one. He's the titular Bubba! Shouldn't he be more prominent?

It still gets three stars because the story was fun. There's just no one who does weird like Joe R. Lansdale. They go together like a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

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Well shit fuzzy! It's Joe Lansdale, so my expectations were set way, way too high. Truth is, I loved Bubba-Ho-Tep. This was not that. Not even close. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but was raised in mostly southeastern New Mexico. With bouts of Texas and Oklahoma. This book had every south and southwestern saying in it that I've ever heard. Hell, even a few that I never wanted to hear. Honestly, it got old and tiresome. My family is from the southwest, and when they talk and spout their southernisms, I appreciate them, and realize how much I miss them. This was worn out and tired. I did like the big bad though. It was kinda disgusting how they treated and discarded folk! Still, not a book I'd read again, or recommend. My thanks to the publishers, and Netgalley for the free read for a review.
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In hindsight, as much fun as the Bubba Ho-Tep movie was, I realize I enjoyed it more for Bruce Campbell's performance than the story itself. It was fun, but not enough to drive me to seek out Joe R. Lansdale's original story.

Having said that, Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers has a lot of things going for it, and was actually quite brilliant in some respects, but it's far too uneven a read for me to recommend it. For every paragraph of blood-sucker horror, we're forced to wade through pages of cosmic weirdness, and for every snappy bit of banter, we're made to sit through one tired Elvis-ism after another.

The concept is fantastic, and I would love to read more about the government's secret monster-hunting unit, just not with Elvis at the helm - or, at least, not with this fat, pill-popping, flatulent, overstayed-his-welcome, embarrassing Elvis.

Read the first 12 pages of drunken Mr. Positive and the screaming balls of human flesh crammed into the cars of the junkyard, and you'll be hungry for more . . . but by the time you get through the next 65 pages of introductions and celebrity banter, and you'll start to get a feel for what kind of balance to expect. Personally, the novelty of the Colonel, Nixon, and all the rest wore off pretty quickly for me, so much so that I was already starting to skim by the 30% mark, which never bodes well for a book

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Vampires, zombies and Elvis!  Yes, it's a little bit sci fi and a little bit horror and a whole lot of good.  From the the mind of Joe Lansdale comes a book that took my mind away from from the stress of the real world.
 
Wonderfully written and action packed BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD SUCKERS is sure to bring a smile to your face as it did mine.  Thanks, Joe, I sure needed that!
 
Coming from Subterranean Press on October 31, treat yourself to a copy.

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Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers is Lansdale at his odd-ball best. A prequel novel to Bubba Ho Tep it sees a return to one of his most beloved universes with a younger Elvis and his bodyguard working as a part-time monster hunter and up against a horde of inter-dimensional vampires.

Written with a fun, dry wit it's a fantastically entertaining horror novel full of grotesque imagery and quite a few laughs. When Lansdale is on his odd-train he has a way with words that few, if any, can match and this is no different. A rip-roaring journey into the mouth of hell and back you can't afford to ignore.

Highly, highly recommended.

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ELVIS CARRIES ON

While it may not have taken the country by storm horror fans were delighted with a little movie called BUBBA HO-TEP written by Joe Lansdale. It told the story of Elvis Presley, the real one not the one who died, living undercover in a nursing home alongside a black friend who claimed to be JFK having been transformed to hide his identity. The two friends took on a soul sucking mummy in the film which has become a cult classic.

Lansdale now gives us another adventure with Elvis large and in charge. This one takes place earlier than the film when Elvis was still himself and not replaced by a lookalike. Under the guidance of the Colonel who turns out to be a liaison for a secret organization designated to take on any monsters that appear, Elvis is called into action with a few fellow monster killing soldiers to take on a new evil, a creature from another dimension who rolls up its victims into balls while draining them slowly.

It’s a world filled with zombie servants and a female ghost who needs to bed down Elvis to recharge her battery before the big fight. Magical weapons, powerful friends and sacred symbols abound as the team takes on an evil unknown but long gestating in another world now determined to take over ours.

The book is incredibly easy to read, the words rolling off the tongue of your mind as Lansdale seems to make those words come alive with his style of writing. Descriptions of everyday items like a night on the river while riding a big paddlewheel boat or the sounds of the evening charged before battle read like poetry rather than simple prose. The images Lansdale conjures forth are easily accessed by this style.

There is a certain amount of gratuitous language on occasion here but what would you expect from a rock and roll star? I mention it only in passing for those with more delicate sensibilities.

The books was an enjoyment with only one major flaw. It ended. The same is always true of books written by Lansdale. If you don’t believe me try any of his Hap and Leonard books. When you finish one you have to go to the next and when you finish them all you salivate waiting for the next. For a fun time give this one a read. And then wait to see what he conjures up next time for Elvis.

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For some reason, total absurdity piques my interest almost every time, so I couldn’t resist Joe R. Lansdale’s “Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers.” I was, of course, familiar with Lansdale’s other tale of monster hunter Elvis, “Bubba Ho-Tep,” from the movie starring Bruce Campbell. Even if I hadn’t been, though, there would have been no way I could pass up the title or description of this book.

“Bubba and the Cosmic Blood Suckers” is a prequel to “Bubba Ho-Tep,” with an aging early 1970s Elvis beginning to lament his choices to make cheesy films instead of focusing more on his music. Part of the reason for that choice, though, is his other occupation as a monster hunter for a secret government organization.

Elvis has been coerced into the role by Colonel Parker, his ruthless manager in more than one business for the purpose of this story. The Colonel holds Elvis’ mother’s soul in a gris-gris bag, keeping her from passing over to the other side and using her to blackmail The King into killing monsters.

The team that he works with is just as absurd. Included are a hammer-wielding descendant of folk hero John Henry who shares his ancestor’s name, a young pop star named Jenny (stage name Raven) who seems to be the one woman who won’t succumb to Elvis’ advances, a psychic called the Blind Man, the strategist Jack, and Elvis’ right-hand man Johnny, who is the only member of the King's entourage who knows the secret. Johnny tells us much of the tale.

The team is called to New Orleans, where there’s a strange pack of other-dimensional vampires holed up in a junkyard that was formerly the set of one of Elvis’ movies. They may prove to be the match for the country’s best team of monster hunters.

The story is ribald and, yes, a bit goofy, but it’s fun for what it is – a pretty typical vampire/monster hunter story. Would I have been as interested if not for the Elvis angle? Probably not, but it was still entertaining.

“Bubba” is a quick read. Lansdale’s language is sparse and to the point. At times, that’s refreshing. In an age where writers in the speculative genres can take pages to describe the entrance to a city, Lansdale sums up his team’s surroundings on the Mississippi in a few quick sentences that, nonetheless, give you a visceral impression of the setting. It’s an apt description of the city, as well.

At other times, the style seems rather abrupt, leaving gaps that I want to be filled and moving events at a faster pace than seems reasonable. Of course, what’s really reasonable about Elvis fighting cosmic vampires that roll their victims up into balls and stuff them into junk cars, right?

In the end, it’s a fun read that does set up its more-famous sequel. It’s my first experience with Lansdale, but I suspect that it’s not his best work and that I should explore his writings a bit further. There was much to like, even if I did come away not completely satisfied.

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"From now on he felt there would always be a hole in his head from which the logic fled."

Bubba and the Cosmic Blood Suckers is a prequel to the somewhat infamous Bubba Ho-Tep, a book I'm yet to read but is in my TBR pile. Focused around Elvis, his manager The Colonel, a person assistant (sort of), and a band of unlikely warriors brought together to save the world from all manner of ghosts and ghouls, Bubba and the Cosmic Blood Suckers requires the reader to suspend their hold on reality and binge on the surreal.

The 'once-human-things' which now resemble balls of human flesh, bone and gore that inhabit a junkyard are the probably the most enjoyable and horror-ific elements of the book. From the opening sequence author Joe R. Lansdale lets the reader know that these are bad, bad things set the scare the crap out of character and reader alike.

Elvis, the team leader of this band of warriors is well written and adds an interesting dynamic to the cobbled together crew. He's not a take charge leader whose proverbial doesn't stink, rather, he's self absorbed and a jerk at times.

This is the kind of book like doesn't take itself too seriously, there's loads of darkly humorous moments among the bloody carnage that takes place throughout the b-grade horror.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

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Bubba and The Cosmic Blood-Suckers by Joe R. Lansdale- This short novel has Elvis Presley once again up against strange and unearthly creatures, much like "Bubba HoTep". It seems Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis are both involved and lead us on a new mission. Along the way, we find out much of the background on these two, why they are monster hunters, how it all came about, and it's Southern fried horror all the way with more than a touch of Lansdale's backwoods humor. Scenes shift back and forth from a steamboat ride down the Mississippi to the gruesome goings on down river. Sometimes a hanger-on named Johnny provides the narration, sometimes Colonel Tom, and Sometimes Elvis between glimpses of atrocities performed by ghastly forms from another dimension. Mostly it's the banter back ad forth between the people with Elvis and Colonel Tom that keep this rather bloated tale afloat. Lansdale fills page after page with fierce and funny descriptions and equal portions of country humor mixed with grisly horror. It's an acquired taste and probably not from everyone.

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Highly imaginative world in which I couldn't tear myself away from the pages. Loved it from the beginning! I went in with an open mind and found it to be a refreshing change from the normalcy. Okay, I know what you're thinking, "Elvis Presley, in a sci-fi novel? Really?" Really! This author is brilliant and had me laughing-out-loud at the fantastical of it all, not to mention the crude humor. This starts off in the first person perspective and then changes throughout the book.

The monsters in here are not like any you've encountered before. Their portrayal is something you wouldn't want to come across in your worst nightmare. Given the state of things, it's up to Elvis, along with a few others you may recognize, to rid the world of these creatures. This is crazy and action-filled. Wanna know how it ends? You'll just have to read it for yourself. Hope you love it!

Reviewed by Janet of the GothicMoms Review Team

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Elvis and horror go together like a peanut butter-n-banana sandwich. Which is to say that it catches your attention, but it might not be something you’d want to make a regular part of your diet.

This is a prequel story to Lansdale’s Bubba Ho-Tep in which we learned that the rumors about Elvis faking his death were true, and that he was living out his final days in a shitty nursing home where he gets into a scrap with a mummy. Here we’ve got The King and one his minions, a bodyguard/hanger-on named Johnny Smack, who secretly fight evil supernatural beings under the command of Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The Colonel pulls Elvis away from his Las Vegas shows to go on a mission to New Orleans where interdimensional vampires have been turning people into living basketballs while draining away their essence. Several other monster fighters are brought in to help vanquish them, and they all soon fight themselves in a terrifying fight for their lives.

It’s a real mixed bag here with Lansdale doing some genuinely creepy horror of a kind I haven’t read from him in a while, and the idea that Elvis led this double life as a fighter against the evil is kinda enjoyable. My favorite part involved Elvis and his crew trying to hold off the bad guys by going Alamo in a house protected by magic and a horny ghost, and there’s another good bit that involves taking a pink Cadillac into another dimension which is wonky fun. However, a lot of time is spent trying to explain how the guy who became a fat jump-suited pill-addicted joke about this time was actually a tormented bad ass. If you’re going to do a book like this then I get that Lansdale has to pump Elvis up into more than a handsome guy with a great voice and sex appeal who eventually became a victim of his own success into something more substantial, but it just didn’t work for me.

I also really liked both the original story and movie adaptation of Bubba Ho-Tep which played more into the idea of a ‘realistic’ older and faded Elvis who doesn’t know anything about monsters looking back at his life with regret and making one last stand to reclaim some of his old glory and dignity. This undercuts that idea with the revised history although Lansdale makes a mighty attempt of stitching it together into a retconned timeline.

This also has one of my pet peeves of an author putting a bunch of similar looking names together with Elvis’ team consisting of Johnny, John Henry, Jack, and Jenny so apparently this book was sponsored by the letter ‘J’. It’s extra aggravating when you’re reading a poorly formatted advanced e-version that has turned much of the text into word salad and makes it even more confusing.

As a Lansdale fan who got it for free I enjoyed it well enough, but it looks like this is going to be originally released as another one of his collector’s edition hardback, and the current price on Amazon is $40 for 200 pages. That’s way too much money both the quantity and quality of story you’d get for the price.

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Do you ever dream that the life you're dreaming is someone else's life?

Do you wonder if you're a figment of someone else's imagination and that all you do has not been done at all, that you could be a creation brought about by trapped gas, that you could be the result of poorly digested green beans and bologna sandwiches?

Oh, momma! Joe R. Lansdale has done it again! I fell in love with Bubba Ho-Tep when I first watched the movie. Bruce Campbell brought his best when he played the part of retired Elvis.

Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers is the prequel to Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis Presley and a group of hardcore warriors try to save the world from an invasion of hive-minded, shape-shifting vampire-like creatures from a dark dimension. The cosmic blood-suckers make a New Orleans junkyard their home. Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Parker, is the leader of the group.

The story is told by one of Elvis Presley's body guards named Johnny Smack, which makes the story even better. Elvis's gang of warriors also includes a hammer-wielding descendant of John Henry, a strategic wizard named Jack, Raven (Jenny) who is a budding pop star, and a Blind Man who can see more than those with sight.

This strange trip could merely be an illusion, though. This is what happened before Elvis took on an Egyptian mummy at an East Texas rest home.

This book is great! If you've ever been to New Orleans, you remember the sights and smells. You remember the Mississippi riverboats. You don't simply read this book, you experience it.

Joe R. Lansdale does a great job with the characters and building the dread. The author grabs you from the first scene and doesn't let go until the last page. The story is filled with wild fights, strange monsters, sex, and ghosts. The pink Cadillac even makes an appearance.


You can get a copy here.

I highly recommend this book to fans of horror!

5/5 cosmic blood-suckers!

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Alternately funny, irreverent, wonderfully written, and completely creepy - this book manages to entertain the reader on every possible level.

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