‘Some horror writers will take you to the edge, but Joe Lansdale usually leaves the edge behind by page 2.’

For my October ARC reads I love to just request Horror books. I had never heard of Joe R Lansdale but seeing him described as ‘World Horror Grandmaster’, I thought an anthology of his greatest work would be the best way to kick off my own spooky season.

One thing that struck me immediately with Lansdale’s work is that his stories are ‘Southern Gothic’, in a style which reminded me of some of Stephen King’s earlier books. He very much focuses on the evil of people, and his characters are visceral and leave an impact. I also enjoyed the forward by Joe Hill, which I’ve quoted from at the beginning of this review, and the author’s introduction to each of his stories, which gives some background information about the inspiration for the story or how it was received.

I really enjoyed ‘God of the Razor’ and ‘Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back’ (which also strays into apocalyptic horror which I particularly enjoy).

I then read ‘By Bizarre Hands’ and I must admit, this really put me off the entire anthology. I understand that it was a short story that was originally published in the 1980s, but the entire story is littered with the N word and the R word throughout. I skipped this one about a quarter of the way in and started ‘On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk’ but this again had the N word in it as well as a lot of derogatory sentiments about women, which I just couldn’t read. I understand that Lansdale is perhaps trying to show how evil these characters are, but I don’t think that including this in an anthology published in 2025 is a good choice. I’m not suggesting censorship, but perhaps it’s better to leave stories with this language in the time in which it was written.

I ended up DNFing this book - there are some good ideas and some creepy stories in here, but I found the choice of language to be outdated and offensive for a book published in 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy of this collection featuring a writer who has never disappointed me, with works that cover his career, some adapted to film, some on television, and printed in numerous anthologies, and all of them disturbingly good, in their own way.

Unlike other genres I don't have one book that made me go, oh I like horror, I want to read more. There was Stephen King's Night Shift of course, but if one moved to any suburban town in the early 80's, I think a copy of that came with a basket of fruit from the welcoming committee. Abbot and Costello introduced me to the Universal monsters. Nothing comic related comes to mind, except Swamp Thing and cannibal films were on the illegal cable box, but so was scrambled porn, and I was more eager for that. So maybe it was Joe Lansdale that showed me the power, the majesty and the gore that was horror. I was working in a bookstore when a co-worker talked me into ordering limited edition books. Night Visions 8 was my first, and my introduction to Joe Lansdale. And what an introduction. The language was rough, the stories were yucky, and yet they were full of yuks and other odd humor. Also they were good, real good. Disturbing, dark, unsettling. Things I didn't know I needed. I admit I took Lansdale for granted, knowing that if I saw his name on an anthology, I would get at least one good story. Weird Western, science fiction pastiche, splatterpunk, mystery, revenge tale, all were good, many of them burned in my brain, the plots and the words. The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale features many of these stories, one's that made me wonder what is this, probably why is this, and finally where has this been all my life. Stories that scare, puzzle, amaze and might make one wonder about the human condition, and should we wind down the human experiment.

The book begins with some words from Joe Hill, who was introduced to Lansdale by his father, The King himself. As a writer Hill understand the process and what Lansdale does so well. From there we get the stories, with some brief comments from the author himself, where he got the ideas from, what was going on in life, and what the stories mean. There are a few award winners, and some stories that were cheated of awards. A few that were adapted to television, or nearly made it to television, along with a story about Elvis, JFK and a mummy, that is the inspiration for a great movie. Some splatterpunk stories, a dystopian future filled with zombie strippers in chains. Blind groundskeepers and the hidden life of dogs, cats and babies. And a Weird Western with Wendigos in a winter whiteout.

Lansdale is a dark writer. The world he writes of is dark, mean, evil, chaotic, and strange. Nuns driving the roads at night, looking for victims, or souls trapped on a midnight train. Good doesn't always win, even if good does, people don't know it. The victories against darkness are deep in the shadows were the normal people don't like to look. The language is rough, as are a lot of attitudes, but sadly this is the world we live in. The worst Lansdale conversation about women and race, is probably no different than what is said in the current White House, or even on Fox News. The stories are gross in some spots, but the characters are all unique, all real feeling, even the dark gods who appear. One can see this happening, on some stretch of road on the border of two states with a habit of weird things happening.

A really good introduction to a writer who has been unfairly ignored for as long as I have been reading him. If one likes this there are lot of other collections, even comic books to spend hard-earned money on. A really good author who always delivers, something I can't say about a lot of writers.

This classic horror collection was originally published in 1982. Everything scary is in here. I really enjoyed this collection because Lansdale writing is so good. There is no overly descriptive parts or anything like that but still manage to create the feeling of being inside the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Ugh. Formatting was all wonky when trying to read through Kindle. Some portions were okay, but then the middle portion of the book became unreadable.

Thank you but was unable to complete.

This is an easy 5 star. One of my favorite authors. This book is a great way to introduce a legend to new readers and a must have for fans. Will eagerly recommend.

Whatever flavor of horror gets you feeling twisty in the stomach and weak in the knees, Lansdale has written it, and you can find it in this collection. This collection has stories originally published as far back as 1982 and as recently as 2020, and Lansdale remains remarkably consistent in his brutal realism often combined with supernatural or fantastic ideas. He manages to capture every aspect of humanity, from the most intimate part of human relationship to the sheer monstrosity humans are capable of, a talent for gritty and realistic explorations of what makes up this worldly coil. Some stores are grounded in a naturalistic, if bleak, experience of the world, while others have eldritch deities doing the dirty work, with everything in-between, from cults to zombies to post-apocalyptic plant life to creatures of myth and legend and more.

Lansdale’s writing is consistently efficient and to the point, and yet he is able to build rich atmospheres and create character depth. His tone and style are unflinching, descriptive and immersive but without tangents or flights or fancy. However, he takes that style and stretches it across so many different subgenres of horror that this collection feels dynamic. The stories all share a sense of being grounded, even when they are dealing with the fantastic and supernatural. He isn’t afraid to position his characters in very specific times and places, with language and attitudes and behaviors that show you right away that not every story stars a hero. In this way the stories do address racism, misogyny, abuse and trauma, power dynamics, self-awareness, and more. These stories punch first and ask questions later, which is to say they are never weighed down by their ideas or themes, but they plant dark little seeds that will live with you, ripening, or, maybe, festering for quite a while. The stories aren’t anywhere near the splatter or extreme horror genres, but they are graphic and occasionally unsettling. No matter what type of horror you gravitate toward there is something in this collection for you.

(Rounded from 4.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Tachyon Publications, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Many of these stories can be found elsewhere and it's a good introduction to Mr. Lansdale. If you're an old fan, you'll know what you're getting into. If you're a newbie, you're in very good hands, but consider yourself warned. Joe doesn't do trigger warnings, if you pick up a Joe Lansdale book, that your trigger-warning, you don't know what the fuck your getting into, but he's one of the best to ever do it and he'll take good care of you.

A great anthology, as a Lansdale "old-head", I can't believe I've never heard of, much less read, Night They Missed the Horror Show, but holy shit! I won't soon forget it.

Have you ever heard a name and thought you knew who they were talking about but couldn’t figure out why? Joe Lansdale is that person for me. I have read The Drive-In, and the movie Bubba Ho-Tep is a guilty pleasure of mine, but for some reason I never make the connection to Mr. Lansdale. So when my wonderful friends on #BookSky pointed out this collection was available for an Advanced Reader Copy I threw my name in the hat. Thank you so much to the publisher Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for granting me this privilege. The book will be released on October 7, 2025.

How fitting to have a little Joe on Joe acation to kick this anthology off. The legendary Joe Hill writes the introduction to this collection. My favorite thing Joe Hill said in his introduction is referring to Lansdale’s writing style:

“Joe was painting with leaded gasoline, shitty beer, ruptured organs, and mother’s tears”
I completely know what he means. Lansdale’s writing is the goofy, gritty, for lack of a better term, trashy style that makes his stories so much fun to read. Check out the story list:

The Folding Man
The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train
God of the Razor
My Dead Dog Bobby
Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back
By Bizarre Hands
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks
Love Doll: A Fable
Mr. Weed-Eater
The Bleeding Shadows
Not from Detroit
The Hungry Snow
Dog, Cat, and Baby
Bubba Ho-Tep
Fish Night
Night They Missed the Horror Show
This collection is not all pure horror, but compasses all kinds of Horror sub genres that even included some sci-fi horror. Some of my personal favorites were, Bubba Ho-Tep, The Folding Man, and The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train.

Each of these stories had something that resonated with me. Bubba Ho-Tep was so much fun to read what the Bruce Campbell classic was based off of. The folding man started out with a bunch of boys mooning a car full of nuns that reminded me of my own high school days, and The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train had kind of a Dark Tower Roland Deschain feel to it.

As for the review part. This book was a hard read for me. Where I loved the aforementioned stories and there were others that were really good, I struggled to stick with this one. I love an anthology and usually try to read a story a day, but this one I took long breaks to read other things in between stories. A couple of stories I also just didn’t care for which cased a struggle to just finish those. I will not say which ones were not my favorite so as to not put that seed of negativity out there for a future reader.

Overall this was a solid 🥃🥃🥃 read for me. I’m so glad I read this and would recommend it to anyone who a fan of the twisted and weird kind of story.

"Even with all that he had faced, vampires, werewolves, walking dead and monsters from the edges of time, he felt his skin crawl."

Joe R. Lansdale's upcoming collection features various works spanning his career. Some of these are deeply routed in the dark and macabre, monsters that are supernatural as well as humanm science fiction, Lovecraftian and so much more.

The author does great work in incorporating these unsettling tales with very real points of view on violence and racism.

Featured in this collection are the following:

Introduction by Joe Hill
“The Folding Man”
“Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train”
“God of the Razor”
“My Dead Dog Bobby”
“Tight Little Stitches in a Deadman’s Back”
“By Bizarre Hands”
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk
“Love Doll: A Fable”
“Mister Weed-Eater”
“The Bleeding Shadow”
“Not From Detroit”
“The Hungry Snow”
“Dog, Cat, and Baby”
Bubba Ho-tep
“Fish Night”
“Night They Missed the Horror Show”

A lot of these have stuck with me and I won't be forgetting them anytime soon. If anything this has made me want to pick up more by Joe R. Lansdale.

This anthology book has sixteen horror stories that are all by Joe R. Lansdale! This is the first book that I have read by him, so I was not familiar with his work. I will say his stories are outstanding, yet horrifying! These stories are an incredible collection to have of his.

This book comes with demons, grotesque body horror, monsters, madness and creepy small towns! These stories are definitely worth reading, especially if you love horror novels! My favorite stories that he wrote in this book are “Bubba Ho-tep” and “God of the Razor”. Overall, I am satisfied with his horror stories and they were very well written! They were full of suspense, twisty, extremely dark and very well structured. Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

I think fans of the author Stephen King would really enjoy reading this book. Content Warnings include death, graphic violence, gore, sexual violence, torture and body mutilation, animal cruelty, racism, death of children and offensive humor.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Joe R. Lansdale, Joe Hill (introduction) and Tachyon Publications for this digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on October 7, 2025!

"The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale" is one of the few anthologies that consistently hit the mark for me - Lansdale is just that good. Anyone who's a fan of folk horror or horror tinged in noir or Americana will find something to enjoy here; his stories run the gamut from humorous to terrifying.

This collection of 16 horror stories, each with a short introduction by Lansdale, is a great introduction to his weird Westerns and other supernatural tales. There's plenty of diversity among the stories, and each has its own particular kind of horror. Some of these are well-known in one form or another, such as Bubba Ho-Tep, but others have been less widely published or reprinted and will be new to readers. As in all of his work, Lansdale tackles race and racism, misogyny, domestic violence and abuse, and body horror in forthright ways, revealing to readers that a lot of horror is constructed by society. This collection would be perfect for a reading group paired with Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country or P. Djèlí Clark's Ring Shout.

If you're not familiar with Joe R. Lansdale, you're missing out and this book would be a great place to start. It includes some of his best horror stories, most notably "Bubba Hotep" (the source for the film of the same name) and the particularly horrific "Night They Missed the Horror Show," which, like many of his best stories, addresses racism and cruelty. A great anthology of stories by a great American writer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an ARC of this collection of short stories, publishing October 7, 2025.

This is my first time reading anything by Joe Lansdale and wow, what a collection this was. Highly recommend for any horror fan!

A buckshot blast of weird, Southern-fried horror. This collection is raw, rowdy, and totally unhinged—expect grotesque humor, gut-punch violence, and monsters of both the supernatural and human variety. Some stories are brutal, some bizarre, but all are undeniably Lansdale: loud, wild, and deeply original. Not for the squeamish, but a must if you like your horror hot, sweaty, and full of bite.

I'm new to Lansdale but I'll happily delve into his canon from this point forward. These stories are bleak, crude, and hilarious. Extremely creative and well written. Stories in this collection I especially enjoyed were: The Folding Man; Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train; By Bizarre Hands; On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk; Love Doll; Not From Detroit; and The Hungry Snow. The Folding Man and The Hungry Snow were my favorites. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC and for trusting me with this chaos.

This is the ultimate collection for any fan of Joe R. Lansdale. It's a little bit of all his best short fiction. As he himself says, he doesn't necessarily fit any one genre, he just writes like himself. Whether you are an old fan or just starting out with Lansdale's fiction, you won't be disappointed.

As a long time fan of Joe R Lansdale I'm so pleased to see a comprehensive collection of his horror work put together with so much attention and care from publisher and author.
If you're not familiar with Lansdale it's an impossible task to sum up his style or 'genre' - Joe Hill expresses this in a humorous and well written introduction, the author himself says simply that he just writes Lansdale stories. And that's true - whether it's in his award winning The Bottoms, his western tales, the long running Hap and Leonard series, or any other number from his vast back catalogue, the theme, the setting, the tone may vary wildly, but the story is always 'Lansdale'.
The range of material put together is impressive - not just a quickly smashed together set of random shorts - you get everything from a couple of pagers like 'My Dead Dog Bobby' - one of the first stories by the author I read some 25 years ago and made me this was a sick pup (pun kind of intended) who I HAD to read more of, to the novella Bubba Ho-Tep (later turned into a movie with Bruce Campbell playing the ageing Elvis), and in between stories ranging from the sweet (Not from Detroit - one of my top ten favourite short stories of all time) to Dog, Cat and Baby (which reads like a more extreme Gary Larson cartoon), to the truly disturbing like Night They Missed the Horror Show..
Joe Lansdale won't be for everyone - yes, he can write creature feature monsters and the absurd, but his darkest stories are very much rooted in the horror that we inflict upon one another: there's racism, sexual deviance, and things that are at times hard to read - but never done for gratuity: there are always serious underlying messages in the most brutal of his work: be it among the back and forth funny dialogue of Hap and Leonard, or the more historical works, and that's certainly true in the stories here.
If you are familiar with Lansdale you'll know this is going to be a vital collection. If you're not I think the works selected give as close an idea to exactly how good and versatile an author he is.

Joe Lansdale has such a genius way of writing horror and comedy. It should be studied. He really gets the genre and knows what he’s doing, which is why he’s one of horrors greats. Each story is a world of its own and so much damn fun. I would follow Lansdale anywhere. What a brilliant and smart writer.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Joe Lansdale having read Savage Season and The Nightrunners back in the day. Many of this short stories were revisits for me having read them in the past. Several, believe it or not, were first-time reads. I have never read Bubba Ho-Tep or watched its faithful movie adaptation. It was a deilight to read for the first time.

Highly recommended horror collection.