When I talk about editing and publishing, I can tell the story about editing Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre endlessly. It was an experience fraught with wishful thinking, immaturity and miscommunication. By contrast, BADASS HORROR was the second Dybbuk Press book. I had bought ten ISBN's and I needed to use them, else I had paid all that money for one book. Michael Stone, who wrote “Clob” for TBCM, emailed me and asked if I was on the lookout for new projects. He had been helping his friend, Chris, edit BADASS HORROR. They didn't have a publisher.
I asked for three stories, loved them, and then offered $50 against royalties to the writers and editors. I also asked friends for stories. I formatted the book, bought illustrations from Federico Dallocchio and put together a list of review copy destinations. I had learned from my mistakes. I even wrote the back cover blurb.
Back Cover Blurb
This collection of horror stories will slap you in the face, kick you in the teeth, and burn cigarette holes in your couch. These stories of pool halls, whiskey, junkies, and angle-tinged lunacy reach the edge of human endurance. A detective wakes up in a shallow grave with a bullet hole in his chest and a taste for brains. A drug dealer tortures the privileged. A whorehouse keeps a strange “pet” and a man discovers the secret to all human passion. These seven stories, written by some of the best writers of modern fiction including Garry Kilworth, Ronald Damien Malfi, Michael Boatman and Michael Hemmingson, will dull the pain of the hole that Hubert Selby Jr's death left in your bitter heart.
I do love hyperbole. It's not the best back cover blurb, but it works fine. It's got the catchy opening, the description of stories, naming the more prominent writers and a stinger. Reminds me, I need to read Hubert Selby jr. Haven't read him for years. Probably shouldn't have used more than three authors since there are seven stories. With four writers, it sounds like I don't like the other three stories.
I also killed a story that Michael and Chris accepted. We all agreed to kill it, but I was the one who brought up not liking it. Michael said that the guy was a pain in the ass. I only remember this incident because the author graduated from the Columbia University Creative Writing Graduate program that had rejected me. That amused me. I don't remember his name.
An Additional Regular Column
In the next few weeks, I'm going to write about BADASS HORROR stories as the beginning of a project where I write about my Dybbuk Press books. I'm publishing a new Dybbuk Press book (G-d willing) in 2025 and I want to promote the books that I've already published. This will be in addition to the John Cheever and Book of Job articles.
I'm not writing about Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre besides the previous article. I don't want to review every TBCM story because not all of the stories hold up. I've already written about them on Tumblr and I hated the experience. If I don't like a writer's story, I either have to lie or be a prick to someone with whom I still have a working relationship. These writers took a chance on me when I didn't know what I was doing and I'm not going to talk shit about their work.
I could change my mind.
Some Caveats
I like this book better than Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre, but I think the title is generic. Might as well title is Scary Stuff or Tough Guy Tales. Furthermore, all seven stories are by men. Fiction, especially horror fiction, is much more interesting when its diverse. Everyone has different experiences and different biases. An anthology is stronger with different writers, else the stories start to feel interchangeable. These seven stories are different from each other, but they could be more different.
Just in case, you missed the Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre article, you can read it at…
Buy a copy of BADASS HORROR here.
If you'd like to buy a copy of Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre, Amazon has it at a discount.
Sadly, I also still need to ask for money. Please donate to my Gofundme if you can. Even $5 would help.