Review: Gut Punch
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 3, 2014
I thought there wasn't much out there that could gross me out, but Lansdale managed it. There's a lot between the lines in this short story, and a whole lot spelled out in nice clear inky letters and lines (on the main character's back). Lansdale has the kind of hard-hitting no holds-barred imagination that take you on a super-vivid ride through Dystopia Land.The dissolution of a mind is a common trope in horror and dystopic SF, and the way Lansdale writes it is mesmerizing.  You feel sorry the main character & his wife and their overwhelming guilt (overridden by their overwhelming need to survive).Reading Lansdale is like eating Chili made with Carolina Reaper chilies and feeling the burn as it moves through your gut. And this is just a short story!