Randolph "Dilda" Carter

This is an excellent collection of Lansdale's short fiction put out in a 4,000 copy edition by Golden Gryphon in 2000.  It was their 8th publication under editor Jim Turner.  

This is a messy collection in a number of ways.  Most of the stories are top notch, a few are average and there is one really, really bad story.  In addition don't read this right after you've eaten and you better turn your politically correct filter off.  There are a number of award winning stories in here.  Oh, and the stories run from one-pagers to just under novella length.

Joe's stories are down in the trenches stuff and down South stuff, Texas mainly.  He revels in the dregs of humanity and the stories are horrifying and funny at the same time, as long as nobody you know was ever murdered or raped.  There isn't anything supernatural happening here just maniacs and mayhem mostly but wry and terribly eerie nonetheless.  These stories may be all that much more terrifying because they all could happen whereas we know there aren't any real ghosts or monsters, don't we?

Joe's world view, at least from these stories, is pretty bleak.  Just like in real life the good and the bad go down together at times and sometimes the bad guys win, so maybe it should be called realism instead of pessimism.

I guarantee you won't be bored.