Given that he's an icon of splatterpunk type horror, it's no surprise Edward Lee occupies so much space on my bookshelves - from The Minotauress to Incubi, to The Haunter of the Threshold, to Ghouls, to Succubi. While his novels are his strongest work, allowing him to really delve into the subject and maximize the horror, Carnal Surgery is my first experience with his short stories. I won't go into detail on all the stories included, but instead I thought I'd share some thoughts on my favorites:

The Seeker - A gory, graphic, disgusting tale that delivers exactly what I expected from Lee. The casual way in which the depravities are handed out is entirely chilling, with the events in the bar (including the woman who deliberately throws up pizza and beer in the protagonists mouth) the most 'normal' atrocities we are doomed to encounter.

Please Let Me Out - The was probably the most subtle and down-to-earth of all the tales, and yet also one of the most disturbing. Basically, you have an insecure, older woman who likes to be in a position of power. Not only does she steal an employee's boyfriend, but she keeps him locked up as slave to her insatiable sexual appetites.

Hands - This was one of my favorites, a classic tale of a reporter coerced into reporting on a serial killer who likes to take women's hands as a souvenir. If only he weren't so good at his job, and the police captain so clearly the perfect suspect, things might not have come to such a delicious twist at the end. A lot of atmosphere and suspense here, with a few genuine surprises at the end.

The Table - A very short story, with a great twist at the end (even if I did see it coming). Here you have a sadomasochistic young woman with a furniture fetish, a coroner's table with a gruesome history, and a bar pick-up who wants to play along. Most of it's talk, and the real horror waits beyond the final paragraph, but it's very effective.

The Piece of Paper - Wow, this was the strangest tale in the collection, an entirely pointless exercise in gruesome horror that is justified/redeemed by the twist-upon-a-twist at the end. This one made me laugh . . . and then feel guilty for doing so.

Make a Wish - Absolutely the best part of the collection, and a great way to end things. It's really three stories converging in a bar, with a bit of a morality play, a commentary on racial/social prejudice, and the nature of human greed. Again, Lee is all about the twists, and here he layers them on top of one another until the glorious finale where all becomes clear.

A solid, if uneven collection, there is definitely enough here capture the interest of new readers and provide a sort of literary desert for his fan. When the stories in Carnal Surgery worked, they worked very well, and you have to appreciate his willingness to go all the way, to follow the depravity to its logical end, and to (really) just have some guilty fun with the material.



Paperback: 165 pages
Published: March 14th 2011
Published by: Deadite Press