Synopsis:
Only one more show and heavy metal guitarist Spencer Hesston can finally quit Rot in Hell. No more touring, no more fighting, and no more unwanted advances from the lead singer’s girlfriend. But instead of waking up the next day in their Midwestern hometown, the band finds themselves dazed and confused in an abandoned settlement in the middle of the desert, with no idea of how they got there.
Things are done a little differently out here: the trees have perverse urges, the spiders have human fingers, and every time they step outside the town transforms into a new hellish nightmare.
In this town anything is possible, except making it out in one piece…
Deadite Press is proud to present a new novella from Wesley Southard. A work of surreal horror sure to please fans of SILENT HILL, JACOB’S LADDER, and LOST HIGHWAY.
Edition:
Paperback
My Thoughts:
This was my first foray into the work of Wesley Southard, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. This read like a bizarro horror show, and I was actually pretty into it. I love me some heavy metal, and when it’s done in a way that doesn’t play into Tipper Gore’s heavy metal-based wet dreams, I’m really into heavy metal meets bizarre horror.
But, for the reason mentioned above (squishy-pantsed Tipper) the premise had me a little worried. I’m not going to lie – just because my own personal reading experience has borne out that the inclusion of a grimy metal band into a tale of bizarro-horror is sometimes taken as a free ticket to play out misogynist and/or rape fantasies, which I’m sooooo not into. Thankfully, this book was not like that. I mean sure – most of the members of the band were dickwads. But, as someone who has known several heavy metal band members in my lifetime, I know that some of those dudes are, in fact, complete dickwads (just like in any other walk of life, amirite?). They weren’t all just Metal Dude (AKA a talented, loud-mouthed, problematic fucking jackhole). But most of them still sucked at least a little, so watching them get splattered was good fun!
But I digress. (and ftr, I love Pantera and absolutely every band Glen Danzig has anything to do with. But Glen and Phil are both shitty fucks – can we please just acknowledge that and move on with our lives? Like, being wildly talented and being human garbage are NOT mutually exclusive).
I enjoyed that the book was supposed to be Spencer’s journal, although it had me wondering something: the book mentions that Spencer’s journal is a green wirebound notebook with a crayon drawing of a duck with a massive erection (which I believe is Rot in Hell’s logo [?]), so why did we not go with that cover for the book? I mean, the cover we got is pretty damned cool (it was designed by Deadite Press). But wouldn’t it have been more fitting to have the same cover as the book we’re supposed to be holding? Know what I mean?
As for the story itself, there’s a lot to enjoy here. Southard’s novella is going to constantly have you on the very edge of your seat. There’s blood, there’s viscera, there are monsters both large and small. There’s ever-changing landscapes, and there’s also your own personal demons to contend with. I mean, there’s not deep character building, or deep story, but there IS a shallow pool full of blood, guts, and monsters both terrifying and hilarious.
About the Author:
Wesley Southard is the author of The Betrayed, Closing Costs, One For The Road, and Resisting Madness, and has had short stories appear in outlets such as Cover of Darkness Magazine, Eulogies II: Tales from the Cellar and Clickers Forever: A Tribute to J.F. Gonzalez. When not watching numerous hours of ice hockey, he spends his free time reading and drinking copious amounts of green soda. He is also a graduate of the Atlanta Institute of Music, and he currently lives in South Central Pennsylvania with his wife and their cavalcade of animals.
Find him on Twitter at: @wessouthard
Rating:
This book is good fun for those times when you’re just not looking for something overly involved and that you can wrap up in a single sitting.
One For The Road By Wesley Southard Deadite Press/Eraserhead Press ISBN: 1621053032 Published: June 15, 2019 Paperback, E-book 98 Pages Author's Website
Great review! I recommend Closing Costs and Salves to Gravity as well!
Thanks, Erica! I actually have Slaves to Gravity sitting in my TBR pile as we speak. 🙂