IN EXTREMIS

by | Jul 5, 2011 | Reviews | 0 comments

John Shirley has been my favorite punk since I stumbled upon a little paperback of his, quite by accident, called IN DARKNESS WAITING. It wasn’t a perfect book, but it was utterly unlike anything I had read up to that point and to say that it blew me away would be an understatement. Different and unique are two words that jump to mind in regards to that novel, and when thinking about John himself. I think the reason for that is because Mr. Shirley has such a varied and colorful list of credits to his name. While many authors go their whole lives writing the same kind of thing, that can’t be said about John Shirley. I called him a punk at the start of this, but out of admiration and not derision. He wrote some of the best cyberpunk tales ever, splashed through the wet world of splatterpunk and left big red footprints in his wake, and even plays/sings/writes punk rock. But beyond that, the dude wrote a ton of Blue Oyster Club lyrics, co-wrote the script for the first, and best, CROW movie, did an episode of THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS cartoon, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

But enough of that. If you don’t already know about Mr. Shirley and his weird, unique, horrifying, funny and visceral stories by now, then boy howdy do you have a lot of catching up to do. However, don’t feel overwhelmed, because Underland Press has put together a great collection of 22 of Shirley best reprints and that book, IN EXTREMIS is a great Whitman’s Sampler of all things Shirley. Some of the tastiest treats that appealed to my pallet are below in the order as they appear in the book.

“You Blundering Idiot, You Fucking Failed to Kill Me Again”, starts things off with a bang and is as awesomely over the top crazy as the title would suggest. Here a couple of redneck rejects are observed by a god-like being, which uses the two chuckleheads as examples of typical human life. Yeah, be very afraid for out species.

“Cram” is the number two story in this collection, but it may be my favorite of the book. In this twisted tale a bike messenger is caught in the aftermath of an earthquake in a crowded subway and must make good his own rescue and escape. This story is carnage filled and disturbing on many levels, lest of all, a sexual one.

Ever wonder what would happen if a hooker died giving a client a hummer? Well John did, so he wrote “Just Like Suzie” to explore that idea. You’re welcome, world.

“’I Want to Get Married,’ Says the World’s Smallest Man” is not as gross-out, or even “extreme”, as other stories in this book, but it is a hilarious look matrimony, little people, gold diggers, the entertainment biz, and plans within plans.

From the pages of the much missed Dark Wisdom Magazine, “Call Girl Echoed” has Shirley returning to his sci-fi roots, with his usual perversities and a great, disturbing as hell ending. Hmm, come to think of it, THIS may be my favorite story in the book.

Shirley loves writing about truly disturbing things happing to, or by, amazingly crafted characters that other authors use only as set dressing. Prostitutes, junkies, street people, and yes; punks of all sorts are just some of the folks you can find in a Shirley tale. Also, the man doesn’t pull any punches and in fact, it seems that John revels in rubbing the reader’s face in unpleasantness.  So list this book under “not for everyone”, but for me it was an enjoyable ride on the weird side. If you’re up for such a trip, give IN EXTREMIS a test drive when it comes out in August.

About Brian Sammons