Wetbones
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Wetbones

by John Shirley

A flesh-and-soul-devouring addiction runs rampant through the dark playground of the Hollywood eliteWelcome to Los Angeles, where every addiction is encouraged.

In Oakland, the Reverend Garner, a recovering addict, leaves his ministry in search of his teenage daughter, who was last seen in the company of her ghoulish kidnapper.

And the Los Angeles police are meanwhile baffled in their hunt for the elusive Wetbones serial killer who leaves nothing of his victims behind except a damp, grisly pile of bones.Though Tom, the reverend, and the LAPD are on separate quests for answers, they are all being led into the darkest shadows of Hollywood, where the debauchery never ceases and pleasure is a drug that devours human flesh, blood, and sanity.

But the true source of the all-consuming addiction is the most horrifying revelation of all, for it is not of this rational Earth.From International Horror Guild Awardwinning author John Shirley, the acclaimed splatterpunk classic Wetbones combines the monstrous inventiveness of H.

  • Language: English
  • Category: Horror
  • Rating: 3.70
  • Pages: 352
  • Publish Date: June 1st 1999 by Leisure Books
  • Isbn10: 0843945257
  • Isbn13: 9780843945256

What People Think about "Wetbones"

I have read a few of Shirley's short stories, most notably "Cram", which was a masterpiece of short horror in the most gruesome way. It just keeps picking up steam until all the divergent story-lines come crashing together in what is one of the most crushing and visceral depictions of otherworldly horror and gore I have read in a very long time. For me, this book was transcended my expectations, and mad me a fan of the author right away.

Since I discovered Clive Barker and Stephen King in the 7th grade I have read several hundred horror novels and equal number of science fiction. John Shirley is a master at using the horror and science fiction novel as means of making a socio-political point.

Wetbones, by John Shirley, is the grossest book I've read. It's a book where the phrase "was fucking the hole in the side of his innards with a severed arm" is used and makes you feel really gross instead of just laughing because dammit, John Shirley has done something I find very few authors can pull off well. John Shirley, the magnificent creep that he is, can write a horror novel and keep the pacing and suspense building perfectly the whole way through without a single bit of downtime. John Shirley's Wetbones is a book for everybody to read, cringe at and discuss loudly in public.

Arrangements are made with the Akishra to grant pleasure, power and pain. People have started disappearing and it is up to a small group of very interesting characters to try and save them before they become wetbones themselves.

Shirley, on the other hand, is able to use this technique to show different aspects of it. In some ways, he uses this book to slam the entire entertainment industry. The cast of characters include: * Tom Prentice, a screenplay writer who has seen better days. The serial killer Ephram consults the sky constantly trying to find direction in this sinister zodiac. He's also the main focus of the book's title: Wetbones being an evil ritual which turns people inside out, leaving them in a pile of goo and calcium. Shirley displays his political bent by turning his nose up at another character's NRA dad and making a not-so-suttle reference to Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior as one of the worm creatures best allies.

I wouldn't recommend this book to most people I know, but if you're reading this, you've probably heard something of the legends surrounding Wetbones and your curiosity led you here. All joking aside, this is perhaps the most extreme book I have ever read, for better or worse.

But there are also stories of several people accidentally thrown into the perverse universe of the Doublekey Ranch, who not only have to face the sadistic owners, but also some fantastic force - the above mentioned Akishra - which makes it possible to control both mind and body. The masters of this power are able to stimulate the pleasure centre of the brain while at the same time forcing their victim to mutilate the own body.

John Shirley is the author of more than a dozen books, including Demons; Crawlers; City Come A-Walkin; Really, Really, Really, Really, Weird Stories; and the classic cyberpunk trilogy A Song Called Youth: Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona.