Dead on the Bones: Pulp on Fire

Pulp writing is something of a lost art, seeing as the penny dreadfuls and dime novels long ago went the way of the dinosaurs that so often popped up in lost worlds and pulp adventures. But there are a few stalwarts who keep the pulp ethos alive, and chief among them is the prolific Joe R. Lansdale.

Dead on the Bones: Pulp on Fire collects the pulpiest stories from Lansdale’s lengthy career, venturing from a misty jungle world to an ice field on Mars and a giant forest in an alternate universe. There’s a Western-style outlaw chosen by God and an eminent French investigator, a burned-out patrolman and a young man playing out Hamlet’s story in the South.

Although Lansdale’s trademark bluster and enthusiasm patches over most of the rough spots in the lesser entries in this collection, some of the stories skew a tad too goofy for my tastes; “Under a Warrior Star,” for instance, would’ve been fine in a smaller dose, but goes on far too long.

But there are some real gems in this collection, as well as my new all-time favorite Lansdale line: “The sky was as blue as a Robert Johnson song.”