I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd — which comes out TODAY, btw! — and I was surprised by what I found.
This was my first excursion into the work and world of Wednesday Lee Friday and I’m not going to lie: I’m impressed. Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd is a collection of short stories, poetry, and other dark content that shows off Wednesday Lee Friday’s creative muscle to great advantage – she seamlessly soars from story to story, tense to tense, person to person, and terror to terror, trapping the reader in a delicious, dark (and sometimes funny) world that’s hard to walk away from. There’s a lot to love here and I couldn’t choose my favorite part of it if I had to.
In Growlers we get a macabre glimpse at the dark side of the fast food industry that takes unexpected turns that end up as terrifying as they are socially relevant. To Die Beautiful is so rhythmically and beautifully written that you’ll almost forget you’re seeing life through the eyes of a woman scorned in the worst way … almost. Trabajando Alegre proves that there are far worse things than being broke and unemployed, and Jetplane warns of the dangers of putting all your eggs into one basket. And that’s just the tip of the blood-covered icepick …
It isn’t often you come across a horror author whose work contains as much entertainment value as it does depth, and when you find one, they keep you coming back. You’ll come back to Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd again and again. Not just for the stories but for the poetry and for Stig and the Puppetman (you’ll have to get the book to learn more about that, though – let’s just call it a pleasant surprise).
There’s some truly beautiful stuff here. You won’t just be entertained by this collection – you’ll learn from it. I did. A highly-recommended, very enthusiastic, full five stars.
Get your copy at Amazon today
Alistair Cross 