Sex with Dead People
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2.4 • 10 Ratings
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Publisher Description
In Sex With Dead People, David Allan Barker introduces us to a zombie psychiatrist, a vengeful tree, alien rednecks, a horny sasquatch, an aphasic priest in a whorehouse, and a block party for suburban cannibals. At the same time we confront the frustrations of suburbia in all its banality: pretentious neighbours, waste disposal disasters, lawn-care rivalries, dehumidifiers run amok, invasive bugs, perfumes that smell like urine pucks, and labyrinthine roads through communities where each house looks like every other. Then, of course, we have the title story, Sex With Dead People (which has nothing to do with necrophilia, in case you were wondering). Here, we discover one of the horrible truths of the 21st century: I forgot what it is. Oh yeah, people have short attention spans. No, that's not it. Maybe something to do with memory.
Customer Reviews
Some good and bad
An entertaining read, the stories of variable quality. Some are excellent, with good pacing, climaxes and prose with a literary flair. Others feel somewhat sub-par.
The surreal nature of some of the occurrences is juxtaposed against the mundane setting, and the characters' dogged determination that everything should be normal and not interfere with the peace and order of the community. Some characters even make recurring appearances. The disconnect between some surreal and very supernatural stories compared to others with very normal tragedies does create the impression of an absence f consistency within the anthology.
There were some stories I couldn't bring myself to read due to the prose ring written in the style the words would have been pronounced (red-neck American). Some characters were also given the names of famous celebrities, or famous celebrities made appearances in the stories, which seemed to destroy the immersion. This is in stark contrast to franchises (WalFart) having their names changed.
These are minor gripes. The author has talent, and the stories are entertaining. With the services of a professional editor, and the dropping of some stories, this could be a fantastic anthology instead if merely good.