THE GAS
The idea of a man-made drug causing people to lose their sexual inhibitions had been done before THE GAS saw print and after, but no other novel took the concept as far as Platt did.
FRANKENSTEIN ’69
I’ll say this: I really want to sample whatever the pseudonymous Ed Martin was on when he wrote this mess!
FLOWERS OF HELL
An attempt at extreme erotica in which the erotic business is far outweighed by the extremity.
EVIL COMPANIONS
This depraved yet undeniably artful late-sixties artifact is one of American literature’s great unheralded sickies.
THE DARK MANSION
The set-up of this so-so late-sixties quickie is strikingly similar to that of the Swedish film THE SINFUL DWARF
CUSTOM MADE SLAVES
Initially published as part of the aptly named Bizarre line of S&M themed erotica, this book has little to offer from a literary standpoint but is plenty wild.
CRASH
There’s never been another novel like this one, and that includes those of its author, the brilliant James Graham Ballard. CRASH was adapted from a short piece that initially appeared in Ballard’s ATROCITY EXHIBITION (1969).
CAPTAIN BLOOD
Here we have one of the few novels that can accurately be summed up by the vastly over-utilized term mind-blowing. Beyond that, however, I’m not entirely sure if CAPTAIN BLOOD is some kind of dark masterpiece or just a twisted mess of epic proportions. Strong arguments can be made for both views.
The Novels of Michael Blodgett
If you know of the late Michael Blodgett (1939-2007) it’s most likely as a beefcake actor, yet in my view Blodgett’s most enduring work was done in the three unjustly forgotten novels he published in the late seventies and early eighties
APOCALYPSE CULTURE at 25
Edited by the late journalist/publisher Adam Parfrey (1957-2018), APOCALYPSE CULTURE is a complacency shattering compilation of articles, interviews and artwork dealing with the abhorrent, apocalyptic and plain weird