Something Good, Something Bad, Something Dirty

A dude jumps out of a window; Halloween goes to Hell; a junk-sick redhead ransacks a wallet; a school teacher’s habit of leaving drawers open rattles her obsessive compulsive husband; a gory melodrama unfolds as a self-absorbed mother and her sadistic daughter vie for the love of a handsome con artist; two losers conjure bloodlust fantasies to pass the time; a severed body part resurrects to claim vengeance against a cunning, materialistic witch; a trailer park love triangle reaches its drunken precipice at a Sunday barbecue—just a few of the sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes dirty attractions found in Brian Alan Ellis’s latest, aptly titled story collection, where bearded women, bloody tampons, online dating debacles, ornery waffle waitresses packing pistols, drunk Harry Dean Stanton look-a-likes dressed as Santa Claus, floating Mickey Mouse T-shirts, and lawn gnomes on fire all cast a harrowing glow!