Brian McNaughton died in 2004 and there will never be another like him. His short stories, which should be mandatory reading for fans of fantasy, sword & sorcery, horror, dark fiction, ghouls, magic and Lovecraftian writing, have been compiled into two books from Wildside Press. Nasty Stories was released by Wildside Press in 2000; it has 156 pages and lists for $14.95. It is well edited, although there is no cover art to speak of, and alas, no author's notes on the stories. The very short author biography is the same one that appears in all of Wildside Press' McNaughton editions. We owe a great deal to Wildside for this collection. These stories are just too dang good to be allowed to fade from memory.
I have a very hard time describing Mr. McNaughton's fiction. He was widely read and sprinkled references to many works of popular ficiton and classic literature into his own works, so spotting the allusions is quite entertaining. He had a gift for putting you inside the skin of the character whose particular viewpoint he was narrating from, to the point that you start going along with their perspective even if what they are doing is outrageous. He did not shy away from, and in fact embraced wildly colorful and at the same time horrifyingly improbable sexual or ghoulish horror imagery. At the same time your flesh is crawling you can't help laughing out loud at the humor. I really cannot think of another author who pushes the boundaries so far, maybe Will Ludwigsen as a tepid comparison.
The only way to let the uninitiated in on the wonders of this writing is with a few choice examples:
The Conversion of St. Monocarp: "And Gunther, tragically cut down in the prime of his vaunting heroism by some unknown coward who had waylaid him and stamped his spine to the consistency of fingernail-parings, had unfavorably compared her generous mouth to an old sow's pudendum, bristles and all."
Nothing But the Best: "He had feared dogs ever since the Avignon fiasco, but he had forgotten the Sextons' pet, a Doberman pinscher, who in his last life commanded - with notably more audacity than brains - an SS panzer division. Unaware of this background, Jessica had christened him Muffin."
Fantasia on 'Little Red Riding Hood': "About to abandon his careful plans and absorb her into his cellular makeup, he notices the perilous proximity of two woodcutters, who are gatheroing faggots. They do this by striking manly poses against trees, their shiny axes over their muscular shoulders. One wears a T-shirt that reads "My favorite Beetle was Gregor Samsa." "
I could go on, and provide a striking image from each of these 27 stories, but then you wouldn't need to buy the book! After you finish this, please go get The Throne of Bones and Even More Nasty Stories. You won't be sorry you took a walk on the wild side of Brain Mcnuaghton's imagination.
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