Book Review: Forbidden Acts

Book Review: 'Forbidden Acts' edited by Nancy A. Collins and Edward E. Kramer

5 / 5 Stars

'Forbidden Acts' (390 pp.) was published by Avon Books in October, 1995. This was a time when there still was momentum (as a publishing phenomenon) to the Paperbacks from Hell, especially for all-original story anthologies like this one.

The contributors to 'Forbidden Acts' include old splatterpunk hands like John Shirley, Philip Nutman, Nancy A. Collins, and Rex Miller, and more traditional horror authors, such as Karl Edward Wagner, Christopher Golden, and Douglas E. Winter. There are a bunch of newer authors, too, so you could say that 'Forbidden' has a good representation of both established and new talent.

Interestingly, 'Forbidden' stays well away from the splatterpunk label, preferring to present itself as a collection of tales focused on 'erotic' horror. Readers should expect content that is more or less pornographic, with a Special Sauce of bloodletting and degradation.........

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Introduction, by Joe Bob Briggs: it seems inevitable that Briggs - the good ole boy alter-ego of Nice Jewish Boy John Irving Bloom - should provide an Introduction to at least one Paperback from Hell, as by '95 he had cemented his position as an influencer for lowbrow pop culture. The problem with his Introduction is that in summarizing the stories, Briggs gives away spoilers. A bad move, on his part ! 

Light of Thy Countenance, by Alan Moore: by '95 Moore was enjoying considerable fame in literary circles as a comic book writer, and he was getting invitations to contribute to anthologies like this one. Unfortunately, instead of crafting a well-organized short story, Moore elects to give us an 18- page, run-on, stream-of-consciousness prose poem about how TV is the Deity of Modern Man. Yep, it's truly as bad as it sounds........why Collins and Kramer included this entry is beyond me. Maybe they were trying to be nice ?

The Contract, by Brian Herbert and Marie Landis: by the mid-1990s Brian Herbert was riding high on his rote commercializations of his late father's 'Dune' franchise. Here, he teams up with cousin Marie Landis. 'Contract' is about a Federation agent whose investigation of the status of a long-lost Terran settlement leads to fraternization with an attractive female colonist. It's a decent enough story. 

Blood Knot, by Steve Rasnic Tem: the first-person narrator has three daughters who may, or may not, be vampires. Or serial killers. Or..... it may just be all in daddy's imagination ! A standard-issue 'weird horror' tale from Tem, a tale that's too oblique to be successful.

Interrogator Frames, by Rob Hardin: following her time as the subject of decidedly unethical and immoral experiments, Rachel has become the sort of girl who really, really likes pain incorporated into her erotic activities. Can she find a boyfriend with the same proclivities ?

The Real World, by Brooks Caruthers: dissipated slacker Barry has a vivid hallucination about Hell; it's a place where the same group of hipsters perpetually are going to one party after another. And waking with bad hangovers. Or...... is it really a hallucination ? This story was overwritten and underwhelming.

Choke Hold, by Lucy Taylor: Angelo is a loathsome little punk who indulges in autoerotic asphyxiation. Needless to say, this story is not going to have a happy ending. It does have an undertone of snide humor that I found very appealing. One of the better entries in the anthology !

Blackpool Rock, by Philip Nutman: Darren Franks, an American who earns a living as an Elvis Impersonator, has a gig in the down-at-heels UK resort town of Blackpool. Darren doesn't like Blackpool very much, but things get even worse when he's kidnapped. 

Nutman is in good form here, with a well-plotted tale that mixes sarcastic humor with affection for the ramshackle outposts of British culture. Although it has little if any 'erotic' content and no splat, it's another of the better entries in the anthology.

Forgotten Promises, by Edward E. Kramer: teens get revenge on a malevolent teacher. This story's plot twist likely would ruffle political feathers, nowadays...........

Coming of Age, by Douglas Clegg: Scooter and Joe reminisce over the fun time they had as boys, back in 1960. Rather, Joe thought it was a fun time. And Joe now is in a 'special' hospital.......author Clegg obviously intended this story to be an exercise in pathos, but I detected a note of subversive humor. But maybe I'm just an uncaring and un-empathetic person..........

High Heels from Hell, by Mike Lee: the kids from the Smashing Pumpkins song 1979 engage in acts of sex and violence in the punk rock milieu of Austin, Texas. An interesting premise, undone by overwriting and rather thin plotting.

The Energy Pals, by Howard Kaylan: Kaylan, who is best known as a member of the 1960s pop band The Turtles, shows he can deliver a humorous story; in this case, a takeoff on the 'Power Rangers' craze of the 1990s. Good stuff !

The Agony Man, by Ron Webb: unconvincing tale of an art fart who likes to sculpt pieces depicting alienated girls, particularly alienated girls with a fondness for S & M.

Brainchild, by Rex Miller: in the first two pages of this story, a crack addict gives birth to a baby so horribly deformed that the doctors and nurses attending the birth spontaneously vomit and faint. Now, that's splat ! 

I laughed out loud at Miller's rub-it-in-your face attitude. The eponymous Brainchild is a homage to M.O.D.O.K. from Marvel comics. Miller asks the question: what happens when a man with a powerful intellect, trapped in a malformed body, gets horny.....?!  Another great entry in 'Forbidden Acts.'

Furies in Black Leather, by Nancy A. Collins: decadent excitement awaits Rolf at the hands of Mistress Alexis. And some splatterpunk, too !

You Hear What Buddy and Ray Did ?, by John Shirley: two thugz stage an orgy in a wealthy man's house; things do not end well. Definitive splatterpunk, no apologies or excuses.

Playing Dolls, by Melissa Mia Hall and Douglas E. Winter: fifteen year-old Laurie is a snotty teen who likes to torment her parents. And what better way to do so, then having sex with her boyfriend Chad while the parents are out of the house ? This story is too dumb to be very rewarding.

Facets of Solitaire, by Christopher Golden: in a particularly hellish version of New York City, a woman named Erika Raven has the abilities and attitude of the She-Hulk. Which can mean trouble for a drug-dealer named Morgan...........

The Picture of Jonathan Collins, by Karl Edward Wagner: Mr. Collins believes he may be immortal. Discovering the truth means subjecting himself to use and abuse (I mean the 'biting the pillow' kind).

This story, one of the last Wagner wrote, is unabashed gay porn. It's not something he and his friends and supporters liked to talk about publicly, but Wagner apparently supplemented his income by writing porn / sleaze novels. Whether he was as prolific as his contemporary Andrew J. Offutt, is unclear.............

Happy Couple, by Danielle Willis: the 'happy couple' are Elizabeth and Miranda, who live in junkie squalor. The physical degradation of drug addiction is well-communicated. 

Author Willis also published a 1996 short story, 'Tiffany's Shitty Night.' The title alone makes it a great story. If you've read 'Tiffany's' (it was included in a 1996 anthology titled 'Noirotica') let me know what you thought of it !

Mysterious Elisions, Riotous Thrusts, by Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg: Koja was a major figure in the weird horror movement that first flowered during the Paperbacks from Hell era. In this tale, a divorced woman's ex-husband comes calling, in the morphology of something very unpleasant. As often is the case with weird horror, the prose is overly figurative, and whether things are 'real' or not, is subjective. Still, 'Mysterious' has a kind of warped appeal.......

Stations of the Cross, by David Aaron Clark:  It's bad enough that Mistress Medusa has to work on Christmas Eve, but the day's visitor to the squalid 'dungeon' has an unsettling quality about him. This story is a dud; it's a plotless exercise in pornography, with splatterpunk touches intended to let the reader know that author Clark is a Transgressive Artiste.

Summing up, it's the contributions from Taylor, Nutman, Kaylan, Clegg, Miller, and Shirley that led me to grant 'Forbidden Acts' a Five-Star Rating. It can't be coincidence that these stories are infused with warped humor, and don't take themselves too seriously. I mean, at a certain point, being over-the-top edges (knowingly or unknowingly) into parody, and the best authors know how to handle things, and maintain their poise, when this ensues.  

For a different take on some of the contents of 'Forbidden Acts,' readers are directed to the M. Porcius Blog, although be warned, there are spoilers.