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Joe R. Lansdale
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High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale Paperback – July 1, 2003

by Joe R. Lansdale (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
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This collection of Joe R. Lansdale stories represents the best of the “Lansdale” genre—a strange mixture of dark crime, even darker humor, and adventure tales. The stories are varied in setting and theme, but they are all pure Lansdale—eerie, amusing, and occasionally horrific. In “The Pit,” modern gladiators square off against one another using Roman methods. An alternate-history tale called “Trains Not Taken” shows Buffalo Bill as an ambassador and Wild Bill Hickok as a clerk. Lansdale’s love of large lizards and humor are evident in the stories “Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program” and “Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland.”
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    267 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Golden Gryphon Press
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.85 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1930846177
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1930846173
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Lansdale is an immense talent. His ability to generate sidesplitting laughter and gut-wrenching terror on the same page is unique in modern fiction.” —Booklist


“This is a must for Lansdale fans and collectors.” —Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Joe R. Lansdale has received the American Mystery Award, five Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers of America, the International Crime Writer’s Award, and a New York Times Notable Book Award. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Golden Gryphon Press (July 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 267 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1930846177
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1930846173
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.85 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

About the author

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Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale

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Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies.

Lansdale has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others.

A major motion picture based on Lansdale's crime thriller Cold in July was released in May 2014, starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), and Don Johnson (Miami Vice). His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing a TV series, "Hap and Leonard" for the Sundance Channel and films including The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero.

Lansdale is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. Connelly
5.0 out of 5 stars "Which of these words best describes the mood
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2015
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"Which of these words best describes the mood?" I chose "Dark," but if I could I would add "Light-hearted," "Suspenseful," and "Thoughtful," as well; it depends on which story I am reading at the time. Also, the question "How would you describe the pace?" I did not put any of the adjectives since I could not decide between "Steady" and "Fast." Again, this is because it depended on the story I was reading at the time.
I am going to the local community college, studying Radio-Television-Film, and I think that most of the tales in this collection would make for great video shorts, especially my favorite: "Not From Detroit."
For those who are looking for whether or not to give Mr. Lansdale a try, this is the book to get for the best understanding for the author.
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Joseph P. Menta, Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars Enter the dark world of Joe R. Lansdale
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2007
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I bought this book because I wanted to read the original story from which a first season episode of Showtime's "Masters of Horror" was built around. The episode was "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road", and both the television adaptation and- I was happy to learn when I received "High Cotton" from Amazon- the original Lansdale story are top notch. In fact, the TV show was excellent largely due to its sticking extremely close to the Lansdale original.

Happily, there are many other great stories in this collection other than "Incident". As other reviewers have pointed out here, the stories range from darkly humorous to dark & gritty, the dark & gritty ones being my favorites. There are also a few good stories of the ironic and darkly poetic variety, where some poor schmuck gets an undeserved ton of bricks dropped on his life for no other reason than fate sometimes does that (I'm thinking mostly of the story involving the guy who tries to help the seemingly pathetic blind groundskeeper). The outright "funny" stories, like the one about Godzilla being in the twelve-step program (he wants to stop stomping on tourists), and the story about the inflatable dinosaur who wanted to visit Disneyland so he could meet Mickey Mouse, are also okay, but less memorable than the dark & gritty stories, which usually involve hapless characters taking a wrong turn somewhere and in short order finding themselves in the midst of one form or another of earthly hell.

Sensitive readers should note that there are many instances of racist humor, and many racist observations, throughout the book, as this or that character spouts something ignorant. In fact, there's so much of it that I started thinking that the author perhaps had a benign view of such things, or maybe even held those views himself. But, no, it ultimately becomes clear that Mr. Lansdale is just trying to accurately show how many people talk and think, and also demonstrate that such thoughts and observations can mean one of several things: that the character in question truly IS racist, or might just be a little ignorant and stupid but not truly bad. I say this because in several instances (especially in the last story), a couple of SEEMING racists meet up (after one of those wrong turns) with a group of true, hateful, monstrous racists, and... well, let's just say Mr. Lansdale makes it clear that there's a difference between dumb, ignorant spoutings and true evil.

With the exception of the occasional inflatable dinosaur and the not-as-friendly-as-it-seems housecat (and even the tales containing those offbeat elements were perfectly engaging), these are intense, dark, memorable stories, and I look forward to experiencing more Joe R. Lansdale in the near future. Just not quite yet. There's some grim stuff here, and I could use a breather.
4 people found this helpful
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Michael S. Matlock
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Short Story Collection I've ever read
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2000
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It's incredibly rare when you read a collection of stories and every single one of them is great. I own a large collection of short story books and I tend to skip around and read a story here and there, but with this collection I found myself reading them all one after the other. Lansdale's description of "High Cotton" being his best work is quite true here. If you remember reading Stephen King's Night Shift and loving the style (which King seems to have abandoned), you'll love this collection. I've found myself looking for more of Lansdale's books and short story collections, and there are a few (some of which are hard to come by). If you like this book, I highly recommend his Drive In Double Feature. Again, it's very early King-ish and quite a fun read.
10 people found this helpful
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Bryan Byrd
3.0 out of 5 stars Southern-fried Horror
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2010
Joe R. Lansdale's peculiar mix of horror, South-West American mores, humor and attention to the morally repugnant in the story collection 'High Cotton' is always only going to appeal to a minority. Judging from the other reviews, many in that minority are enthusiastic enough to write their opinions down - an indication that if you are already a fan of Mr. Lansdale's quirky style, then 'High Cotton' is sure to satisfy. Those who are not familiar with this author, or who aren't aware that they are familiar with him, should use their previous experience with modern horror stories as a guide. Mr. Lansdale is, for the most part, an engaging story-teller - but those readers who are squeamish, easily offended, or against graphic depictions of violence will probably be upset or turned off by the collection.

The twenty-one stories of 'High Cotton' are split equally into thirds; those I thought were entertaining to excellent, those I felt ambivalent about, and those that would have made the collection stronger if they had been left out. Almost all of the last example were short-short stories, consising of only a few pages apiece. The quality of these varied from squirm-inducing ('My Dead Dog Bobby') to silly ('Godzilla's 12-step program', 'Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland'), but it was the short format that I found lacking, over and against any technical proficiency. The middle group of stories were either derivitive, or else they waltzed to close to the line where I feel disgust rather than horror.

Every human activity is eligible for examination, but the success or failure of looking at its uglier aspects depends on how the author handles the material. Simply describing actions considered taboo may have some shock value, but it doesn't work as horror - an example would be the film 'Hostel', more pornography than horror. Back to Mr. Lansdale's collection, several of his stories, by concentrating on the shock value, miss out on the potential to be truly unsettling. One of the best stories, 'Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back', gets the difference, and gets it just right. Two other stories, one exemplifying an effective tale ('The Night They Missed the Horror Show') and the other an ineffective one ('Drive-In Date), are harder to quantify just what exactly makes them different, let alone a success or failure. To me, it comes down to concentration on character rather than situation. When the focus of the story is on an activity, then I feel my nose is being rubbed in something unpleasant. When it is about the character, I'm engaged, or at least have the potential to be.

There is one other aspect to Mr. Lansdale's writing that I feel is important to mention. These stories take place in the rural south, and the dialogue of many of the characters is dotted with slurs and derogatory comments that are sure to offend sensitive ears. Personally, I feel that Mr. Lansdale was trying to make a point about types of people that certainly exist, and he was intent on presenting them realistically. I can go along with that, but the author often made his point early in the story, and then made it again and again and again. Regardless, if you find the atom-bomb of racial slurs to be unfit in any context, then skip 'High Cotton'.

For those who aren't aware of it, the somewhat obscure film 'Bubba Ho-Tep' was adapted from a novella of Mr. Lansdale's (not included in 'High Cotton') - readers who enjoyed the quirky elements of that film will see stylistic similarity in some of the stories included here (perhaps best in 'Steppin' out, Summer, '68'), though one shouldn't look for the theme of the film repeated over and over. One of the strengths of this collection is it's variety, which is also one of its weaknesses. Seven four- and five-star stories, seven three-star, and seven one- and two-star stories - that makes it a three-star average for the entire collection.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr Nemo
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and dark collection
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2017
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This collection of stories by J.R Lansdale come from a variety of genre's but mostly horror and noir. I had a lot of fun reading these and would recommended them to anyone interested in writer's like Denis Lehane or Richard Matheson
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Mark T
4.0 out of 5 stars but the stories in this anthology are great.
Reviewed in Canada on October 19, 2015
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I'm not big on short stories for the most part, even when it comes to Lansdale, but the stories in this anthology are great.
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