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Rating: 
Summary: A Ghoulish Souffle!
Review: In this latest work from Mark McLaughlin, the author takes the seemingly disparate elements of humor, horror, and the surreal and whips up a delightful literary mince-pie just in time for the holidays. Recommended for the humor readers that don't care for the horrific and the horror fans that don't normally opt for the humorous; in short, there's flavours here for one and all! McLaughlin's deft blending of such disparate ingredients shows why many have referred to him as "the Graham Kerr of the Macabre".
Rating: 
Summary: WEIRD stuff
Review: This collection is a must for people who like good writing that has the ability to both inspire whimsy and chill the blood. Mark McLaughlin is aptly named--Mc LAUGH lin. But don't become to comfortable, because the moment you start laughing, you are somehow awakened to the joke, and it ain't always so funny. I love this book, and kudos to Fairwood Press for publishing it. Writers like Mr. McLaughlin and publishers like Fairwood are the reason literature continues to live in a world of big books and corporate mergers. Hazzah! I await McLaughlin's next triumph!
Rating:
Summary: Dark & Delightful
Review: This collection is a must for people who like good writing that has the ability to both inspire whimsy and chill the blood. Mark McLaughlin is aptly named--Mc LAUGH lin. But don't become to comfortable, because the moment you start laughing, you are somehow awakened to the joke, and it ain't always so funny. I love this book, and kudos to Fairwood Press for publishing it. Writers like Mr. McLaughlin and publishers like Fairwood are the reason literature continues to live in a world of big books and corporate mergers. Hazzah! I await McLaughlin's next triumph!
Rating:
Summary: WEIRD stuff
Review: When I first began reading this collection, I thought McLaughlin's writing was an acquired taste. But the further I got into his world, the more I understood and appreciated the in jokes and his use of the campy conventions of the movie genres he satirizes. Although these movies don't exist, they could, and probably not in too different a form from the way he writes them. Mutated animal-like forms play a role in many of the stories, and an apocalyptic ending is usually in order. I had to wonder constantly where I was in relation to McLaughlin's universe. Although his stories strike me as being somewhat context-free and lack a certain continuity, these qualities enhance the reader's feeling of disengagement with the "real" world, which might very well be requisite for entering his dark (although oddly humerous) landscapes.
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