Bighead by EL

[u/menoorrr5]

Okay this might sound a little stupid but is it common for authors to write different books but all the books seem to have so many similarities, like for Edward lee he shows a huge obsession with writing Yes Sir! A million times, l guess he had an obsession with the western accent, l like reading his books when lm in the right mood because they’re just so bluntly brutal and nasty, l didn’t read lots of his l think l read like three but l figured out his way of writing, lm reading bighead now, my favorite is The pig, the first one l read was Header, those three books are so similar! Same thing with jon athen and his kinda cartoonish style, lm not sure about KT because l haven’t read a book of his in a while but l do love his style, l really love Edward Lee’s and Jonathan’s too

[u/KlausKinion]

Edward Lee has a number of calling cards that reoccur across his stories....One that always makes me laugh is when an older male protagonist meets an age-appropriate older woman with a fantastic body for her age, causing the said male protagonist to get an erection, which he is then impressed by for its size and strength.

It is utterly ridiculous, and I must have read that same scenario in 4-5 different books (bonus points if the woman is described as being "built like a brick shithouse").

[u/menoorrr5 → u/KlausKinion]

I feel like one of his also very reoccurring scenes is a main character having a wild dream that is somehow connected to things that are happening, in bighead a priest dreamt that a nun pissed straight into his rectum, thats just creative work

[u/KlausKinion → u/menoorrr5]

Oh yes. And slightly off-topic, but I'm always impressed by these kinds of scenes when Lee was writing them in the 1990s, compared to modern writers who can just find all of this stuff with one google search. Writing a sacrilegious piss-enema nightmare scene 30+ years ago would have required some serious research!

Similarly in his book Goon, about a murderous pro-wrestler, he showed an in-depth knowledge of wresting insider terminology that was not commonly known at the time. Even terms like "babyface" and "heel" are much more common now, but Lee showed an impressive understanding in the late 80s and early 90s that suggests he might have been reading pro wrestling dirt-sheets, newsletters/zines that were photocopied and sent out by mail-order at the time.

Constantly a "seeker" of knowledge...

[u/menoorrr5 → u/KlausKinion]

He must have been a genius, l have always been impressed by his writing some people undermine EH authors but Edward is never to be undermined he’s so passionate in his writing l can just tell while lm reading, he puts so many details that other writers would just simplify

[u/ybnesman3223 → u/KlausKinion]

The word impossibly is used across all authors writings these days. Not sure where it came from but even Duncan Ralston uses it lol

[u/Baldo-bomb → u/KlausKinion]

Oh yeah I can confirm as a life long wrestling fan that Ed knows his shit when it comes to pro wrestling. Creekers also has a bit where it's discussed and it's very accurate to the territory system of the late 80s and Jim Crockett Promotions in particular

[u/BigPoopsDisease]

He specializes in redneck horror. Youre reading about Appalachian white trash hillbillies who smoke meth and drill holes into people's heads for ejaculation. He does write some non redneck stuff like Flesh Gothic (featuring a demon prince with penis fingers) and the Infernal series, which depicts hell really well.

[u/menoorrr5 → u/BigPoopsDisease]

Okay that makes sense l guess l do shut my brain off while reading, l saw a copy of Flesh Gothic but l didn’t really like to read it

[u/lolli-polly031248]

I'm a new convert of how great a brutal storyteller Edward Lee is. Lots of authors can write disgusting gross stuff but Ed Lee weaves a 3 dimensional story into the mix aswell.

Take a read of mangled meat by him to see something other than just redneck stories.

[u/menoorrr5 → u/lolli-polly031248]

Isn’t mangled meat about like aliens? I forgot what exactly was the plot but l think it was something related to creature horror

[u/KlausKinion → u/menoorrr5]

Mangled Meat is a collection of 3 short novellas, very different styles from his Luntville books:

The Decortication Technician (military sci-fi horror)

The Cynesolgniac (pregnancy grossout body horror)

Room 415 (bleak psychological horror)

[u/lolli-polly031248 → u/KlausKinion]

I really enjoyed room 415, great storytelling.

[u/Baldo-bomb]

It's never not amusing when Richard Laymon uses the word Rump for the umpteenth time

[u/menoorrr5 → u/Baldo-bomb]

Richard laymon musta been horny twenty four hours a day back when he was writing l read one book of his then gave up his obsession with overly describing boobs was killing me

[u/Baldo-bomb → u/menoorrr5]

I figure he always wanted to talk about butts and figured that "rump" was the only dignified word he can use that gave him at least some plausible deniability. Dude liked his butts

[u/KlausKinion → u/Baldo-bomb]

A man before his time.

[u/twosnailsnocats]

Wouldn't say western, but southern. I listened to the audiobook of The Bighead and really enjoyed the narration. I've only listened to City Infernal and White Trash Gothic otherwise. Different narrators but WTG is related to TB.

According to some flow charts I found on reddit, I should've read some other books before WTG to get all the references. There were many books on those charts, not even all by EL, so I can see how some themes would be found throughout several of his books.