By Martin Mundt, John Everson, Bill Breedlove and Jay Bonansinga
The debut release from Dark Arts Books compiles 12 “new and used” horror stories by four darkly humorous and horrifically dark Chicago authors.
Candy in the Dumpster includes Jay Bonansinga‘s short story “Stash,” which inspired the movie of the same name featuring Marilyn Chambers and Tim Kazurinsky. It also includes one of John Everson‘s most popular erotic horror shorts, “Pumpkin Head,” a modern “Great Pumpkin” patch fable with a femme fatale twist that has been reprinted several times and translated into French. Martin Mundt‘s disturbingly funny “A Perfect Plan” opens the book with a Very Bad Things-style descent into personal disaster and Bill Breedlove contributes his typically rapier-sharp wit in the boys shouldn’t play with boys who play with dolls tale “The Lost Collection.”
The book also features eight more must-read stories by the four authors, and a nod-and-a-wink introduction by another lauded Chicago horror veteran, Mort Castle.
Released at the World Horror Convention in 2006, Candy in the Dumpster’s tales range from the insanely funny to the chillingly creepy. The book garnered the following notice in the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror anthology the following year:
“A few of the originals are utterly tasteless and utterly hilarious, particularly one each by Martin Mundt and Bill Breedlove.”
-Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2007
“…And though each is a unique perspective and unique voice, they all have that “tongue in cheek” (not necessarily one’s own), satirical, never say “die” when you can say “maim” kind of thinking that we find in those works of horror likely to reside and resound within the reader’s consciousness for a long, long time.”
-From the Introduction by Mort Castle
Table of Contents
Click the PDFs below to read free stories!
MARTIN MUNDT
A Perfect Plan 
The Cure
Babies Is Smart
JOHN EVERSON
The White House
Swallowing the Pill
Pumpkin Head
BILL BREEDLOVE
The Lost Collection
Free to Good Home
Drowning in the Sea of Love
JAY BONANSINGA
Animal Rites
Stash
Deal Memo
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
to Bill Breedlove and Martin Mundt, who each have received Honorable Mentions in the 2007 edition of YEAR’S BEST FANTASY & HORROR for their stories “Drowning in the Sea of Love” and “Babies Is Smart” from Candy in the Dumpster!
In 2007, Jay Bonansinga directed Stash, a feature film based on the story in Candy in the Dumpster. Starring the late Marilyn Chambers and Tim Kazurinsky, Stash follows the misadventures of Jimmy Fox (Brian King), a good-hearted nebbish, who hits on the business idea of a lifetime. For a modest fee, he and his cousin Bobby (Will Clinger) come to your home (in the event of your death) and secretly remove all your porn before your spouse or children have a chance to find it. Jimmy calls the process ‘PMR’ (Post Mortem Retrieval). Here’s the film’s trailer:
CANDY IN THE DUMPSTER
ISBN: 0-9779686-0-X
Release Date: 2006
Trade Paperback: 152 pages
AVAILABLE FROM:
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID:
… it is a short read- but it’s one you’ll pick up again and again. I’ve already read some of them 3 or 4 times with a grin on my face, enjoying the black humor and picking up little nuances every time. It does what any good compilation does- makes you hunt for more work by the authors. I look forward to checking out more of their books.
CREATURE CORNER
There is one thing that I noticed with every story contained in Candy in the Dumpster and that is they all are extremely disturbing. I don’t mean just a little twisted either, these push the envelope of disturbing horror. From sex with vegetables to mass murder of the grandest scale, there’s definitely something for everyone to enjoy here. I highly recommend picking up a copy as soon as possible.
MAXIMUM HORRORS
What happens when four diverse, but equally talented and demented individuals contribute a few stories, both new and previously printed, apiece to a single volume? You get one of the best collections of the year by four remarkably warped individuals, and you have a damned good time reading it. Candy in the Dumpster is that collection.
DREAD CENTRAL
Topped off with a nice little introduction by the legendary Mort Castle, Candy in the Dumpster is a best bet for fans who like horror stories with bits of sick humor thrown in.
HORROR FICTION REVIEW #14
Those in the mood for well-written, unpredictable, richly comic horror are strongly advised to give this book a try…
FRIGHT.COM