The Sinister Mr. Corpse

With The Sinister Mr. Corpse Jeff Strand returns to horror comedy. After experiencing the dark horror of his novel Pressure it's nice to have Jeff make us laugh again.

Stanley Dabernath's life was going nowhere fast. He was broke, evicted, eating stolen noodles three times a day, of low moral constitution and attempting to run a video distribution company featuring such titles as: Extreme Fishing, Vampire Splatter and The Mysterious Case of the Chunks of Flesh. Things weren't going well for Stanley but at least he was alive. At least he was alive until the semi truck full of milk ran off the road, tipped over, trapped his foot and then drowned him in milk that came pouring out of it.

Television reporter Donald Mandigan has gained exclusive access to the story of a lifetime. He has been invited by Project Second Chance to do a live broadcast of the first resurrection since Lazarus. Stanley was about to receive a second chance at life as The Amazing Mr. Corpse.

Stanley does an amazing job of adapting to life, such as it is, once he realizes that he really did die and return. Life as a living corpse isn't that bad and Stanley finally has his shot at fame and riches. All he has to do is make an appearance, autograph a shirt/action figure/poster/hat/photograph, enjoy the spotlight of fame, take his daily injection and collect a big check. It's a good thing Project Second Chance has assigned him a personal assistant to keep up with all of it.

So how does The Amazing Mr. Corpse become The Sinister Mr. Corpse? You'll have to read the book to find out and it's worth reading every page to learn all of Stanley's story.

Once again the small press has done a wonderful job of producing a quality product. Great job by Delirium Books. I really like the gold inlaid title, image and author's name on the cover of the book. The book comes in at 259 pages and was a pleasure to read.

Would I read The Sinister Mr. Corpse a second time? I already have.

Big "Thank you!" to Jeff Strand for allowing me to quote the following from the book. In this scene Stanley is meeting his assistant, Veronica, for the first time. It really gives you an idea of what Stanley's personality is like and what it would be like to work with him.

"You're not a freak," Veronica insisted, "you're a--"

"--a scientific phenomenon, I know. But, c'mon, look at me. I've got a face that only a drunken coked-up lobotomized mother could love."

"Don't be so caught up in your appearance. You're Mr. Corpse. People aren't expecting beauty."

"So I don't gross you out?"

"Not at all."

"What about now?" Stanley opened wide, showing her a mouthful of chewed-up eggs.

On a more personal note: If the comic industry can have Batman & Spawn teamup I think the horror story industry could have Captain Nothing, from Nothing To Lose, and The Sinister Mr. Corpse team up. That would be cool.