This is the first time I’ve dedicated a blog entry to one writer and more than that – he doesn’t just write about zombies.
So, I’m talking about author and good egg, Chris Wood.
(By the way, if you found that cunning intro title of mine funny, then read on. If not, then this may not be your cup of tea.)
The two of his titles I have read & come to love are titled
· Sherlock Holmes & the Underpants of Death
· Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys
I’m a big fan of short stories and both of these volumes are chock full of some of the funniest ones I’ve read for a longterm. (Don’t worry I’m not on commission for them – they just gave me some hours of amusement.)
It is said that the oldest joke in the world invovled a wife breaking wind and if you, like me, find toilet humour an endless source of amusement – then these tales may be for you.
Told from the perspective of the long-suffering Watson, they echo the pattern of the classic holmesian tales but with a wicked Ben Eltonesque humour thrown in. Victorian England has never been so awash with fiendish plots and scary stories as in these tales. The one involving the haunted underpants will terrify you for months after reading.
However, I have to say, the craft of the writing is actually very good – Wood puts the stories together with care and weaves some classic farce in there as well. The whole feeling is meant to be that of a b-movie and it works well in both books.
So, exactly what had Mr Woods created here? Well, he has seriously twisted the Sherlock Holmes mythos & I think created some much need humour. Life is a bit grim out there at the moment & just because I spend most of my time hiding behind a locked front door waiting for the zombies to arrive, it doesn’t mean I don’t want some amusement along the way.
I therefore thoroughly recommend these twisted and crazy volumes to you all. |