Bad Juju and Other Tales of Madness and Mayhem

Violence, sex, and gonzo plot twists fuel Woods's diverting collection of 19 stories, most set in sun-and-blood-drenched borderlands. “Incident in the Tropics,” “Down Mexico Way,” “Maracaibo,” and “We Don' Need No Stinkin' Baggezz” amp up the volume to 11, while other offerings feature flying sharks, the adventures of a bodiless head, and a slime thing quickly snaking up nostrils. Woods, who earned his neo-pulp rep in Web zines such as Dogmatika and Plots with Guns , keeps the words popping along, though the endings of his stories are often inconsequential—only more reason to hop instantly into the next yarn. Throughout, a penchant for vivid imagery slaps the reader around like a boxing bag: “A veneer of sweat covers her body like the glaze on a Christmas ham”; “shadows as murky as an abortion clinic in the Bible Belt”; “Her small conical breasts confronted him like twin interstellar ray guns.” New pulp, indeed. (Apr.)