So I've been reading Edward lee books for quite a while now (this being #14) and have generally been a fan of his works, including his other Lovecraftian novels so was intrigued by this one.

The story is based around some notes wrote in a journal by "Howard" which are found in a bus waste bin. It follows his adventures in rural America after his bus breaks down in a small hilltown area, complete with the standard rednecks, depravity and a carnival. The rest I'll leave up to you to explore :)

It's a bit of a strange tale in the end, this time the mix of Lovecraftian writing along with Edward Lee's ability to create a dark, twisted world don't mix. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the tale, but it just didn't impress me like lee's other novels have done before.

So that being said, if your a fan of Lee's works then you'll enjoy this just fine - it even includes a Header, if your new to his works then try The Innswich Horror of the City infernal series first.

The novel was received in exchange for an honest review
( )

Bloodletting Books has released the latest piece of Lee 'Lovecraftiana.' At some point Mr. Lee realized that thar's gold in them thar Mountains o' Madness and began to write stories with some reference to Lovecraft. Now for the life of me, I cannot figure out why, but companies have been presenting his work in exquisitely tooled limited editions. They then get released as rather low priced soft cover trade paperbacks by Deadite Press a year or two later. Initially, I think, Mr. Lee had made some effort to make his works actually a bit Lovecraftian, but as he's gone on HPL would spew in his grave if he could read the crapulous dross Lee is offering. Let me give a synopsis to date:

The Innswich Horror was originally produced by Cemetery Dance, although their lettered, tray cased edition has still not been released. This book has Leee's worst tendencies rather muted, as a fan of HPL visits a town that turns out to have been the inspiration for The Shadow Over Insmouth. HPL makes an appearance as a character, another plot device Lee has been favoring, although I am still mystified by its attraction. The prose was only so-so, but I wasn't turned off.

Bloodletting Books produced a lovely edition of Trolley 1852, a story built on the foundation of The Thing in the Moonlight. Here HPL (again a character) is commissioned to write a porno novel and Trolley 1852 is the result. There are some of Lee's excesses in terms of grotesque schlocky pornography but there is also a nice leavening of humor and, at least initially, a good use of Lovecraftian sounding prose. When he gets to the porn, Lee's interest in authenticity nose dives. Anyway, I thought this book was worth a read.

The Haunter of the Threshold was given the most expensive edition of any horror book I know, with a list price of $1250 for a lettered edition bound in snake skin. I swear I was tempted on multple occasions to buy the last copy from Horror Mall and damn the consequences, and each time I realized I'd rather stay married. Anyway, I picked up the low priced edition from Deadite Press and now, months later, I still haven't finished it. Why? It opens with a sequence of revolting rape/humiliation pornography, supposedly OK because the female protagonist is engineering it. It is still rape porn and has left me no taste to read the rest. If I had bought the lettered edition from Bloodletting Books I would have thrown up over my waste of money. Much like Pages Torn From a Travel Journal you open your beautiful packaging to find a dog turd.

Which brings us to the drivel that is Pages Torn From a Travel Journal. Someone finds some pages in the trash from a bus line. Of course these are supposedly written by HPL about his experiences and the narrative voice drops a few references and names that HPL might have, but otherwise this book is not Lovecraftian, not Cthulhu mythos and not worth the paper it was printed on. There is no cohesive plot. HPL is on a bus, it breaks down and then he goes to a carnival with some yokels. After some sordid adventures he runs into a group of hill billies in the woods and has more sordid adventures. On this loose framework, Lee offers up degrading pornography or vulgar language on just about every page. I am not sure why, either. He's capable of better (at least I think). I can't imagine anyone would find this titillating. I wasn't even shocked so much as exasperated and, frankly, bored with the proceedings. There was not one redeeming feature. It was in no way funny, horrific or interesting. I am pretty fed up with Ed Lee. I am a ridicuolous completist for Lovecraftian fiction but I am done with wasting my money on expensive editions of, well, shit. I suggest borrow a copy from a sap, like me, who paid for it, wait for the inevitable Deadite Press cheap re-issue or borrow it from a library. It has 144 very short pages and if you see it in a book store you could probably read it in an hour or two standing in the aisle and not be out any dough, that is if you think it's worth the effort (hint, it ain't). ( )