Sometimes darkly humorous, often spine-chilling, the stories in People Are Strange show Newman at his best, as he writes about the demented things of which we are all capable deep down inside. The title says it all: While none of the stories in People Are Strange feature a supernatural element, it is the faces we know — or think we know — that ultimately prove more frightening than our superstitions, and things that go bump in the night . . . .
Featuring a Foreword by one of the strangest people James Newman knows: Jeff Strand, Author of Pressure, Disposal, and The Sinister Mr. Corpse. Each story also has a "behind-the-scene commentary" before it.
Table of contents:
- Foreword by JEFF STRAND
- The Honest-To-God True Story of Earl P. and a Bug Called Abraham Lincoln
- The Good, the Bad, and the Severely Maladjusted
- Your Cold, Black Heart
- The Tell-Tale Fart (A Parody)
- Bless This Meal, O Lord
- Suffer the Children
- Keeping Up With the Joneses
- A Town Called Hatred
- Holy Rollers (Novella)
- Holy Rollers: The Graphic Novel Art by Keith Minnion (sneak peek at a project that never was)
What people are saying about James Newman
"James Newman writes about the battle between good and evil like no one else in the horror genre. When he writes about the power of good, he's great, and when he writes about evil, he's on fire."
— Edo Van Belkom (Scream Queen; Blood Road; Teeth)
"James Newman can find evil in anyone: the guy in line behind you at the supermarket, the next door neighbors, even your dear old grandma. That's what makes his work so damn terrifying . . ."
— Mike Oliveri
(Restore From Backup; Deadliest of the Species; 4 x 4)
"James Newman (is a) writer of promise who delivers the goods. If you don't enjoy this one, then you're probably dead!"
— Phil Nutman
(Wetwork; screenwriter: The Girl Next Door)
"James Newman's horror is very forthright. It is a lucid madness. It cuts cleanly and does so, always, straight to the bone and the brain."
— Charlee Jacob
(Haunter; Dread In the Beast; This Symbiotic Fascination)
"(James Newman's) work is intelligent and highly entertaining . . . prepare to be thrilled."
— Brian Knight
"Most dark fiction comes across like empty chocolates -- you take a bite in eager anticipation and then find out there's no filling. But James Newman is a literary confectioner of near-legendary generosity -- just sink your teeth into his claustrophobic, edge-of-the-seat saga of ecumenical excess Holy Rollers and savor what squeezes out. But watch your clothes . . . that stuff can burn!"
— Peter Crowther
(The Longest Single Note; Escardy Gap)
"Newman delivers the thrills . . . one of horror's new heirs!"
— Brian Keene
(The Rising; City of the Dead; Dark Hollow)
"James Newman is a damned fine writer. It's just that simple. He has the easygoing style of a storyteller and the sort of prose that catches your attention and keeps it. His natural sense of pace is as good as it gets."
— James A. Moore
(Deeper; Blood Red; Serenity Falls)
"JNewman is truly a literary force to be reckoned with . . . my favorite writer of horror and suspense working today, and that AIN'T no lie."
— Ronald Kelly
(Undertaker's Moon; The Flesh-Welder; Hell Hollow)
"You might expect the work of a young Southern writer to show some roots, and you'll see that clearly in James Newman's writing. There's a little bit of Davis Grubb and Joe Lansdale twisting into that dark earth, and a strong straight spike of Robert McCammon digging deep. But the story tree that grows above ground belongs to a tale-spinner who can raise one mean hunk of nightmare all on his own."
— Norman Partridge
(Dark Harvest; Mr. Fox & Other Feral Tales; The Crow: Wicked Prayer)
"James Newman looks like he's far too young to be the bastard lovechild of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor . . . but still, I wonder. In years to come, when we talk about great writers of the Southern Gothic, we'll be mentioning Newman alongside Massie, McCammon, Crews, Farris and the aforementioned. You can smell the magnolias, the kudzu and the blood . . ."
— John Pelan
(The Colour Out of Darkness; Dark Arts; The Century's Best Horror Fiction)
"James Newman is a promising young writer who can make you feel the darkness closing in by drawing your attention to the details of life's terrible moments. He doesn't flinch, he doesn't run away, though you might want to. But you won't. Because he won't let you."
— Gerard Houarner
(The Beast That Was Max)
"James Newman (is) the real thing. The man can go from in-the-gut horror to shockingly funny within a second. There is no doubt in my mind that James' name will be familiar to all readers of horror in the near future.."
— David Whitman
(Deadfellas; Scary Rednecks)
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