A Pretty Mouth is a fine and stylish collection that pays homage to the tradition of the weird while blazing its own sinister mark. Tanzer's debut is as sharp and polished as any I've seen.

The human condition can be summed up in a drop of blood. Show me a teaspoon of blood and I will reveal to thee the ineffable nature of the cosmos, naked and squirming. Squirming. Funny how the truth always seems to do that when you shine a light on it.

Curiosity did not kill the cat all by itself.

THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE is myth-making of epic scope.

Enlightenment is its own reward, its own punishment. You begin to see so much more. And so much more sees you.

I used to write as an escape. There's no escape. There's just me sending my voice into the dark, waiting for an echo.

Skullcrack City messes with your mind the way William Burroughs or a bellyful of hallucinogens will do. I'm a longtime fan of Johnson. A master of derangement, he's been bringing it for years. This time, though, it's different. He's burst into the clear and is taking seven-league strides across the literary landscape.