[.ca] The Bighead (ISBN 1892950413)

What's the BIG deal?:
I enjoy horror, I like gross and I love demented. Having read reviews for this book I figured this would be a perfect read for me. Alas, I was wrong in my assumption. This story is gross at times, and does have some humorous moments, but when all is said and done you really wonder what the point was. This story centers around a small town with a legend of the "bighead" and the long lost niece that comes back to visit her aunt with one of her city friends, who happens to be a coke addict and nympho. Throw in some evil nuns, a prophane priest, two twisted punks and the devil and ya got yourself this story - in a nut shell. I couldn't help but think the two punks (balls and dicky) were pointless, as was their violence and the fact they were never caught astounds me. The story really lags throughout, lacking a certain spark I expected. The end is so ridiculous and unexplained that I felt it was just tacked on for the heck of it. I don't care if a book is gross, tacky, etc. but the story MUST be good. When the story is good, who cares what lies within. I must say - this story isn't good. I would rather read Ketchum any day!

Maybe I'm sick, but...:
...what a great book! Seriously, I laughed outloud even as i reached for the old vomit bucket. This is Ed Lee at his priceless best. I guess 'Header' or 'The Pig' may be more gut-churning, but, for my money, The Bighead takes the cake for most outlandish and funny. True, if you are at all squeamish this probably isn't the book for you (maybe try Lee's City Infernal, samw great writing, less gore). This is a perfect Friday or Saturday late night book. You take it in one sitting like the best of the Fulci cannibal movies. It's gross, your stomach flops, you fall out of the chair laughing and hope no one asks exactly what it is that is so funny...

Love Lessons With The BigHead:
Urban legends come in all shapes and sizes and most, as we all well know, are based on an inkling of truth. It is, after all, the movement of information that produces misinformation, the passing down of tales that turns travesties into things that children scoff at before they journey off to sleep at night. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, they are all one and the same: myths based on fabrications and also on the _real._ So, when Jerrica and Chastity, visiting a small town in the middle of nowhere, hear the story of The Bighead, a man-beast that devours brains and ravages the living, they laugh as well, knowing that this can_t be truth. Sometimes, however, it is that shred of understanding, that cognitive portion spun into something seemingly nightmarish, which is truly of the most fiendish variety. In The Bighead, Edward Lee decides to pull out all the stops, trying to produce a tale about, amongst other things, a beastly creature that stalks the _higher woods_ on a journey toward understanding and toward fulfillment. After the death of its grandfather/keeper, it has found itself aimless, directionless, killing in the most depraved fashions but, at the same time, empty. It wants to know what lies beyond, in the realms its grandfather told it to avoid, so it begins wandering. And that_s when it hears the voice that keeps saying one thing to it. Come. Herein, Edward produces a quality monstrosity, unleashing it on an unsuspecting world as it enjoys a variety of interactions that are amongst the most wretched types. Because of that, I was pleased. I was also pleased by some of the other characters as well, namely a priest that believes that profanity isn_t a sin because it is communion and that also thinks that he sees and speaks with, and a few odds and ends that they inflict on others _ in the most gruesome manners. After a time, however, many of the characters and the things that plagued their lives, the little bits that should have made them stand out, began to bore me. For instance, with Jerrica, the uncontrollable libido in human form, there was a constant reminder of what she liked and what she wanted to do, to the point that my mind began fanning through pages to get to the reason behind the story: The Bighead. Other people followed the same methods as well, especially a pair of rurally-challenged killers roaming the land and killing between moonshine runs, with the horrific beginning to wear down and no longer shock this audience. Instead, the comparison of the human monsters versus the mysterious beast began to make me sometimes wonder when the true beast would emerge. That said, the ending of the book was interestingly odd and The Bighead and Charity, our human main character that seemed without purpose for most of the tale, began to play roles that were somewhat twisted. The Bighead_s plight, that of being unsated in the realms of pleasure, found themselves manifesting ends and, despite the fact that many people died that had been worked on for so long without so much as a whimper, I found myself reading on and on. Why? Because there was a curve in the pitch and it hooked my gaze. For anyone thinking of reading the book, I am of a mixed mind in recommending it. First, I_ll have to say that some of the book is pretty disturbing, crafting a lexicon of deeds that would make many quiver while journeying forward. Second, I feel I have to note that there is a repetition of ideas, that the hammer must strike the nail more times than I could contend with, and that this may cause of page skimming. Third, the beast itself, it may not be everything you might want from a monster and, in the end, it may disappoint you. That said, there are a few reasons to read it, namely if you are an Edward Lee reader already, if you want something that is overly graphic and just keeps giving and giving, and because the ending is interesting. If you aren_t accustomed to the gore classification in books, perhaps you should begin somewhere else. If you are a new reader to Lee, you should also try another book on for size first, easing into the waters before going here. Otherwise, The Bighead might getcha!

How do I love Lee, let me count the ways:
The Bighead is one of those _mutant in the backwoods_ tales that screams to be glorified on film. I can already feel the cheese crawling off the movie version with barely restrained anticipation. As typical with Lee_s more masterful pieces, this is a disgustingly gruesome, gross, violent, barf-inducing tale that the squeamish must stay away from at all costs. Only those with strong stomachs and iron wills should pick up this tasty morsel. The Bighead_s grandpappy dies, and so Bighead heads out from the lower woods to find The World Outside, what his grandpappy always talked of. He is called the bighead because of his hydrocephaly: a head shaped like a watermelon, one eye the size of a grapefruit and the other the size of a tennis ball, an awl shaped mouth filled with jagged sharp teeth, and a low intellect that understands nothing but eating and mating, neither of which Bighead does daintily. With Bighead headed towards The World Outside, Charity Wells was heading back towards the town she was born in, a tiny place called Luntville nestled in the Appalachian mountains, heading home to be back with her dear Aunt Annie. Advertising for a ride share, she makes the journey with Jerrica Perry, a journalist assigned to write a four piece in depth article about the Appalachians. Charity and Jerrica both have problems, of an exact opposite nature. While Charity cannot seem to ever reach a second date with a boy, Jerrica is a sex addict who cannot stay with only one man, and who is never satisfied. The two girls stay at Aunt Annie_s boarding house, Jerrica starting on her article and Charity catching up on old times with Aunt Annie. Also staying at Aunt Annie_s is Tom Alexander, an out of the ordinary Catholic Priest who has been sent by the Richmond Diocesan Pastoral Center to re-open the Wroxeter Abby. Once a hospice for terminally ill priests, the church had decided to reopen it as a rehab center for the priests who were accused of alcoholism, gambling addictions, and pedophilia. Tom is out of the ordinary because he does not follow the typical beaten path that one would expect of a priest; he smokes and drinks and cusses. Once a Army Ranger, a killer and rapist in the name of war, he swore off all his previous evils and became a priest. Tom is also a psychologist, which makes him the perfect choice for the task of establishing the rehab center. It also gets him and his embarrassing behavior out of the limelight of the church. Add in a couple of absolutely pustulant local boys named Dicky Caudill and Tritt _Balls_ Conner, who run moonshine over the state line and terrorize anyone who crosses their paths. Literally terrorize them; rape and murder are as common to Tritt as breathing. There are no holes barred with their depravity and viciousness. Take two pretty girls with problems, a renegade priest, two local human monsters, an odd Aunt with a past, a weird little cemetery, a haunted abbey, a bizarre lake, and an inhuman monster trekking cross country towards Luntville, stir them up all together and you have Lee_s The Bighead. Add rape, murder, vomit, poop, disfigurement, dismemberment, cocaine addiction, sexx addiction, dirty little secrets, and a handyman named Goop Gooder, and you have an un-put-downable, gruesome read that will leave you both satisfied and disgusted. Despite how abhorrant the content is, Bighead is very well written and the storyline flows like a smooth river of blood, and there is some interesting artwork preceding each chapter by Erik Wilson. The Bighead is a five star nightmare that will leave you reaching for your barf bag. Enjoy!

Eeewww!:
If you are not familiar with Mr. Edward Lee and his weird, wacky brand of grue soaked fiction, "The Bighead" is an excellent book to cut your teeth on. The author of "City Infernal" and "Creekers" pulls out all the stops in this updated version of what must surely rank as one of the most disgusting, vile, and \odisturbing\c books of all time. There are certainly many \ougly\c books out there in the market, but very few will prepare you for this nightmarish excursion into the backwoods of Appalachia. Where else will you see a drug addicted nymphomaniac, a Catholic priest with a love for unfiltered Lucky Strike cigarettes, booze, and a flair for spoken profanity, two hillbilly moonshiners who get their kicks violently torturing ... anyone who comes their way, and a hydrocephalic \operson\c whose never taken a bath, loves to eat human brains, and kills people in a most unpleasant way? The plot of "The Bighead" is about as straightforward as they come (for extreme gore novels, that is). Charity, a young woman who is a student at the University of Maryland, decides to return home to Luntville, a little town \oright\c in the middle of redneck country. Charity left Luntville as a small child when her aunt could no longer afford to take care of her. After Aunt Annie comes into some money, she wants Charity to come and visit. Charity, needing a ride into the sticks, manages to hitch a ride with Jerrica, a newspaper reporter who is planning to write a story about hillbilly country. Jerrica has her own problems; she is a nymphomaniac and recovering drug addict who needs men like most people need food and water. Unfortunately for Jerrica and Charity, Luntville has a few nasty secrets in store for them. Two killer rednecks, "Ricky" Caudill and Tritt Conner, are sweeping through the county on a crime spree that routinely involves ... unpleasant activities .... Then there are the constant references around town to the Bighead, a local myth about a hideously deformed \operson\c who stalks the countryside maiming and killing the local populace. Even Charity's Aunt Annie has a bizarre secret,...To top it all off, everybody starts having weird dreams about demons and long lost lovers. Luntville is definitely not the place for a relaxing break from city life. Thrown into this chaotic mix is Father Tom Alexander, an unorthodox priest sent to the area to restore a local abbey shrouded in its own dark secrets. Father Alexander must uncover the secrets in the abbey while dealing with the attentions of Jerrica, who falls for the priest in a big way. When Alexander starts having sick dreams about two nuns with some weird fetishes, the abbey and its secrets take on a completely new light. Then there is the Bighead, an unwashed seven-foot tall monstrosity with eating habits so disgusting they defy description here. Bighead, raised by an inbred hillbilly in the deep woods, is making a beeline for Luntville and a showdown with the other characters. The ending of the book takes so many weird twists and turns that one is left in open-mouthed awe. It is enough to say that the conclusion is not a happy one. Lee goes in heavy for atmosphere in this puker of a story. His narratives concerning Ricky and Tritt, as well as Bighead, involve writing in hillbilly accent. This works to some extent, although it quickly moves into the realm of tiresome as the book progresses. There is only so many "hails!" and "I'ses" a reader can take before the eyes start to roll. "The Bighead" is not for anyone with a weak stomach. The \oabnormal\c acts and ... violence will cause anyone not accustomed to such stuff to run full steam for the bathroom. Even the hardest stomachs will do a few acrobatics, especially during some of Ricky and Tritt's nighttime excursions. These two hillbilly murderers provide Lee with the opportunity to write his most graphic scenes, although the Bighead character also has his own ... moments in the sun. For fans of small press horror, this is must have reading. ... Those not familiar with Ed Lee may want to start with some of his lighter fare, such as "City Infernal" before diving into this nightmarish bloodbath of a novel. Overall, "The Bighead" is effective in some of its gritty depictions of the dark side of human nature, but the misogynistic undertones of much of the violence significantly lowers the quality of the story.