Taboo Legacy: Novels

THROAT SPROCKETS

HardcoverBy Tim Lucas (1994, Delta Books/Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.; 232 pages; ISBN #0-385-31290-3)

For years, Tim Lucas made a living of sorts writing about the cutting edge of horror cinema for magazines like HEAVY METAL, FANGORIA, GOREZONE, and others. We struck up a correspondence friendship years ago over our mutual love for the work of Italian director Mario Bava, and I'm proud to say I played a role in convincing Tim and his wife Oz-lovin' wife Donna to self-publish their own film magazine, the justifiably renowned VIDEO WATCHDOG. I'm even prouder of the fact that I managed to steer Tim back into his first love, writing fiction, by offering him the opportunity to script a number of stories for TABOO. By far the most ambitious of those ventures were a series of stories entitled THROAT SPROCKETS, which debuted in TABOO's very first issue. Tim's exceptional series stands tall among TABOO's stellar lineup, and when circumstances beyond our control led to the termination of the series one chapter short of Tim's planned story arc, I convinced him to abandon comics and write THROAT SPROCKETS as a novel.

Softcover In this, his first novel, he (to quote Tim's own ballyhoo) "describes the most erotic and frightening motion picture you've never seen, a low budget fetish film about women's throats... its history as a cult movie... as a video release, in all its variant editions... and as a cultural phenomenon, obsessing and transforming the appetites of its rapidly growing audience! You'll never look at movies, fiction or THROATS the same way again!" William Castle, move over!

All hucksterism aside, THROAT SPROCKETS is an exceptional, transformative novel. It also falls within one of my favorite subgenres of horror fiction, tales involving completely invented movies (which includes Brock Brower's THE LATE GREAT CREATURE, Ramsey Campbell's ANCIENT IMAGES, Theodore Roszak's FLICKER, David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME, and my own humble comics entry, "Kultz"). Sadly, THROAT SPROCKETS received little attention in the US, caught in the wake of the collapse of Dell's ambitious Abyss line of novels, and the abortive launch of their intended replacement line Cutting Edge. Poised between these failed imprints and shunned by a new marketing department intent on scuttling the prior regime's plans, THROAT SPROCKETS hit the shelves without fanfare. Tim's novel deserved far better.

THROAT SPROCKETS earns my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION, and I urge you to pick up a copy while you can.

Tim and Donna tell me that THROAT SPROCKETS is now officially out of print, but they're still selling copies "from the author's supply," including the handsome British hardcover edition (1994, Fourth Estate Limited, 232 pages). If you order them from Tim, you can get your copy signed by the author, personalized upon request. All hardcover editions contain a special bookmark "Choker" while supplies last. Here's the deal:

Softcover: $12.95 US Priority or $15.00 Airmail - Outside USA
Hardcover (UK edition): $27.00 US Priority or $30.00 Airmail - Outside USA
Visa/MC, checks, money orders in US funds only to: Video Watchdog, P.O. Box 5283, Cincinnati, OH 45205-0283 USA
1-800-275-8395 or 513-471-8989 Fax: 513-471-8248
E-mail: VIDEOWD@AOL.COM
You can visit Tim and Donna's VIDEO WATCHDOG website at
http://www.cinemaweb.com/videowd