The Rednexorcist, by Frank Sloane/Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix’s The Rednexorcist is an odd edition from Dead Ink Publishing. I’m not quite sure I get the point of it being published in a line of titles under pseudonymous names, but I suppose there’s a joke behind it.

The Rednexorcist may have Frank Sloane’s name on the cover, but the prose has Grady Hendrix written all over it. If you’re a fan of his books, you’ll recognize the style right away.

I’m one of the few in the community who isn’t a fan of Paperbacks from Hell. I was hoping for a serious history of the field, but to me it is shallow and largely focused on the worst the genre had to offer. I think the book played a huge part in lowering the level of taste in horror fans. People loooove their William Johnsons and J.N. Williamsons, but I have trouble selling Peter Straub or Dennis Etchison at my dealer tables.

I was hesitant to try one of Grady’s novels, but upon hearing so many good things about My Best Friend’s Exorcism, I gave it a chance. I was delighted at how much I loved the book.

I’ve enjoyed everything Grady Hendrix has published since then. He has a way of presenting genre cliches in funny, sometimes ironic new ways, upping the gore and violence, but also bringing emotional depth in ways few other writers can even approach.

Also, I’ve met Grady and I like him a lot. I’ve sold him bad horror novels. His live presentation of Paperbacks from Hell is marvelously entertaining and more satisfying than the book.

I was surprised to hear about The Rednexorcist. It seemed to drop right out of the sky. The title brings his SF opus, Badasstronauts to mind. I liked that one quite a bit, even if I didn’t feel that it measured up with his other novels. Being an old-time science fiction fan surely helped.

The Rednexorcist was published in England and I ordered a copy right away. It came with a stiff overseas shipping fee. Shortly after I made my order Grady informed his readers of a company that ships to America for free. Thanks again, Grady.

The book is a small edition and its two-hundred page length goes by pretty quickly. As always with Grady, The Rednexorcist is fast-paced and entertaining. The emotional depth I mentioned above is. However, lacking in this one.

A rough-and-tumble priest is released from prison and is met by his very reluctant daughter. Immediately things go awry. He gets slambang drunk on the first night, and the next day they encounter some startling phenomena. She begins seeing dead people just like in the movie. That’s just the beginning of a twisted tale of theological insanity and horrific violence.

I liked The Rednexorcist, but it honestly feels more than a little disjointed. The end, which Grady generally excels at, is a big disappointment.

I could well be wrong, but it seems like The Rednexorcist was an attempt at a major novel that didn’t work out the way the author hoped. Pieces of the story are quite good, and it contains some of the squirmiest scenes he’s ever written, but as a whole The Rednexorcist falls short of the mark. It’s amusing, but I didn’t care one whit about the characters or their fates.

If you love the fiction of Grady Hendrix as much as I do, absolutely, buy the book. If you’re so-so on him, I recommend a hard pass. If you haven’t tried anything by him, The Rednexorcist is not the place to start.

Written by Mark Sieber