What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bighead
Who is he? What is he? An inbred homicidal pervert? A supernatural psychopath? Who or whatever he is, he's on a roll now, raging out of the Virginia backwoods and leaving in his wake a trail of blood, guts, and disgust far beyond the limits of your reckoning. Never before has a work of fiction dared to delve so deeply into the realms of perversion, sexual dementia, and bad taste.
354 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Edward Lee
224 books1,325 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
May 15, 2017
The Bighead is not somethin ta scare yer kids with. He is fer real and he is on a misshun. He don't know what it is, but he hears a voice what says COME! An' come he does! Hail, everybody comes! I kin tell ya eggs-ackley what happens, but some a ya may be sen-stiff. If you kin read past the colosteramy bag part, you should be good ta go. Have a might of a good time.
3.5 jugs'a hooch
3.5 jugs'a hooch
August 1, 2020
This is a signed and numbered copy of the Necro edition. numbered 372 of 400.
Test your boundaries of good taste and violence with Edward Lee's "Bighead". for characters you get the two deplorable redneck hillbillies Tritt and Balls. Not to mention Bighead.
You've been warned, the novel is filled with some of the most perverse, disturbed imagery that one can imagine.
The story begins with two pretty girls from the big city coming to visit one of their aunts in the countryside. Unfortunately, their trip is interrupted by a rampaging backwoods mutant named the Bighead.
Two versions of "The Bighead" have been published. The original publishers requested that Lee change some details of the book’s ending. The second edition restored the original ending. The latter version is referred to as ‘the author’s preferred text’.
"The Bighead" is sick, but it’s actually really funny.
Test your boundaries of good taste and violence with Edward Lee's "Bighead". for characters you get the two deplorable redneck hillbillies Tritt and Balls. Not to mention Bighead.
You've been warned, the novel is filled with some of the most perverse, disturbed imagery that one can imagine.
The story begins with two pretty girls from the big city coming to visit one of their aunts in the countryside. Unfortunately, their trip is interrupted by a rampaging backwoods mutant named the Bighead.
Two versions of "The Bighead" have been published. The original publishers requested that Lee change some details of the book’s ending. The second edition restored the original ending. The latter version is referred to as ‘the author’s preferred text’.
"The Bighead" is sick, but it’s actually really funny.
July 9, 2024
This was a truly wild story! It was very interesting to see what splatter look like in the 90s. It was even more gory than I expected. Rate from the beginning is filled with unselling and disturbing moments.
Although I do wish there is more time spent on car development at the start rather than a slew of gruesome murders and SA scenes. There are so many despicable characters in this book, the only tragedies that it would’ve been nice to see a little bit more backstory in the things that made them so despicable.
This is a monster in a small town story but there is not your typical monster story. With non stop violence barreling towards Charity and Jerrica when they first arrive in the small town. The lore of the big head amazing new to them, but Charity may have more connections to this monster than she knows.
This may not be perfect, but it has a lot to enjoy, and this was interesting things in and around this book that I could read a book about this book and be fully entertained.
Have you ever read this book? What is the most violent book you have read?
Although I do wish there is more time spent on car development at the start rather than a slew of gruesome murders and SA scenes. There are so many despicable characters in this book, the only tragedies that it would’ve been nice to see a little bit more backstory in the things that made them so despicable.
This is a monster in a small town story but there is not your typical monster story. With non stop violence barreling towards Charity and Jerrica when they first arrive in the small town. The lore of the big head amazing new to them, but Charity may have more connections to this monster than she knows.
This may not be perfect, but it has a lot to enjoy, and this was interesting things in and around this book that I could read a book about this book and be fully entertained.
Have you ever read this book? What is the most violent book you have read?
September 12, 2023
Absolutely depraved and hilarious. What can be said about this classic extreme horror novel that hasnt been already?
The descriptions of The Bighead and his manhood are just so funny. The bighead is an abomination of a thing with the intellect of a pea who loves nothing more than eating the brains and rapeing the hell out of anyone that crosses his path. Hes so well endowed that no one survives his escapades.
My favourite characters by far are Balls and Dickey. Balls is a homicidal maniac who can never be satisfied and Dickey bless his heart tries his best to dissuade Balls but always gives in and goes with whatever he wants to do. There adventures are extremely brutal but written in such a way its laugh out loud funny. Dickey in particular is great at how shocked and disgusted he gets with Balls behaviour.
There is a good story surrounding all the violence, rape and depravity as well involving a Priest and two woman on a road trip, a groundskeeper who isn't the smartest tool in the shed and a woman who runs a bed and breakfast who knows more about the legend of The Bighead then she is letting on.
Its highly offensive, violent, despicable and descriptive that is a must for fans of the extreme. It's a classic of the genre for a reason. 4.5 stars down to 4 for Goodreads. If your a fan of the genre you would of heard of this and if you havent read it yet what the hell are you doing. Go get yourself a copy.
The descriptions of The Bighead and his manhood are just so funny. The bighead is an abomination of a thing with the intellect of a pea who loves nothing more than eating the brains and rapeing the hell out of anyone that crosses his path. Hes so well endowed that no one survives his escapades.
My favourite characters by far are Balls and Dickey. Balls is a homicidal maniac who can never be satisfied and Dickey bless his heart tries his best to dissuade Balls but always gives in and goes with whatever he wants to do. There adventures are extremely brutal but written in such a way its laugh out loud funny. Dickey in particular is great at how shocked and disgusted he gets with Balls behaviour.
There is a good story surrounding all the violence, rape and depravity as well involving a Priest and two woman on a road trip, a groundskeeper who isn't the smartest tool in the shed and a woman who runs a bed and breakfast who knows more about the legend of The Bighead then she is letting on.
Its highly offensive, violent, despicable and descriptive that is a must for fans of the extreme. It's a classic of the genre for a reason. 4.5 stars down to 4 for Goodreads. If your a fan of the genre you would of heard of this and if you havent read it yet what the hell are you doing. Go get yourself a copy.
September 15, 2021
Here's my more in-depth YouTube review of this book!
This is a bizarre, exploitative tale of murder and all kinds of debauchery and assault imaginable. That's how it was recommended to me, and that's what I got. Usually, such texts are, more than anything, a cumbersome read for me, since extreme depictions of graphic violence usually read as ridiculous and humorous when overdone (and this certainly was those things on more than one occasion).
However, what really captivated me about this novel was the surprisingly accurate emulation of older, 18th century gothic works (Matthew Lewis came to mind the more I read it!). This truly was a novel of scandal and emotion, salacious as hell and with taboo-breaking philosophy to spare, and it even possesses a slow-burn aspect to match that literary lineage it pays homage to. You have the whole gothic smorgasbord here: the confused bloodlines, the sacred and the secular casually intermingling, extremely messy rising action, and even old, abandoned churches! The aesthetics of the story were truly my favorite part.
This is very much an old, low-budget horror flick on the page, but Lee really showed that he knows how to put on a good scandal, and he did so in an entertaining and uncompromising fashion. This was southern gothic extreme horror executed quite competently, and for that it gets 3 stars.
This is a bizarre, exploitative tale of murder and all kinds of debauchery and assault imaginable. That's how it was recommended to me, and that's what I got. Usually, such texts are, more than anything, a cumbersome read for me, since extreme depictions of graphic violence usually read as ridiculous and humorous when overdone (and this certainly was those things on more than one occasion).
However, what really captivated me about this novel was the surprisingly accurate emulation of older, 18th century gothic works (Matthew Lewis came to mind the more I read it!). This truly was a novel of scandal and emotion, salacious as hell and with taboo-breaking philosophy to spare, and it even possesses a slow-burn aspect to match that literary lineage it pays homage to. You have the whole gothic smorgasbord here: the confused bloodlines, the sacred and the secular casually intermingling, extremely messy rising action, and even old, abandoned churches! The aesthetics of the story were truly my favorite part.
This is very much an old, low-budget horror flick on the page, but Lee really showed that he knows how to put on a good scandal, and he did so in an entertaining and uncompromising fashion. This was southern gothic extreme horror executed quite competently, and for that it gets 3 stars.
September 19, 2021
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
I loved it!!!
Narration 5/5
I loved it!!!
May 20, 2023
Ya lo comentan desde la propia contra cubierta de la novela: “negarás haber leído este libro”. Y creo que con esas pocas palabras se sintetiza a la perfección todas las emociones que uno experimenta al cerrar esta historia y tener que darle vueltas a la cabeza acerca de lo que acaba leer. Sobre todo porque al terminarlo estas sonriendo, cómplice de una propuesta que sabes que no se puede recomendar a la ligera.
Y es que no puedo negar que uno experimenta un cierto pudor cuando escribe que este libro es una genialidad. Lo leía en casa y me indignaba, en más de una ocasión quise abandonarlo por lo vejatoria de la propuesta y me planteé que no existía ningún tipo de racionamiento que justificara que una novela como esta se publicara en pleno siglo XXI. Sin embargo, yo seguía y seguía adelante retorciéndome a cada capítulo, sintiendo arcadas, indignándome y pensando que ya tenía más que suficiente y que había llegado el momento de encender una hoguera para hacer lo que haría cualquier persona decente. Pero lo estaba disfrutando.
Creo que lo mejor es dejar claro un detalle importante, que también lo advierten desde la propia sinopsis de la novela. Es una propuesta plagada de perversión, demencia sexual y mal gusto o, con cierta lírica, terror extremo. Si uno decide adentrarse en sus paginas, debe saber que a lo largo de este libro se encontrará con personajes despreciables, muertes, sangre y todos los elementos habituales de las novelas de género.
Pero aquí, en Bighead, el autor mantiene un compromiso con el lector, entabla un diálogo con quien lee la obra, le agarra del cuello y le grita “vienes a lo que vienes, así que o abandonas ahora o no vengas después a quejarte de lo que te propongo”. Y eso implica violaciones continuadas, canibalismo, coprofilia, pedofilia y todas aquellas perversiones que uno pueda enumerar, descritas con todo lujo de detalles y sin ningún ánimo de distraer al lector entre metáforas que distraigan su atención.
En más de una ocasión sentí arcadas ante lo que estaba leyendo y no es una sensación que uno suela experimentar en el género. Es ahí donde el libro comienza a brillar. Cuando se ha quitado a la gran mayoría de los lectores imprudentes de sus páginas y se queda a solas con el resto, Edward Lee decide aumentar el nivel y hacer alarde de un prodigio imaginativo dentro de lo macabro que nos presenta algunas ideas imposibles de quitar de la cabeza
Y es que la novela tiene momentos tan delirantes y perversos que no puedes evitar aplaudir al autor por ser capaz de escribir tales secuencias. Un tour de force de animaladas y sorpresas en las que te tienes que quitar el sombrero y reconocer que, lo que tienes entre manos, es un libro especial.
Por cierto, también tiene una historia de fondo que acompaña cada una de las enfermas secuencias que vas leyendo. De hecho, funciona y muy bien, hilando todos los acontecimientos que van ocurriendo en la novela hacia una dirección sorprendente que no ves venir y que te tatúa para siempre una sonrisa en la cara. Un premio final para todos aquellos que aguanten la propuesta y que termina por entusiasmar al lector.
Después de todo lo leído no puedo, no quiero recomendar este libro. Estas novelas no deberían publicarse nunca…pero la he disfrutado de un modo que no podré quitármela de la cabeza en mucho tiempo.
Y es que no puedo negar que uno experimenta un cierto pudor cuando escribe que este libro es una genialidad. Lo leía en casa y me indignaba, en más de una ocasión quise abandonarlo por lo vejatoria de la propuesta y me planteé que no existía ningún tipo de racionamiento que justificara que una novela como esta se publicara en pleno siglo XXI. Sin embargo, yo seguía y seguía adelante retorciéndome a cada capítulo, sintiendo arcadas, indignándome y pensando que ya tenía más que suficiente y que había llegado el momento de encender una hoguera para hacer lo que haría cualquier persona decente. Pero lo estaba disfrutando.
Creo que lo mejor es dejar claro un detalle importante, que también lo advierten desde la propia sinopsis de la novela. Es una propuesta plagada de perversión, demencia sexual y mal gusto o, con cierta lírica, terror extremo. Si uno decide adentrarse en sus paginas, debe saber que a lo largo de este libro se encontrará con personajes despreciables, muertes, sangre y todos los elementos habituales de las novelas de género.
Pero aquí, en Bighead, el autor mantiene un compromiso con el lector, entabla un diálogo con quien lee la obra, le agarra del cuello y le grita “vienes a lo que vienes, así que o abandonas ahora o no vengas después a quejarte de lo que te propongo”. Y eso implica violaciones continuadas, canibalismo, coprofilia, pedofilia y todas aquellas perversiones que uno pueda enumerar, descritas con todo lujo de detalles y sin ningún ánimo de distraer al lector entre metáforas que distraigan su atención.
En más de una ocasión sentí arcadas ante lo que estaba leyendo y no es una sensación que uno suela experimentar en el género. Es ahí donde el libro comienza a brillar. Cuando se ha quitado a la gran mayoría de los lectores imprudentes de sus páginas y se queda a solas con el resto, Edward Lee decide aumentar el nivel y hacer alarde de un prodigio imaginativo dentro de lo macabro que nos presenta algunas ideas imposibles de quitar de la cabeza
Y es que la novela tiene momentos tan delirantes y perversos que no puedes evitar aplaudir al autor por ser capaz de escribir tales secuencias. Un tour de force de animaladas y sorpresas en las que te tienes que quitar el sombrero y reconocer que, lo que tienes entre manos, es un libro especial.
Por cierto, también tiene una historia de fondo que acompaña cada una de las enfermas secuencias que vas leyendo. De hecho, funciona y muy bien, hilando todos los acontecimientos que van ocurriendo en la novela hacia una dirección sorprendente que no ves venir y que te tatúa para siempre una sonrisa en la cara. Un premio final para todos aquellos que aguanten la propuesta y que termina por entusiasmar al lector.
Después de todo lo leído no puedo, no quiero recomendar este libro. Estas novelas no deberían publicarse nunca…pero la he disfrutado de un modo que no podré quitármela de la cabeza en mucho tiempo.
November 21, 2022
Holy jumped-up baldheaded Jesus palomino! What the hell did I just read?!?
First and foremost, let’s get the obvious out of the way. The Bighead isn’t for the faint of heart. Hell, it’s not even for those with a strong constitution and an even stronger gag reflex. If you’re easily triggered, and I mean triggered by anything, run like the wind. The Bighead has all the above. And do you know what’s odd? The writing was pretty damn good!
Now, before you rise up and brandish your pitchforks, hear me out. Edward Lee’s work won’t be on the NYT Bestseller list anytime soon. But if you’re into extreme horror, torture porn, Saw and/or Wrong Turn movies, or simply want to see how far you can push the envelope, you can do a hell of a lot worse than The Bighead. There’s a reason Lee is considered The Godfather of splatterpunk. And yet, somewhere down in among the gallons of blood, chunks of gore, rape, incest, more rape, and endless synonyms of semen, there’s a story to be had.
Charity is coming home to the rural backwoods of Virginia to stay with her Aunt Annie, who used to be her guardian before she lost Charity to the state. Giving her a ride is Jerrica, a young, nympho news reporter whose big assignment is to do a cover on Appalachian life. But besides a foul-mouthed priest staying at Annie’s boarding house while reopening a defunct home for terminally ill clergy, a couple of homicidal rednecks running moonshine and raping everything they come in contact with, there’s a monstrosity coming their way. He’s over seven feet tall and has a head the size of a large watermelon, and a sexual organ to match.
After a description like that, I don’t have to tell you shit goes sideways fast. That should just be a given. And, even as jacked up as the premise sounds, the story takes that and elevates it exponentially. If this kind of thing is your bag, you’ll love what depravity Lee is serving up. Pardon my French, but it’s some seriously fucked up shit. And yet I’m amazed that I liked it. I never thought I’d be able to get into a story like this, but that’s a testament to how well Lee can serve up this level of extremism. Like I said, he can write.
4 Loads of Pecker Snot out of 5
First and foremost, let’s get the obvious out of the way. The Bighead isn’t for the faint of heart. Hell, it’s not even for those with a strong constitution and an even stronger gag reflex. If you’re easily triggered, and I mean triggered by anything, run like the wind. The Bighead has all the above. And do you know what’s odd? The writing was pretty damn good!
Now, before you rise up and brandish your pitchforks, hear me out. Edward Lee’s work won’t be on the NYT Bestseller list anytime soon. But if you’re into extreme horror, torture porn, Saw and/or Wrong Turn movies, or simply want to see how far you can push the envelope, you can do a hell of a lot worse than The Bighead. There’s a reason Lee is considered The Godfather of splatterpunk. And yet, somewhere down in among the gallons of blood, chunks of gore, rape, incest, more rape, and endless synonyms of semen, there’s a story to be had.
Charity is coming home to the rural backwoods of Virginia to stay with her Aunt Annie, who used to be her guardian before she lost Charity to the state. Giving her a ride is Jerrica, a young, nympho news reporter whose big assignment is to do a cover on Appalachian life. But besides a foul-mouthed priest staying at Annie’s boarding house while reopening a defunct home for terminally ill clergy, a couple of homicidal rednecks running moonshine and raping everything they come in contact with, there’s a monstrosity coming their way. He’s over seven feet tall and has a head the size of a large watermelon, and a sexual organ to match.
After a description like that, I don’t have to tell you shit goes sideways fast. That should just be a given. And, even as jacked up as the premise sounds, the story takes that and elevates it exponentially. If this kind of thing is your bag, you’ll love what depravity Lee is serving up. Pardon my French, but it’s some seriously fucked up shit. And yet I’m amazed that I liked it. I never thought I’d be able to get into a story like this, but that’s a testament to how well Lee can serve up this level of extremism. Like I said, he can write.
4 Loads of Pecker Snot out of 5
August 16, 2014
Edward Lee has some serious, serious issues. This one takes every taboo it can find and bumps up the WTF factor until you are dry heaving. A back woods corn-hole F and torture fest. There is actually a story in there somewhere but you need to wade thru the blood and pecker snot to find it. Some serious twisted sh*t in this one. If you are easily offended in any way, then you need to run, not walk, as far away from this one as you can. I can’t help but wonder about myself…since I actually liked it (even though I did have to put it down and take several breaks while reading). Evidently, I am sicker than I think I am. Damn. (I believe, I have said that before.) Damn.
I was fortunate enough to see The Bighead short film at 2014 Twisted Terror Convention in Sacramento in February and got to meet the director and some of the actors. Strangely enough, I was the only one in the audience that had read any Edward Lee, even though I had not read The Bighead. The short film was brutal, but did not hold a candle to the pure and utter depravity of Edward’s novel.
I was fortunate enough to see The Bighead short film at 2014 Twisted Terror Convention in Sacramento in February and got to meet the director and some of the actors. Strangely enough, I was the only one in the audience that had read any Edward Lee, even though I had not read The Bighead. The short film was brutal, but did not hold a candle to the pure and utter depravity of Edward’s novel.
May 12, 2017
3.5 stars.
Review pending.
Review pending.
October 29, 2023
"Y recuerda esto también hijo. El mundo exterior está lleno de tipos malos, así que la única manera de sobrepasarles es siendo tú aún más malo que ellos. "
Una historia impactante de principio a fin. Logra incomodar a niveles vicerales manteniendo siempre esa linea ya sea a mayor o menor medida, pero logra desarrollarse coherentemente asi durante toda la historia, ya sea de forma psicológica o física y eso es destacable.
Aborda temas como, deseo, creencia, devoción la maldad, soledad, incomprensión, oscuros secretos, resignacion y desesperación de una forma directa y absolutamente atrapante.
Creo que el inicio es un gran obstáculo o atractivo según quien lo lee, personalmente, para mi, estaba siendo un obstáculo, era violencia extrema porque si y porque quería y eso no me estaba atrayendo, fue una gran dosis de dos tipos haciendo de las suyas de una forma grotesca, violenta, malvada, desenfrenada, repulsiva cuando se les ocurría, lo que no me estaba convenciendo a nivel argumental, durante un momento se me hizo un tanto pantanoso, bien escrito, que no quede duda, aún así no me estaba atrayendo, su móvil no me convenció, pero luego de eso muchas cosas cambian y se me hizo más fluida.
Durante la lectura nos encontramos con algunas historias paralelas, las de estos dos tipos, que son la escoria de la sociedad, la de dos chicas que vuelven al pueblo de una de ellas, cada una con sus problemas y tormentos, un cura muy peculiar y poco ortodoxo y, por último, la historia de Bighead.
La gran destreza de Lee se ve en la forma con la que va enlazando estas historias y describiendo sus impactantes escenas, porque aunque habían cosas que no me estaban convenciendo, seguía con el interés de saber cómo seguían las demás historias, como iba a desenvolverse y sobre todo converger lo que nos estaba contando.
Los personajes me han encantado, turbios, enfermos, trastornados y muy bien construidos, sin extenderse páginas y páginas, logra un abordaje psicológico justo y preciso para que nos vayamos haciendo un idea de cada uno, de su contexto y mentalidad.
Por otro lado, el cómo maneja el tema de la leyenda me pareció muy bueno, atrayente, la forma en la que juega con el lector a través de pequeñas escenas relacionadas a Bighead nos va generando curiosas y también cierta confusión que poco a poco se desenvuelve y nos sorprende, sin duda alguna, en su último tercio y con el absolutamente inesperado y alocado final.
En su conjunto, sin duda es una historia brutal en todo sentido, hay momentos que te hacen preguntar ¿porque leo esto? Y prontamente ya te ves envuelto en esa atmósfera media pueblerina, media rural, que te absorbe sin darte cuenta, con personajes atormentados, furiosos y sobre todo inolvidables(no en el mejor sentido). Porque a pesar de lo que nos cuenta, es el cómo lo hace y es que la pluma de Lee es bestial, chocante, son continuas bofetadas a lo más oscuro de tu conciencia, relata cosas que nunca hubiese imaginado, y es que realmente jamás hubiese imaginado lo que leí en esta historia.
Sin duda Lee es un escritor que no deja de sorprender, no es para todo el mundo, pero si te atreves a leerlo seguro que no sales igual de la lectura. Vale absolutamente la pena leer algo de él, su pluma es una de las mejores dentro del subgénero.
Una historia impactante de principio a fin. Logra incomodar a niveles vicerales manteniendo siempre esa linea ya sea a mayor o menor medida, pero logra desarrollarse coherentemente asi durante toda la historia, ya sea de forma psicológica o física y eso es destacable.
Aborda temas como, deseo, creencia, devoción la maldad, soledad, incomprensión, oscuros secretos, resignacion y desesperación de una forma directa y absolutamente atrapante.
Creo que el inicio es un gran obstáculo o atractivo según quien lo lee, personalmente, para mi, estaba siendo un obstáculo, era violencia extrema porque si y porque quería y eso no me estaba atrayendo, fue una gran dosis de dos tipos haciendo de las suyas de una forma grotesca, violenta, malvada, desenfrenada, repulsiva cuando se les ocurría, lo que no me estaba convenciendo a nivel argumental, durante un momento se me hizo un tanto pantanoso, bien escrito, que no quede duda, aún así no me estaba atrayendo, su móvil no me convenció, pero luego de eso muchas cosas cambian y se me hizo más fluida.
Durante la lectura nos encontramos con algunas historias paralelas, las de estos dos tipos, que son la escoria de la sociedad, la de dos chicas que vuelven al pueblo de una de ellas, cada una con sus problemas y tormentos, un cura muy peculiar y poco ortodoxo y, por último, la historia de Bighead.
La gran destreza de Lee se ve en la forma con la que va enlazando estas historias y describiendo sus impactantes escenas, porque aunque habían cosas que no me estaban convenciendo, seguía con el interés de saber cómo seguían las demás historias, como iba a desenvolverse y sobre todo converger lo que nos estaba contando.
Los personajes me han encantado, turbios, enfermos, trastornados y muy bien construidos, sin extenderse páginas y páginas, logra un abordaje psicológico justo y preciso para que nos vayamos haciendo un idea de cada uno, de su contexto y mentalidad.
Por otro lado, el cómo maneja el tema de la leyenda me pareció muy bueno, atrayente, la forma en la que juega con el lector a través de pequeñas escenas relacionadas a Bighead nos va generando curiosas y también cierta confusión que poco a poco se desenvuelve y nos sorprende, sin duda alguna, en su último tercio y con el absolutamente inesperado y alocado final.
En su conjunto, sin duda es una historia brutal en todo sentido, hay momentos que te hacen preguntar ¿porque leo esto? Y prontamente ya te ves envuelto en esa atmósfera media pueblerina, media rural, que te absorbe sin darte cuenta, con personajes atormentados, furiosos y sobre todo inolvidables(no en el mejor sentido). Porque a pesar de lo que nos cuenta, es el cómo lo hace y es que la pluma de Lee es bestial, chocante, son continuas bofetadas a lo más oscuro de tu conciencia, relata cosas que nunca hubiese imaginado, y es que realmente jamás hubiese imaginado lo que leí en esta historia.
Sin duda Lee es un escritor que no deja de sorprender, no es para todo el mundo, pero si te atreves a leerlo seguro que no sales igual de la lectura. Vale absolutamente la pena leer algo de él, su pluma es una de las mejores dentro del subgénero.
March 19, 2023
Es difícil calificar un libro como Bighead. Yo no soy fan del splatterpunk por una razón muy sencilla: cuando leo brutalidad tras brutalidad, me acabo insensibilizando y empieza a darme la risa, incapaz de sentir miedo. Eso en parte me ha pasado con Bighead.
Y por eso creo que el libro sería mejor con el gore un poco más contenido y más selectivo, porque es que en Bighead hay salvajadas cada dos o tres páginas, lo que, en mi opinión, acaba cortando un poco el ritmo.
Pero Edward Lee sin duda sabe como escribir y mantenerte enganchada, aunque estés leyendo algunas de las escenas más desagradables jamás escritas. Quieres más, y quieres entender, y quieres unir cabos. Por eso las 200 últimas páginas son absolutamente trepidantes y no las puedes soltar.
Es una novela tremenda en muchos sentidos. Es normal que algunos la abandonen y es normal que muchos otros la consideren una auténtica joya. Sea como sea, es un viaje que no te deja indiferente.
Eso sí, si eres de estómago sensible y de mente impresionable, adentrarte en el mundo de Bighead puede que te cause pesadillas.
PD: larga vida al cura Alexander 🖤
Y por eso creo que el libro sería mejor con el gore un poco más contenido y más selectivo, porque es que en Bighead hay salvajadas cada dos o tres páginas, lo que, en mi opinión, acaba cortando un poco el ritmo.
Pero Edward Lee sin duda sabe como escribir y mantenerte enganchada, aunque estés leyendo algunas de las escenas más desagradables jamás escritas. Quieres más, y quieres entender, y quieres unir cabos. Por eso las 200 últimas páginas son absolutamente trepidantes y no las puedes soltar.
Es una novela tremenda en muchos sentidos. Es normal que algunos la abandonen y es normal que muchos otros la consideren una auténtica joya. Sea como sea, es un viaje que no te deja indiferente.
Eso sí, si eres de estómago sensible y de mente impresionable, adentrarte en el mundo de Bighead puede que te cause pesadillas.
PD: larga vida al cura Alexander 🖤
May 20, 2014
How to review the Bighead….what a daunting task. As you can tell from the other reviewers this book isn’t for the squeamish or faint of heart or the horror lite crowd. This book pushes the envelope of violence and gore to the point of paper cutting your eyeballs while reading it. If you want to say “yes I have read one of the most disturbing books ever” just read this book. When people tell me they have read something disturbing by Koontz or King…I just scoff and go on. 5 stars for being one of the most fucked up books ever. Welcome to the world of Splatter Punk. Buckle your seatbelt for this ride, get your barf bag ready and prepare to put on some depends.
March 3, 2023
"Los hombres escucharon claramente sus sollozos, pero al menos, permanecieron fuera de la habitación mientras lo hacía."
McKamey Manor es un pasaje de terror extremo que se encuentra en San Diego (USA). Abrió en 2013 y para entrar hay que cumplir una serie de requisitos muy estrictos. Sus creadores están tan seguros de que la experiencia te lleva a tal límite de tus capacidades que ofrecen 20.000 dólares a quien sea capaz de completar su recorrido. Muchos valientes se han enfrentado a esta atracción, seguro que curtidos en mil batallas, con la convicción de que con su bagaje les sería fácil llevarse el premio. Nada más lejos de la realidad. Tras casi diez años de funcionamiento nadie ha sido capaz de completarlo.
Vaya rollo os he soltado...
Vale, yo venía aquí a hablar de mi libro, bueno del libro de otro...
Necesitaba contaros todo esto para poneros en antecedentes respecto al artefacto con el que nos enfrentamos.
Los aficionados al terror, no todos, hemos tenido nuestra época de acercamiento al cine gore con obras como Holocausto Caníbal, Nekromantik o las más modernas Hostel o Terrifier. También hemos tenido otras experiencias extremas con autores como Jack Ketchum, el mangaca Shintaro Kago o el propio Edward Lee. Todo esto nos puede hacer pensar que estamos preparados para la lectura y que esta no haga mella en nosotros, pero os advierto, no, no estáis preparados (al menos yo no lo estaba).
Bighead presenta varias líneas argumentales. En todas ellas nos encontraremos personajes totalmente demenciales, con graves problemas psicóticos y de comportamiento. En la trama que se va tejiendo entre ellos, en el retrato de sus desórdenes y en el excelente final que hila es donde brilla el autor y donde se despega de otros autores de splatterpunk donde todo es casquería sin sentido.
Si la novela se hubiese reducido a esto probablemente sería un clásico del terror. Pero Lee quiso ir varios pasos más allá y pasar varias líneas rojas y ahí es donde está la gran diferencia. Cuando la escena crees que no puede ser más grotesca cruza todos los límites y te hace usar la palabra de seguridad para salir de la escena. La frase que en todo momento estará en tu cabeza es "no se va a atrever a ir por ahí" y sí acaba yendo "por ahí"...y más allá...
Estarás todo el libro pensando "¿pero qué tiene este hombre en la cabeza para escribir esto?" Y en mi opinión ahí se abre un debate interesante sobre cuáles serían los límites éticos del arte donde no voy a entrar porque daría para una tesis.
Tengo que confesar que hasta la página 240, aproximadamente, estuve varias veces por abandonar la lectura. El dilema moral y ético que se plantea y la cantidad de veces que te preguntas que por qué te estás sometiendo a esta tortura de forma voluntaria te llevan a ello y aquí es cuando llega el momento de reivindicar el talento de Edward Lee por varios motivos:
1) Sí, el libro va a hacer daño. El libro va a tocarte por dentro. Es su intención, desde la primera frase, y si no lo hace es que tienes un problema, por tanto, la intención con la que fue concebido se cumple claramente.
2) Aunque cuestionable éticamente, la capacidad visual que tiene a la hora de contar las atrocidades es sublime, aunque esté contando la depravación más grande del mundo lo hace todo con "limpieza" cuidando cada detalle para no "emborronar" la imagen visual (ahí de desmarca claramente de desastres en ese sentido como Richard Laymon donde todo es barullo).
3) Aunque no tiene la inventiva de Ciudad Infernal o el transfondo filosófico, al menos tan evidente, de Torso, la historia, sobre todo a partir de la segunda mitad y sobre todo a partir de las últimas 150 páginas funciona y lo hace muy bien.
Mención especial a la excelente, pero excelente de verdad, traducción del texto a cargo de Rosemary Thorne (de quien podéis encontrar reseña de su también recomendable novela en estas páginas).
Como ya he dicho, no estaba preparado para la lectura. Seguro que muchos os quedáis a mitad de camino, pero si os adentráis os aseguro que el final merece la pena.
Eso sí, esta lectura me ha dejado tan saturado de vísceras que tardaré algún tiempo a acercarme a un libro de estas características (ahora sólo me apetecen dramas victorianos de fantasmas por un tiempo 😀).
En fin, si quieres un libro que te haga sentir incómodo, muy incómodo... acércate a Bighead. Pero no digáis que se os ha advertido.
McKamey Manor es un pasaje de terror extremo que se encuentra en San Diego (USA). Abrió en 2013 y para entrar hay que cumplir una serie de requisitos muy estrictos. Sus creadores están tan seguros de que la experiencia te lleva a tal límite de tus capacidades que ofrecen 20.000 dólares a quien sea capaz de completar su recorrido. Muchos valientes se han enfrentado a esta atracción, seguro que curtidos en mil batallas, con la convicción de que con su bagaje les sería fácil llevarse el premio. Nada más lejos de la realidad. Tras casi diez años de funcionamiento nadie ha sido capaz de completarlo.
Vaya rollo os he soltado...
Vale, yo venía aquí a hablar de mi libro, bueno del libro de otro...
Necesitaba contaros todo esto para poneros en antecedentes respecto al artefacto con el que nos enfrentamos.
Los aficionados al terror, no todos, hemos tenido nuestra época de acercamiento al cine gore con obras como Holocausto Caníbal, Nekromantik o las más modernas Hostel o Terrifier. También hemos tenido otras experiencias extremas con autores como Jack Ketchum, el mangaca Shintaro Kago o el propio Edward Lee. Todo esto nos puede hacer pensar que estamos preparados para la lectura y que esta no haga mella en nosotros, pero os advierto, no, no estáis preparados (al menos yo no lo estaba).
Bighead presenta varias líneas argumentales. En todas ellas nos encontraremos personajes totalmente demenciales, con graves problemas psicóticos y de comportamiento. En la trama que se va tejiendo entre ellos, en el retrato de sus desórdenes y en el excelente final que hila es donde brilla el autor y donde se despega de otros autores de splatterpunk donde todo es casquería sin sentido.
Si la novela se hubiese reducido a esto probablemente sería un clásico del terror. Pero Lee quiso ir varios pasos más allá y pasar varias líneas rojas y ahí es donde está la gran diferencia. Cuando la escena crees que no puede ser más grotesca cruza todos los límites y te hace usar la palabra de seguridad para salir de la escena. La frase que en todo momento estará en tu cabeza es "no se va a atrever a ir por ahí" y sí acaba yendo "por ahí"...y más allá...
Estarás todo el libro pensando "¿pero qué tiene este hombre en la cabeza para escribir esto?" Y en mi opinión ahí se abre un debate interesante sobre cuáles serían los límites éticos del arte donde no voy a entrar porque daría para una tesis.
Tengo que confesar que hasta la página 240, aproximadamente, estuve varias veces por abandonar la lectura. El dilema moral y ético que se plantea y la cantidad de veces que te preguntas que por qué te estás sometiendo a esta tortura de forma voluntaria te llevan a ello y aquí es cuando llega el momento de reivindicar el talento de Edward Lee por varios motivos:
1) Sí, el libro va a hacer daño. El libro va a tocarte por dentro. Es su intención, desde la primera frase, y si no lo hace es que tienes un problema, por tanto, la intención con la que fue concebido se cumple claramente.
2) Aunque cuestionable éticamente, la capacidad visual que tiene a la hora de contar las atrocidades es sublime, aunque esté contando la depravación más grande del mundo lo hace todo con "limpieza" cuidando cada detalle para no "emborronar" la imagen visual (ahí de desmarca claramente de desastres en ese sentido como Richard Laymon donde todo es barullo).
3) Aunque no tiene la inventiva de Ciudad Infernal o el transfondo filosófico, al menos tan evidente, de Torso, la historia, sobre todo a partir de la segunda mitad y sobre todo a partir de las últimas 150 páginas funciona y lo hace muy bien.
Mención especial a la excelente, pero excelente de verdad, traducción del texto a cargo de Rosemary Thorne (de quien podéis encontrar reseña de su también recomendable novela en estas páginas).
Como ya he dicho, no estaba preparado para la lectura. Seguro que muchos os quedáis a mitad de camino, pero si os adentráis os aseguro que el final merece la pena.
Eso sí, esta lectura me ha dejado tan saturado de vísceras que tardaré algún tiempo a acercarme a un libro de estas características (ahora sólo me apetecen dramas victorianos de fantasmas por un tiempo 😀).
En fin, si quieres un libro que te haga sentir incómodo, muy incómodo... acércate a Bighead. Pero no digáis que se os ha advertido.
August 23, 2020
Lee publishes most of his work with small publishers and I can see why-- no major publisher would touch The Bighead with a ten foot pole. Without a doubt the most depraved novel I have ever read, but as John Skipp blurbs on the cover, "Never have I been so ashamed of myself for laughing so hard as something so utterly depraved." The Bighead is Lee's splatterpunk masterpiece; I knew it would be bloody and violent, but I had no idea it would be this nasty (and at the same time, laugh out loud funny). Rape, murder, brain-eating, The Bighead has just about every horror trope and Lee takes them _way_ over the line. Jack Ketchum blurbs "Funny, evil, perverse as it is humanly possible to get... and gleefully outrageous about it."
The story is largely set in a small Virginia town and Lee switches POVs constantly. Lee fans will recognize many themes, one being a crazed, amoral pair of rednecks (in the case, Balls and Dicky). Balls and Dicky run moonshine 'cross the border' into Kentucky, and Balls especially will rape and kill just about anything; they have it down to a science if you will. The Bighead itself is a monstrously deformed man-- his name comes from either his head, which is the size of a watermelon, or his dick, which is over a foot long and massive. We also have a pair of women from 'the city', one is visiting her aunt and the other a feature writer for the Washington Post.
The main thing that ties this together is Lee's writing skills and the humor; without the dark humor, this would just be sick and depraved, with it, it is hard to put down. That stated, YMMV quite a bit depending on your tolerance for outrageousness. 4 over the top stars.
The story is largely set in a small Virginia town and Lee switches POVs constantly. Lee fans will recognize many themes, one being a crazed, amoral pair of rednecks (in the case, Balls and Dicky). Balls and Dicky run moonshine 'cross the border' into Kentucky, and Balls especially will rape and kill just about anything; they have it down to a science if you will. The Bighead itself is a monstrously deformed man-- his name comes from either his head, which is the size of a watermelon, or his dick, which is over a foot long and massive. We also have a pair of women from 'the city', one is visiting her aunt and the other a feature writer for the Washington Post.
The main thing that ties this together is Lee's writing skills and the humor; without the dark humor, this would just be sick and depraved, with it, it is hard to put down. That stated, YMMV quite a bit depending on your tolerance for outrageousness. 4 over the top stars.
May 29, 2014
I am following the Facebook page for the movie they're trying to make. (Edward Lee's The Bighead - The Movie)
The more I read, the more convinced I became - convinced that the film cannot be done! At least, not in regards to the book!
This graphic sex, rape, bodily fluid, and scat filled book was enough to literally make me nauseous - almost losing the battle once or twice!
If you haven't read the book, then the movie might turn out to be one of the best horror / torture porn movies since the original HOSTEL. But, movie goers who did did read the book first - they'll be expecting #MurderPorn, and nothing short of Bighead's descriptive culinary experiences will abide. It's a lose/lose for director Michael Lee. As for the fans - it's hard to say...
I've read a lot of stories from Ed Lee, (I'm on an extreme horror / splatterpunk binge), and I am always looking forward to starting something by him that ALL my friends have read -but I wasn't prepared to dwell into the places that The Bighead considered home!
I did enjoy reading this, in spite of Lee's over-the-top-ness!
Because it IS Ed Lee, there is a very good story here - underneath the poo and fluids. I could picture The Bighead as being real, and the rednecks could be real, too. So, there is a piece of the ending that I'd have preferred to be more realistic, but that's just me.
I think the 5th star would have made it, if the poo hadn't been there!
P, L, & N
<3
The more I read, the more convinced I became - convinced that the film cannot be done! At least, not in regards to the book!
This graphic sex, rape, bodily fluid, and scat filled book was enough to literally make me nauseous - almost losing the battle once or twice!
If you haven't read the book, then the movie might turn out to be one of the best horror / torture porn movies since the original HOSTEL. But, movie goers who did did read the book first - they'll be expecting #MurderPorn, and nothing short of Bighead's descriptive culinary experiences will abide. It's a lose/lose for director Michael Lee. As for the fans - it's hard to say...
I've read a lot of stories from Ed Lee, (I'm on an extreme horror / splatterpunk binge), and I am always looking forward to starting something by him that ALL my friends have read -but I wasn't prepared to dwell into the places that The Bighead considered home!
I did enjoy reading this, in spite of Lee's over-the-top-ness!
Because it IS Ed Lee, there is a very good story here - underneath the poo and fluids. I could picture The Bighead as being real, and the rednecks could be real, too. So, there is a piece of the ending that I'd have preferred to be more realistic, but that's just me.
I think the 5th star would have made it, if the poo hadn't been there!
P, L, & N
<3
May 29, 2021
So i'se done finishd this, an'ha kyn 'nestly says it was sum good harmless fun, hey!
Anyway, here's what this meld of offense akin to ass sweat, week-old underarm b.o., old shit and stale piss and halitosis and dick-stink and God knows what else, all distilled down by the heat of the earth is all about.
There's this bigass deformed sumbitch with a huge fuckoff head and an even bigger cock who goes 'round raping everything walking on two legs, cracking their head open, and eating their brains when he's finished.
Then there's this couple of hill-billy motherfuckers who entertain the same sort of hobby, only they don't like the taste of human brain.
Then there's a blond bombshell writer suffering from nymphomania and fucking every male human being she stumbles upon.
Then there's a foul-mouthed badass catholic priest who's absolutely ace at kicking arse.
Then there's Jesus wearing rock t-shirts and scrounging cigarettes.
Mix everything together, add a monumental amount of Southern drawl and a ton of WTF splatter bits, and there you gaw, you'se done gotten yer Edward Lee's musterpiss or wutever yawl wanna call it, ahdun 'no.
Anyway, here's what this meld of offense akin to ass sweat, week-old underarm b.o., old shit and stale piss and halitosis and dick-stink and God knows what else, all distilled down by the heat of the earth is all about.
There's this bigass deformed sumbitch with a huge fuckoff head and an even bigger cock who goes 'round raping everything walking on two legs, cracking their head open, and eating their brains when he's finished.
Then there's this couple of hill-billy motherfuckers who entertain the same sort of hobby, only they don't like the taste of human brain.
Then there's a blond bombshell writer suffering from nymphomania and fucking every male human being she stumbles upon.
Then there's a foul-mouthed badass catholic priest who's absolutely ace at kicking arse.
Then there's Jesus wearing rock t-shirts and scrounging cigarettes.
Mix everything together, add a monumental amount of Southern drawl and a ton of WTF splatter bits, and there you gaw, you'se done gotten yer Edward Lee's musterpiss or wutever yawl wanna call it, ahdun 'no.
May 22, 2009
I regret that GR doesn't have half-star ratings because that's what this book deserves. I've read other Lee books and enjoyed them, even though he pushes the envelope.
This book, even for horror, has not one milligram of artistic merit. In just about every chapter two hillbillies kidnap/rape/sodomize/extract teeth/rip out intimate body parts/smash skulls. When the two hillbillies aren't making mischief, The Bighead is ripping open women (and some men) with his 14-inch trouser snake and cannibalizing the bodies. Lucky for The Bighead, a sex addict and a woman with an opening large enough for The Bighead's genitals are heading in his direction.
And what is up with the redneck dialect? I can understand the words the hillbillies are speaking being written in the redneck language, but even the descriptive text? I've never seen that in my entire life of reading.
This book is plain awful and I don't recommend it to anyone.
This book, even for horror, has not one milligram of artistic merit. In just about every chapter two hillbillies kidnap/rape/sodomize/extract teeth/rip out intimate body parts/smash skulls. When the two hillbillies aren't making mischief, The Bighead is ripping open women (and some men) with his 14-inch trouser snake and cannibalizing the bodies. Lucky for The Bighead, a sex addict and a woman with an opening large enough for The Bighead's genitals are heading in his direction.
And what is up with the redneck dialect? I can understand the words the hillbillies are speaking being written in the redneck language, but even the descriptive text? I've never seen that in my entire life of reading.
This book is plain awful and I don't recommend it to anyone.
September 6, 2022
This book is so brutal but so good. Would make a crazy movie... The ending was very surprising. I was blindsided by what happened and I thought it was a great twist to the story. Edward Lee delivers
September 4, 2016
Quite a book. Well written with a quick pace and a decent, satisfying ending. Definitely not for the squeamish but if you're a true horror fanatic, take the challenge!
February 18, 2018
With its first sentence The Bighead decrees that decency is dead and that only a veritable sewer system of bad taste awaits the reader for the next three hundred and fifty pages. Imagine Edward Lee as the prose equivalent of a one-man Troma Entertainment, and if the potential reader finds that palatable, then they will be rewarded with a red-neck phantasmagoria of taboo titillation. The plot is secondary, but not irrelevant: in the backwoods of Virginia an eight-foot tall scatological nightmare heeds the beckon of a mysterious call, quickly cutting a swathe through the rural populace as he rapes his way toward destiny. Between our titular hydrocephalic brain-eater and his ascension is Jerrica, a big-city reporter spiritually crippled by nymphomania and drug addiction; Father Tom Alexander, a foul-mouthed fixer for the church who is sexually tortured by demonic nuns in his dreams; Dickey and Balls, a pair of moonshine runners whose hobbies include kidnapping, rape, mutilation and necrophilia; and Charity, an unhappy woman with a vagina men find off-putting. The narrative is in no hurry to reach the inevitable and gruesome convergence of the aforelisted, and instead entertains itself with a prolonged series of set pieces worthy of the boudoir of De Sade. Lee is certainly an author of unusual prowess, showing an unwavering blitheness in depicting the particulars of coprophagia, pedophilia, infanticide and urophagia. Though there is clearly an attention given to his characters and their thematic heft that belies a writer who knows his craft, they are still only cartoons created to be abused. Lee is concerned with neither morality nor reality, so a reader should not expect insight into the plight of rural poverty, since every provincial is painted as ignorant as they are lascivious, and even the authorial narration shifts into an exaggerated and mocking southern dialect during the sections focused on them. But despite the novel’s flagrant impropriety, Lee keeps The Bighead (a work he later described as, “my hardcore nihilistic porn/horror novel”) in the realm of genre conventions, delivering a climax built upon several revelations and an effective display of otherworldly horror. But if the potential reader blanches at the foreknowledge that they could fashion a depressing drinking game out of textual occurrences of “death by rape,” or another out of instances of the neologism “dicksnot,” then they should seek shelter in another book.
February 16, 2012
More fun than a barrel of hillbilly gore.
June 17, 2010
**********SPOILER*****************
This is one gross book full of sick and cruel acts. Edward Lee’s terrific writing style kept me going to the end of the book. This is basically 315 pages of redneck jokes contained in a hardback book. At first, I was wondering whether it has any philosophical content, such as a Nietzschean statement about nihilism or death of God, but I think it is basically a book of cruel redneck jokes. It was one insane, meaningless cruel act after another. At first, it was funny, because it was so gross and insane. After countless ones, it grew tiresome. I was hoping that there would be a strong ending to make up for having to read one sick stuff after another. The ending was a disappointment because it didn’t really balance out the amount of violence that I had to read to get there. Everything happened because Bighead was a space alien baby. I don’t see the purpose of the secondary characters of Tritt and Dick, except to add extra cruel padding to what Bighead is already doing. This tells me that the whole book is about how imaginative you can be in destroying and torturing another human being. The title of the book should be 315 Ways To Kill A Red Neck. The content I wasn’t crazy about, but I love Edward Lee’s style of writing. I will definitely check out his other books that I heard were not like this. I would say he would be only one of a few writers that I would put up with such content from, because I sense his finesse and sense of humor.
********************************************
NOTES BEFORE REVIEW:
I'm waiting for it to come in from Amazon. I purchased the illustrated version for additional barf ride, but it's not listed here.
6/3/10 The Bighead came in the mail today, the illustrated version. I'll start on it when I'm done with Sparrow Rock. I am thoroughly disappointed in the illustrations. They're black and white, not even glossy. I should have ordered the paperback and save myself some money. The inside of the cover says Rape, Murder, Brain-Eating. Brain-eating...I just had a moment of nostalgia.
***************************
I don't think I'm going to need the barf bucket. I actually guffawed as I started reading the book. I'm only at the very, very beginning. It is terrific writing. Of course, this is from a person raised on comic books about serial killers and mom killers. 14 inchers, semen slurping, hydrocephalic head, baby in the oven...too funny!
All gross stuff aside, Edward Lee's writing is masterful. It is effortless and contemporary. He dances between sentence structures, dots the i's and crosses the t's where it needs to be, and leaves it out where it's not needed.
This book is gross, but the writing is terrific. It's a good thing I've been trained in art school to look at all art, no matter how controversial or disgusting. There have been too many instances where great ideas in art were trashed because it upset somebody's constitution.
*****************************
I’m on P. 62.
From P. 55:
”...Liked ta suck the hot poop right out’a that tight li’l hole, and it were always easier when they was dead. This gal here, this li’l blondie-well, Bighead could just tell what she’d et yesterday. Fresh corn an’ ham hock an’ steamed collard greens. Coupla fresh water clams in there too,he’s could tell ‘cos clams were always kinda chewy and’d stick ‘tween his back teeth. Ta The Bighead, food always were best comin’ out’a gal’s butt. Ta be sure! Try it sometime!“
(Bighead does more gross things, then immediately flipping the page to next chapter...)
”My God!“ Jerrica eclaimed, gazing out over the weathered wood veranda. ”Look at all the flowers!“
(then went on the description about the beautiful landscaping)
ROFL!!!! I love this roller coaster ride! Edward Lee is a master writer. He is so comfortable in his writing skin that he is able to play with the viewer. I love it when a writer has a bit of BDSM in him. He controls and plays with the reader. I sense that he knows exactly what he’s saying, how he’s putting down the words, and how the reader will react to it.
*****************************
On p. 85.
Edward Lee has a wicked sense of humor. Some of his expressions had me rolling on the floor laughing. From a prostitute, ”...I’ll suck yer peckers so hard your buttholes’ll inhale.“
Currently, all of his characters are vivid but separate. It looks like they’re being set up to meet in an explosive way, with Bighead being the catalyst as he makes his way out to society. Can’t wait!
******************************
On p. 129
I'm hoping to make a big jump in the book this weekend to find the point to one horrendous act after another. I love his writing style, but a book has got to have some sort of a point. I'm hoping I find it soon. Otherwise, it's just gratuitous monstrous acts after another.
*****************************
***SPOILER*******
On p. 205
Just when I was getting disgusted with the book, the plot turns to setting up all the other characters and their personal demons. They are starting to interact with each other, such as when the Father had a run-in with the sadistic Tritt, who's just as bad as Bighead. All this as Bighead has a instinctual calling to head to Luntsville, where these characters reside. There are also a lot of set-ups for surprises. I'm glad I pushed through the first half of this book. Now, I'm very curious as to what is going to happen.
This is one gross book full of sick and cruel acts. Edward Lee’s terrific writing style kept me going to the end of the book. This is basically 315 pages of redneck jokes contained in a hardback book. At first, I was wondering whether it has any philosophical content, such as a Nietzschean statement about nihilism or death of God, but I think it is basically a book of cruel redneck jokes. It was one insane, meaningless cruel act after another. At first, it was funny, because it was so gross and insane. After countless ones, it grew tiresome. I was hoping that there would be a strong ending to make up for having to read one sick stuff after another. The ending was a disappointment because it didn’t really balance out the amount of violence that I had to read to get there. Everything happened because Bighead was a space alien baby. I don’t see the purpose of the secondary characters of Tritt and Dick, except to add extra cruel padding to what Bighead is already doing. This tells me that the whole book is about how imaginative you can be in destroying and torturing another human being. The title of the book should be 315 Ways To Kill A Red Neck. The content I wasn’t crazy about, but I love Edward Lee’s style of writing. I will definitely check out his other books that I heard were not like this. I would say he would be only one of a few writers that I would put up with such content from, because I sense his finesse and sense of humor.
********************************************
NOTES BEFORE REVIEW:
I'm waiting for it to come in from Amazon. I purchased the illustrated version for additional barf ride, but it's not listed here.
6/3/10 The Bighead came in the mail today, the illustrated version. I'll start on it when I'm done with Sparrow Rock. I am thoroughly disappointed in the illustrations. They're black and white, not even glossy. I should have ordered the paperback and save myself some money. The inside of the cover says Rape, Murder, Brain-Eating. Brain-eating...I just had a moment of nostalgia.
***************************
I don't think I'm going to need the barf bucket. I actually guffawed as I started reading the book. I'm only at the very, very beginning. It is terrific writing. Of course, this is from a person raised on comic books about serial killers and mom killers. 14 inchers, semen slurping, hydrocephalic head, baby in the oven...too funny!
All gross stuff aside, Edward Lee's writing is masterful. It is effortless and contemporary. He dances between sentence structures, dots the i's and crosses the t's where it needs to be, and leaves it out where it's not needed.
This book is gross, but the writing is terrific. It's a good thing I've been trained in art school to look at all art, no matter how controversial or disgusting. There have been too many instances where great ideas in art were trashed because it upset somebody's constitution.
*****************************
I’m on P. 62.
From P. 55:
”...Liked ta suck the hot poop right out’a that tight li’l hole, and it were always easier when they was dead. This gal here, this li’l blondie-well, Bighead could just tell what she’d et yesterday. Fresh corn an’ ham hock an’ steamed collard greens. Coupla fresh water clams in there too,he’s could tell ‘cos clams were always kinda chewy and’d stick ‘tween his back teeth. Ta The Bighead, food always were best comin’ out’a gal’s butt. Ta be sure! Try it sometime!“
(Bighead does more gross things, then immediately flipping the page to next chapter...)
”My God!“ Jerrica eclaimed, gazing out over the weathered wood veranda. ”Look at all the flowers!“
(then went on the description about the beautiful landscaping)
ROFL!!!! I love this roller coaster ride! Edward Lee is a master writer. He is so comfortable in his writing skin that he is able to play with the viewer. I love it when a writer has a bit of BDSM in him. He controls and plays with the reader. I sense that he knows exactly what he’s saying, how he’s putting down the words, and how the reader will react to it.
*****************************
On p. 85.
Edward Lee has a wicked sense of humor. Some of his expressions had me rolling on the floor laughing. From a prostitute, ”...I’ll suck yer peckers so hard your buttholes’ll inhale.“
Currently, all of his characters are vivid but separate. It looks like they’re being set up to meet in an explosive way, with Bighead being the catalyst as he makes his way out to society. Can’t wait!
******************************
On p. 129
I'm hoping to make a big jump in the book this weekend to find the point to one horrendous act after another. I love his writing style, but a book has got to have some sort of a point. I'm hoping I find it soon. Otherwise, it's just gratuitous monstrous acts after another.
*****************************
***SPOILER*******
On p. 205
Just when I was getting disgusted with the book, the plot turns to setting up all the other characters and their personal demons. They are starting to interact with each other, such as when the Father had a run-in with the sadistic Tritt, who's just as bad as Bighead. All this as Bighead has a instinctual calling to head to Luntsville, where these characters reside. There are also a lot of set-ups for surprises. I'm glad I pushed through the first half of this book. Now, I'm very curious as to what is going to happen.
June 17, 2015
After reading "Portrait of the Author as a Young Psychopath," I went out looking for more of Ed Lee or Elizabeth Steffen's work. I found this book. After reading it, it became clear to me that everything I liked about the earlier book I'd read must have been contributed by Elizabeth Steffens. Very disappointing.
The best words I could use to describe this book, and indeed much of Lee's writing, have already been said by Tim Krider in his review of this book for the City Paper:
Reading Lee puts you in instant and uncomfortable touch with the conservative, book-banning guardian of decency deep within yourself. What I want, reading Lee’s description of a hillbilly sodomizing an old woman’s colostomy stoma, or two nuns urinating through catheters into a priest’s mouth and urethra, is not just not to be reading it anymore--a wish I could easily grant myself by closing the book--or even just for nobody else to want to read it, either. What I want is for it not to exist.
This is a troubling thing for me to want. I’m a First Amendment hard-liner. I don’t like feeling squeamish or priggish or square. It places me in the uncomfortable position of those humorless cranks who call my own work "sick"--a label that’s always seemed, to me, like a more reliable indicator of the critic’s own repression than of the artist’s pathology. This is not an easy reaction to provoke, and it’s some sort of testament to the raw power of Lee’s writing.
I did find myself, to my concern, getting gradually desensitized to the violence as I forced my way through The Bighead, so that by the time a character was heaved off a cliff with a rope tied around his genitals so that they popped off as he plummeted to the rocks below, I was like, Ehh. In the end, my main objection to these scenes is that although they’re upsetting, they’re not frightening.
[Added in 2015] Revisiting this review years later, I feel the need to add that especially when dealing with shocking or controversial content, the payoff has to be equally big. It's like telling jokes about rape or race or pedophilia - no topic should be off-limit for humor, but the more questionable the topic, the bigger the payoff has to be in the punchline. The same is true for horror - the more horrifying and traumatic the content, the better the story needs to be to carry that load. And unfortunately, with The Bighead... the book's climax just wasn't satisfying enough.
The best words I could use to describe this book, and indeed much of Lee's writing, have already been said by Tim Krider in his review of this book for the City Paper:
Reading Lee puts you in instant and uncomfortable touch with the conservative, book-banning guardian of decency deep within yourself. What I want, reading Lee’s description of a hillbilly sodomizing an old woman’s colostomy stoma, or two nuns urinating through catheters into a priest’s mouth and urethra, is not just not to be reading it anymore--a wish I could easily grant myself by closing the book--or even just for nobody else to want to read it, either. What I want is for it not to exist.
This is a troubling thing for me to want. I’m a First Amendment hard-liner. I don’t like feeling squeamish or priggish or square. It places me in the uncomfortable position of those humorless cranks who call my own work "sick"--a label that’s always seemed, to me, like a more reliable indicator of the critic’s own repression than of the artist’s pathology. This is not an easy reaction to provoke, and it’s some sort of testament to the raw power of Lee’s writing.
I did find myself, to my concern, getting gradually desensitized to the violence as I forced my way through The Bighead, so that by the time a character was heaved off a cliff with a rope tied around his genitals so that they popped off as he plummeted to the rocks below, I was like, Ehh. In the end, my main objection to these scenes is that although they’re upsetting, they’re not frightening.
[Added in 2015] Revisiting this review years later, I feel the need to add that especially when dealing with shocking or controversial content, the payoff has to be equally big. It's like telling jokes about rape or race or pedophilia - no topic should be off-limit for humor, but the more questionable the topic, the bigger the payoff has to be in the punchline. The same is true for horror - the more horrifying and traumatic the content, the better the story needs to be to carry that load. And unfortunately, with The Bighead... the book's climax just wasn't satisfying enough.
March 22, 2018
While I felt that the ending slightly let me down (I wasn’t expecting demons, I just wanted gross inbred cannibals) I still really enjoyed this book for what it is. Pure, good old fucked up torture porn. Some of the scenes were gag inducing (Balls spitting phlegm in the girls mouth and making her swallow it to name one...) but I found myself pretty heartbroken when Goop was killed! It all tied together nicely in the end though and I felt like all of my questions were answered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2018
This is the most filthy, disgusting, raunchy, sickening, revolting, repellent, repulsive, stomach-churning, nauseating, nasty, and vomit-inducing piece of fiction I have ever read.
And... I loved it.
he he he
And... I loved it.
he he he
May 29, 2011
Lee’s The Bighead is purely disgusting. Every horrible thing that can be done to another human being seems to be described in relentless detail in this novel including, but in no way limited to, Colostomy Bag sex. For me, the book was very interesting to read but the over-the-top violence seemed cartoonish and hilarious to me. I didn’t find it disturbing in the slightest. Books like Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door or Gonzalez’s Survivor were disturbing to me because of emotional value and I didn’t get any emotion from this book. Just good ole bloody fun Edward Lee style. This is by far the most disgusting book I have read by Lee and probably in the top three most disgusting ever, but I can’t take a horror novel seriously when two of the antagonists are named Dickie and Balls and when the other antagonist has a fourteen-inch member. It also reminded me of Tarantino’s Kill Bill, which was fun and entertaining but not serious because of the overwhelming violence constantly occurring. I honestly do not know who I would recommend this book to because even a lot of horror fans don’t seem to like this one and, after reading over 300 pages of rednecks and The Bighead raping and murdering people in a lot of creative ways, I can see why. I guess just give it a try and if you are disgusted beyond belief by page fifty or so, I would advise you to stop because it only gets worse, or better if you like this sort of thing.
February 7, 2017
Oh my. This was super-crazy. Exceptional in its own way. I think Edward Lee is a brilliant author, and the genre is lucky to have him. But well, it's certianly not for everyone; I mean if you have no idea what you're going to meet, don't even try.
I read this book for quite a long time because it started rather slowly. Several separate storylines (and some parts written phonetically in dialect, which was a bit difficult for me... but other parts were written in such a clean, precise language they made up for it, and the contrast was perfect). But then the story really pulled me in, and I couldn't wait and wonder what'd happen when those storylines would inevitably cross.
And when it happened... wow. All right, some things I could predict - but other things, like - they just made me gasp. Anyway, not a consoling ending, for sure, but it appealed to my cynical side just so.
I wwonder if other Edward Lee's books will be able to suprise me; for now I can't imagine them going any farther than that.
I read this book for quite a long time because it started rather slowly. Several separate storylines (and some parts written phonetically in dialect, which was a bit difficult for me... but other parts were written in such a clean, precise language they made up for it, and the contrast was perfect). But then the story really pulled me in, and I couldn't wait and wonder what'd happen when those storylines would inevitably cross.
And when it happened... wow. All right, some things I could predict - but other things, like - they just made me gasp. Anyway, not a consoling ending, for sure, but it appealed to my cynical side just so.
I wwonder if other Edward Lee's books will be able to suprise me; for now I can't imagine them going any farther than that.
May 2, 2023
Mi alma está condenada, no sólo he leído Bighead sino que además me ha parecido una lectura brutalísima.
Este libro tiene todas las banderas rojas del mundo, está lleno de depravación, vísceras, perversión, actos delictivos y dolor, pero también es un libro que tiene una gran historia, que hay que saber ver y juzgar al margen de la clara intención del autor de buscar el escándalo, con unos personajes que no te pueden dejar indiferente.
Si lo lees en español, además del trabajo impecable de traducción y corrección, te vas a encontrar con una portada impresionante, como todas las que tiene la editorial Dimensiones Ocultas, que cuida al máximo la calidad y la estética.
Es un libro de casi 600 páginas que he devorado en 3 días. Está muy bien escrito, tiene un cruce de tramas muy bien hilado y el autor no deja nada al azar.
Es verdad que hay momentos donde el asco, la impotencia o el dolor van a intentar que salgas huyendo de los montes Apalaches, pero si eres capaz de sobreponerte a eso, encontrarás una historia que va a quedarse contigo para siempre.
Este libro tiene todas las banderas rojas del mundo, está lleno de depravación, vísceras, perversión, actos delictivos y dolor, pero también es un libro que tiene una gran historia, que hay que saber ver y juzgar al margen de la clara intención del autor de buscar el escándalo, con unos personajes que no te pueden dejar indiferente.
Si lo lees en español, además del trabajo impecable de traducción y corrección, te vas a encontrar con una portada impresionante, como todas las que tiene la editorial Dimensiones Ocultas, que cuida al máximo la calidad y la estética.
Es un libro de casi 600 páginas que he devorado en 3 días. Está muy bien escrito, tiene un cruce de tramas muy bien hilado y el autor no deja nada al azar.
Es verdad que hay momentos donde el asco, la impotencia o el dolor van a intentar que salgas huyendo de los montes Apalaches, pero si eres capaz de sobreponerte a eso, encontrarás una historia que va a quedarse contigo para siempre.
November 11, 2022
There's a good plot and some interesting characters here. But, good god, the parts written in "redneck" dialect, the juvenile humor that steps all over the tone, the completely vacuous and ignorant attempts at psychological and philosophical commentary make this a difficult read. Not to mention the fact that the copy editing is pretty bad.
I like Edward Lee, but he's an author who needs a good editor. That obviously wasn't the case with this book, both in the original and this re-release.
I can't recommend this.
I like Edward Lee, but he's an author who needs a good editor. That obviously wasn't the case with this book, both in the original and this re-release.
I can't recommend this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews