Strip Mauled [Mass Market Paperback]

Strip Mauled (2009) is the second fantasy anthology in the Supernatural Suburbia series, following Witch Way to the Mall. It contains twenty original stories, an introduction and an afterword.

Leader of the Pack by Esther M. Friesner is an introduction to this work. Although not really fiction, it does set the stage for what follows. Prepare yourself for a few puns and lots of fun.

Howl! by Jody Lynn Nye exposes a Customs agent to lycanthropy.

Special Needs by K. D. Wentworth introduces a Cub Scout den to a new -- and unexpected -- member.

Fish Story by Tracy S. Morris confronts a writer and her werewolf friend with a water hazard.

Blame It on the Moonlight by Tim Waggoner depicts the meeting of a werewolf and a new woman in the neighborhood.

Imaginary Fiend by Lucienne Diver divulges the case of the cop and an invisible creature.

Neighborhood Bark-B-Q by Daniel M. Hoyt recounts the weird experiences that happen to a computer programmer at a new job.

That Time of Month by Laura J, Underwood examines some difficulties of living next door to country werewolves.

Pack Intern by Berry Kercheval tells of a novice witch getting a job with mall security.

Support Your Local Werewolf by Karen Everson involves a teenage werewolf in an abduction.

Isn't That Special by Esther M. Friesner presents a suburban control freak with a werewolf problem.

Prowling for Love by Linda L. Donahue takes an unmarried werewolf to a furry convention.

Lighter Than Were by Robert Hoyt considers the costs and advantages of technology.

Enforcement Claws by Steven Piziks provokes the chairperson of the Home Owners Association with alternative points of view.

Where-Wolf by Selina Rosen changes the attitude of a teenager manning a suicide hotline.

Overnight Moon by David D, Levine puts a teenage witch into a strange role.

Wolfy Ladies by Dave Freer considers the case of a missing magician and shape-shifter.

Frijoles for Fenris by Kevin Andrew Murphy explains the aftereffects of magic beans within a werewolf fraternity.

The Case of the Driving Poodle by Sarah A. Hoyt illustrates the frustrations of an assistant to a psychic investigator searching for a missing man.

Meet the Harrys by Robin Wayne Bailey discloses the secrets of the Harry family.

The Creature in Your Neighborhood by Jim C. Hines is probably the last episode of the popular TV show Imaginationville. What! You never saw it?

About the Editor by Esther M. Friesner is a plug for the creator of this series.

These stories -- like The Chicks in Chainmail series -- has a large overlap in the authors. Twelve of these authors also appeared in the previous volume. And a third Hoyt is present in this work with a little tale of mall maintenance and werewolves.

If you are a werewolf -- or would like to be -- then study this book. You probably never knew all the problems you could have in addition to getting a little furry around the full moon. Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Friesner fans and for anyone who enjoys tales of preternatural creatures, suburban intrigue, and furry humor.

-Arthur W. Jordin

21 stories about were-wolves and the like living in suburbia, this anthology is a follow up to Witch Way to the Mall, so the cover shows a well-endowed witch serving tea to a pixie, a were-wolf, and an even more well-endowed vampire.
Friesner introduces the stories with a truly funny essay that commences, "Alas, poor were-wolves, forever doomed to be Avis to the vampires' unassailable fang-hold on Hertz, Pepsi to their Coke, Burger King to their McDonalds!" The next two pages are full of alliteration and airy persiflage - a refreshing change from all the angst and hard-bitten cynicism that have inundated the SF genre. Most of the stories that follow are pleasant diversions. The emphasis is on humor, and even if it isn't laugh-out-loud-until-you-cry, this and an apple may help keep the doctor away.
K.D Wentworth's "Special Needs" is about a cub scout meeting for young weres in training that gets invaded by a pushy Mundane mom and her hapless son. But it turns out there is more to the misfit than meets the eye.
Lots of the stories represent the struggle to retain human semblance and self-direction under provocation, and all of them are set in the deceptively familiar blacktop-and-mass-production here and now. But the characters come in all sorts and sizes. There's the cop with a pixie companion in "Imaginary Fiend" who discovers that an obvious threat may not be the greatest danger. There's the U.S. Customs attorney who, in "Howl!" has to contend with a sly and smarmy adversary by day and midlife crisis at home, which proves to be ...transformative. In "Where-Wolf" Kevin is a suicide hot-line volunteer with an unusual challenge. In other stories, there are house moms, teens, retail workers, kids running amok, and strange neighbors. And "Enforcement Claws" is cathartic for anyone who has run afoul of their Home Owners' Association.
Ironically, Friesner's collection reinforces the very stereotypes she laments in her introduction. These weres have nothing of the glamour, danger, or sex-appeal of their rivals, the vampires. But they do seem to have more fun, and better family lives. Perhaps that's because vampires are inherently hierarchical whereas wolves are family and pack oriented; they survive through a carefully negotiated interaction of individual responsibility, cooperation, and coded ethics.
FurCons should get copies of this anthology to give out as prizes.
And in the good news department, editor Friesner is putting together the next Chicks in Chainmail anthology, to be titled, Chicks Ahoy! I'm guessing pirates.

This is a set of 21 short stories all of which are very good to excellent I almost never give a collection a 5 star rating because there are almost always a couple real dogs but here we have some real Weres. These stories are all humorous and if you don't like to see fun poked at the genre you will not like this book. But it does a good job of exploiting cliches and providing nicely written humor. One of my favorites is when a self proclaimed Evil Magician manages to turn his freshman room mate into a were wolf and the gets himself a wolf shape to complement his were jaguar. The were flea is good as is the tattooed, biker, dwarf detective.

Over all an excellent read not a dud in the bunch. And even a few memorable characters as well.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars