INTRODUCTION

Wherever I go, people who've read Silver Scream never fail to mention "Cuts." I know it had great cathartic power for me. When Dave Schow approached me for a Hollywood-based story for Silver Scream, I knew immediately the kind of piece I'd do. I blasted straight through it and felt wonderful when I was finished. My mood was lighter, the world was brighter, even my digestion was better. I let it sit for a week or two before printing it out and reading it. When I finally read it, I was shocked. I hadn't meant to allow so much pent-up rage to spill onto the page. I pride myself on my cool and this was a little too self-revelatory. I sent it to Dave as was but mentioned that I might want to do a toned-down rewrite. Dave threatened me with bodily harm if I toned down a bloody thing.

If you've read Dave's fiction you know he's quite inventive in the area of bodily harm. So I left it as it was.

It’s rivaled only by “Pelts” as my nastiest story.