In the annals of weird fiction there is weird then there is McCormack. Think of everything you know about vampires for example and toss em right out the window. Because a Derek McCormack novel is the equivalent of snorting some raw shit and having your head explode then hallucinating about how you used to have one. This is after all the man who brought us the book about a gay vampire who was the true power behind the rise and fall of Hank Williams Sr.
Yeah. You read that right. I’ll also say, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
I’ll say something similar to what I said about Very Mercenary, the plot description on it’s own will probably be what makes you want to read this…or not.
In The Show That Smells real life, legendary fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is a vampire. Elsa promises to save the life of dying country music legend, Jimmie Rogers, if his wife, Carrie Rogers, will give up her soul. Elsa has designed a perfume with a base note of blood that will help bring a vampire death to the humans who wear it. Elsa’s real life rival, Coco Chanel, is a vampire hunter and a force for good who intervenes to try and save Carrie’s soul with her perfume, with a basenote of holy water, that can save humanity.
Oh, and the whole thing takes place in a carnival mirror maze and is directed by Tod Browning. And Lon Chaney and the Carter Family make appearances.
It’s a small book, really a novella, that will take no time at all to read but you’ll want more because McCormack does so much with the almost loony premise. A book that is so much fun it should be illegal.
