More Bizarre Short Tales

Michael In Hell

This is the back cover of Michael In Hell without all the writing on it. It's from a picture of me taken in 1994 in Aurora, Indiana. Some reader noticed when you turn the cover upside down, another kind of evil looking figure becomes visible with outstretched hands and long hair; standing in front of what looks like a large window. This could possibly be the monster part of Michael Tucker in the novel showing itself. This wasn't done on purpose and it does seem really weird. Some of the novel is based on truth. I won't admit exactly what parts beyond the Vietnam scenes that are based on my reality as a Marine during that war. I do know for sure there is a monster lurking in each of us.

Michael In Hell on Amazon

Kurt Vonnegut Short Take

Vonnegut’s relations with women were vexed from the start. When he was 21, his mother successfully committed suicide — on Mother’s Day.

Sunglasses and the Secret Service

The Secret Service spends months learning how to walk in the dark while wearing sunglasses. I've discovered that they have a training facility in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky where they go 800 feet below ground and turn out the lights. Seventeen men have been lost inside the cave. They also learn to sleep standing up, which is why they always look like statues when wearing sunglasses. At least half of them are sleeping because they don't get coffee breaks or get to listen to intelligent conversation while guarding politicians.

A Rough Start To Life

Talk about a rough beginning: Karl Slover, one of the little people from theWizard of Oz who just died at 93. Slover was born Karl Kosiczky in what is now the Czech Republic and he was the only child in his family to be dwarf sized. His father tried witch doctor treatments to make him grow. He was buried in the backyard, immersed in heated oil until his skin blistered and then attached to a stretching machine at a hospital; all in the attempt to make him become taller. Eventually, he was sold by his father at age 9 to a traveling show in Europe.

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Vietnam: The Liberty Bridge

(This entry has had a lot of comments, and I'm glad it can help bring Nam vets together or to help find each other. If you have a comment, please attach your name to the comment or from this point forward it won't be published. I've received many comments that are phony and obviously made up, submitted by anonymous submission. I do screen all comments. Click the photo to enlarge. Semper Fi.) This is the Liberty Bridge (click to make larger) in Quang Nam Province in Vietnam during July of 1968. Of the 14,000 Marines killed in Vietnam, 10,000 were killed in Quang Nam Province. (Figures in comment section show a little under 7000 KIA in Quang Nam.) This was late in my tour on July 2. The bridge had been blown once again by the enemy to isolate the Marine base at An Hoa. I was a 50 caliber machine gunner on a convoy to resupply the An Hoa Firebase. I called this the River Styx because it had a ferry boat. Once you crossed the river you entered a nightmare hell on earth cal

The Jesus Moth

Photo taken through a window screen. I had just gone over the first print copy of The Bad Season on July 22, 2006. I walked over to the window and saw this moth on my outside air conditioner unit. It was the most bizarre thing I had seen in a long time. I retrieved my digital camera and snapped a picture through the glass and the window screen before going outside in a failed to attempt to capture the moth. I contacted a moth expert. He told me what kind of moth it was, but added that he had never seen one with a cross on its back like this one. I call it the Jesus Moth, the Crusader Moth, or maybe the Infidel Moth. The syndicates wanted me to give it to them for free. They said they don't take pics from non-employees because "we would actually have to pay you for it." Hmm, what a novel concept, getting paid for something. I offered to swap for a syndicated story about my book. They refused. So I copyrighted the entire pic (the one below is a fragment from that p

The Old Corps: Marine Corps Boot Camp 1966

BLT 1/3 USMC 1967 Vietnam Boot Camp Hell I recently saw a video of what I assume was the current Marine Corps Boot Camp. It mentioned recruits reporting any abuse right away and the DI was trying to be tough (and he did sound tough to an extent), but underneath it all you could tell the old Corps was gone in the civilian desire (political desire by people who never served) to make things easier and less traumatic for the boots. They never mentioned abuse to us in 1966 because we were abused 24/7. I'm an old Corps Hollywood Marine (that's an inside Marine joke about the difference between boot camp in Parris Island or San Diego.) The boots in Parris Island claimed they had it rougher because they had swamps. The Hollywood Marines had mountains. I would rather walk in water than climb mountains so I disagree. I entered the Marine Corps on August 10, 1966. Marines had been in Vietnam for over a year. All of us would probably go to Nam. For some of us it woul

Dennis Latham: Life, Fiction, and the Pursuit of Madness

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