For a group of short stories written over a period of several years for unrelated reasons, "The Crawling Abattoir" wouldn't seem a like candidate to have a theme, but it does: the hilarity of horror. The funny side of agony. Hit me with your torture-shtick! From the desperation of a lonely necrophile deeply frustrated by unrequited corpse-love; to a really rotten clown's long drawn-out discovery that success comes only after paying his dues in multiple broken bones, lacerated kidneys, lots and lots of blood and more; and to the horrible, horrible, (really horrible) misfortunes of Little Timmy, an innocent youngster badly mistreated by the world for no very good reason other than the reader's enjoyment; this collection will jam a rusty icepick all the way through your funny-bone, and you'll laugh until you cry through months of expensive, excruciating elbow rehabilitation. Enjoy!