Lansdale has a knack for balancing ugliness with beauty, horror with love, and (most importantly) repulsion with attraction. This results in a potent brew that's like watching a train wreck. But it's an inspiring, meaningful train wreck.

The Bottoms is narrated by an old man, Harry, who tells a story from his childhood, about a series of murders that plagued the small, East Texas town he grew up in during the Great Depression. His father, Jacob Crane, ran a barber shop, was the local constable, and worked a small farm. Harry and his sister roamed the forests, shooting small game and scaring each other with stories about the Goat Man, a menacing figure who is part goat, part devil, but whom no one they know has ever really seen. The book begins with an accident that befalls Harry's dog, and when his Dad tells him that not only does the dog have to be put out of its misery, but Harry has to do it, Harry and his sister take the dog out into the woods -- and find the naked, mutilated body of a dead black prostitute down by the river.

The rest of the book is part coming-of-age tale, part mystery, and part horror. Lansdale's writing is great fun to read -- his command of dialogue is fantastic. The ending is not so surprising, but the book is great fun to read.