LUSTMORD:
Anatomy of a Serial Butcher
Book One (of Two)
BY KIRK ALEX
Who knew the minister next door
was also a sadistic predator?
Cecil Omar Biggs is not your average man of the cloth. By day, he appears to be a hardworking preacher, but once night descends upon the quiet Southern California neighborhood where Biggs resides, his darker self emerges. Living a double life as a sex fiend and brutal murderer, he enjoys luring innocent victims into his basement lair by any means possible.
Converting an old house into a church, Biggs becomes the perfect wolf in sheep’s clothing, which also puts him in the ideal position to attract his unsuspecting prey. He lives to satisfy his sinister appetites without remorse or limits, indulging in his more violent tendencies as soon as the sun goes down by torturing and killing the women he abducts in his dungeon of doom.
But how long can Biggs keep up the nice-guy-next-door pretense while secretly living as a homicidal maniac? And what happens when the locals start suspecting that there’s more to this seemingly harmless Bible-thumper than meets the eye?
http://www.kirkalex.com
THE CRITICS LOVE
KIRK ALEX
Praise for :
Ziggy Popper At Large: 14 Tales of General Degeneracy,
of Mayhem & Debauchery – for the Morally Conflicted
& Borderline Criminal
“This hilarious, graphic, and raunchy compilation certainly delivers for the 18+ crowd. You’ll find yourself on a roller coaster of sex, violence, and disgust in this compilation from Kirk Alex. Definitely not for the faint of heart or morally superior readers out there.”
—NetGalley
Praise For:
nonentity
-A Rant For Those Who Can’t-
Presented as a Novel
“This is a quick read and engrossing. I found myself wanting to know what happened. Many of the situations were funny in the way they were presented. Fast, easy read. Thanks Net galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review.”
—NetGalley
“You can digest this book in two hours — it will stay with you forever.”
—Steven Rosen, Curled Up With A Good Book
“This is another well done, honest and heartfelt piece of writing from Kirk Alex. It’s short, easy to read, and well worth the reader’s time.”
—Paul Lappen, Dead Trees Review
Praise for: ZOOK
“Strange twisted story. But great read.”
—NetGalley
Praise for:
Working the Hard Side of the Street —
Selected Stories / Poems / Screams
“. . . this is a nicely put together piece of work.”
—BookLore
“This book is excellent. It’s full of honest, heartfelt writing that certainly shows a very different view of Hollywood.”
— Paul Lappen, DEAD TREES REVIEW
“WORKING THE HARD SIDE OF THE STREET— Selected Stories / Poems / Screams is an anthology of powerful, caustic, original tales and poems by Kirk Alex about the ups, downs, and hard knocks of Hollywood’s seamy underbelly. The perspective of a “fly- on-the-wall” cab driver provides a piercing realism and insight into the vicious clashes and personal struggles that lie hidden underneath the entertainment capital’s glossy, photo-touched exterior. WORKING THE HARD SIDE OF THE STREET is recommended as a gut-wrenching read for both its candor and bravado.”
—THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Praise for:
BLOOD, SWEAT and CHUMP CHANGE —
TaxiTales & Vignettes
“It’s all here: Hate, poetry, sadness, hope and the ache of an aloneness that never goes away. Belly up!”
—Dan Fante, author of Spitting Off Tall Buildings
BY KIRK ALEX
Lustmord: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher
Zook
Throwback — Book One (of Two) — Love, Lust & Murder Series
Backlash — Book Two (of Two) — Love, Lust & Murder Series
Fifty Shades of Tinsel
nonentity
Working the Hard Side of the Street
Selected Stories/Poems/Screams
Blood, Sweat & Chump Change — Taxi Tales & Vignettes
Ziggy Popper at Large — Story Collection
Hush-Hush — Holiday #1
Hubba-Hubba — Holiday #2
Hard Noir — Holiday #3
Table of Contents
A WORD OF CAUTION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
CHAPTER 86
CHAPTER 87
CHAPTER 88
CHAPTER 89
CHAPTER 90
CHAPTER 91
CHAPTER 92
CHAPTER 93
CHAPTER 94
CHAPTER 95
CHAPTER 96
CHAPTER 97
CHAPTER 98
CHAPTER 99
CHAPTER 100
CHAPTER 101
CHAPTER 102
CHAPTER 103
CHAPTER 104
CHAPTER 105
CHAPTER 106
CHAPTER 107
CHAPTER 108
CHAPTER 109
CHAPTER 110
CHAPTER 111
CHAPTER 112
CHAPTER 113
CHAPTER 114
CHAPTER 115
CHAPTER 116
CHAPTER 117
CHAPTER 118
CHAPTER 119
CHAPTER 120
CHAPTER 1
21
CHAPTER 122
CHAPTER 123
CHAPTER 124
CHAPTER 125
CHAPTER 126
CHAPTER 127
CHAPTER 128
CHAPTER 129
CHAPTER 130
CHAPTER 131
CHAPTER 132
CHAPTER 133
CHAPTER 134
CHAPTER 135
CHAPTER 136
CHAPTER 137
CHAPTER 138
CHAPTER 139
CHAPTER 140
CHAPTER 141
CHAPTER 142
CHAPTER 143
CHAPTER 144
CHAPTER 145
CHAPTER 146
CHAPTER 147
CHAPTER 148
CHAPTER 149
CHAPTER 150
CHAPTER 151
CHAPTER 152
CHAPTER 153
CHAPTER 154
CHAPTER 155
CHAPTER 156
CHAPTER 157
CHAPTER 158
CHAPTER 159
CHAPTER 160
CHAPTER 161
CHAPTER 162
CHAPTER 163
CHAPTER 164
CHAPTER 165
CHAPTER 166
CHAPTER 167
CHAPTER 168
CHAPTER 169
CHAPTER 170
CHAPTER 171
CHAPTER 172
CHAPTER 173
CHAPTER 174
CHAPTER 175
CHAPTER 176
CHAPTER 177
CHAPTER 178
CHAPTER 179
CHAPTER 180
CHAPTER 181
CHAPTER 182
CHAPTER 183
CHAPTER 184
CHAPTER 185
CHAPTER 186
CHAPTER 187
CHAPTER 188
CHAPTER 189
CHAPTER 190
CHAPTER 191
CHAPTER 192
CHAPTER 193
CHAPTER 194
CHAPTER 195
CHAPTER 196
CHAPTER 197
CHAPTER 198
CHAPTER 199
CHAPTER 200
CHAPTER 201
CHAPTER 202
CHAPTER 203
CHAPTER 204
CHAPTER 205
CHAPTER 207
CHAPTER 208
CHAPTER 209
CHAPTER 210
CHAPTER 211
CHAPTER 212
CHAPTER 213
CHAPTER 214
CHAPTER 215
CHAPTER 216
CHAPTER 217
CHAPTER 218
CHAPTER 219
CHAPTER 220
CHAPTER 221
CHAPTER 222
CHAPTER 223
CHAPTER 224
CHAPTER 225
CHAPTER 226
CHAPTER 227
CHAPTER 228
CHAPTER 229
CHAPTER 230
CHAPTER 231
CHAPTER 232
CHAPTER 233
CHAPTER 234
CHAPTER 235
CHAPTER 236
CHAPTER 237
CHAPTER 238
CHAPTER 239
CHAPTER 240
CHAPTER 241
CHAPTER 242
CHAPTER 243
CHAPTER 244
CHAPTER 245
CHAPTER 246
CHAPTER 247
CHAPTER 248
CHAPTER 249
CHAPTER 250
CHAPTER 251
CHAPTER 252
Interview with Kirk Alex
Excerpt: ZOOK
About the Author
LUSTMORD:
Anatomy of a Serial Butcher
Book One (of Two)
Presented as a Novel
KIRK ALEX
TUCUMCARI PRESS
Tucson — 2017
Copyright © 1989 as The Butcher Next Door by Kirk Alex
Copyright © 2012 as LUSTMORD: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher by Kirk Alex
Copyright © 2017 as Lustmord: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher/Updated & Unabridged version by Kirk Alex
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. For information address Tucumcari Press, PO Box 40998, Tucson, Arizona 85717-0998
LUSTMORD: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
LUSTMORD: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher – Book One (of Two)
ISBN: 978-0-939122-16-5 (Book One of Two - 6x9 paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-939122-17-2 (Book Two of Two - 6x9 paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-939122-15-8 (ePUB/Released as Book One of Two)
ISBN: 978-0-939122-18-9 (ePUB/Released as Book Two of Two)
ISBN: 978-0-939122-19-6 (ePUB/Two Volume Boxed Set)
Revised 2nd Edition/January 2017
(Includes Brother Trusty & Bordello of Fear backstory not available in previous incarnations)
Cover copyright © 2017 Tucumcari Press / Kirk Alex
Lustmord: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher – Book One is dedicated to Tom Biederman, and to the memory of Ziggy, Darcy and Neil for providing the author with shelter (when shelter was desperately needed). I can’t thank you enough.
Last, never least, to the memory of the amazingly gifted writer/artist and #1 fan of horror, who reminded more than a few of us that horror should be/deserves to be treated with the same respect as any other genre, the late, great Chas. Balun.
A WORD OF CAUTION
(updated & revised, with a rant or two tossed in)
“And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche
Translation: this one is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of belly. Foretold is forewarned.
I started LUSTMORD: Anatomy of a Serial Butcher back in 1987—and it is January 2017 as I write this. How many years is that? Twenty-nine? Thirty? Give or take. I say give or take because somewhere in there, during the mid 1990s, I had to lay off the thing for about five years. Why? Nightmares. Cold sweats. Unable to sleep. Why? Subject matter. Some of it was too damned horrific and the images wouldn’t go away at the end of the day. Five years. Not to mention another three years when I could only face the book for about four or five months at a time. The shit was sick and depraved. Fucking brutal. I needed a break.
And so the first eBook version was released sometime in 2013 and the reception was far better than I could have hoped. Always makes a writer feel pretty good that the sweat and toil had not been for naught. Great. Walk away from it, start something new. As I had intended and did.
Only it wasn’t that easy to cut ties completely. From 2013 up until the end of 2016 things kept nagging at me. Having to do with backstory. Cecil’s childhood, to be specific. Had crucial facts been merely touched on, others even left out altogether? I did what I could to ignore it. I’d spent enough years on the book and that was that. Novel was done and I was not about to go back and re-visit what had been a trying enough experience the first time around. One is ready and willing to give up a lot for a book, but not one’s sanity. Hey, my sanity was tenuous at best and always had been. But that’s for another time and place.
I liked being positive and happy; appreciate the good people in my life. Better believe it. We learn: Good peeps are like precious gems and treasured as such. Value the cool folks in your life & never miss an opportunity to let them know how much they matter.
Anyway, it had taken a while to recover from the effects of the debilitating tome and I felt I was doing just fine, had been working on other things, as stated, away from horror, a bit more on the lighter side. I preferred infusing a degree of humor in just about everything I write, no matter the genre. My humor is never in your face slapstick (the kind that has no place & falls ass-flat in horror or a thriller, just go ask Tobe Hooper and how all that Three Stooges idiocy effing ruined what might have otherwise been a decent Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel.) Am talking about the one with the late, great Dennis Hopper. And to this day, Tobe doesn’t get why people like me hate that fucking flick. Hey, Tobe, horror is supposed to scare the shit out of peeps, brother, not make them want to giggle. If I want comedy I’ll turn to the great comedies of yesteryear—with Rodney Dangerfield, Laurel and Hardy, W.C. Fields, Jonathan Winters, all of whom I love, by the way, including the original Three Stooges. I’ll pop in It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World if I want to laugh, not Texas Chainsaw Massacre #2, but I digress.
Back to the thriller opus at hand: I was good with the version released, and so were my readers. So there it was: my attitude. It was settled. No more. No way. Onward and upward, or something like it.
Well, we know different, don’t we? Certain books have a way of getting under our skin. The detail that had been lacking in the initial version of the novel was fading in in bits and pieces of its own accord, no matter how hard I fought against it. Here and there, through my subconscious that refused to be ignored, images kept surfacing, knocking at my noggin. And so, I did the only thing there was to do: I started writing some of this stuff down, and pretty soon the words and sentences took over and the notebook started filling up. I wrote things down and kept writing things down, from 2015 up until about/just prior to 2017, when I could no longer keep putting off incorporating this new material into the novel and making it available for the upcoming 6x9 paperback version.
There was fan mail, to be sure, requests for not only more background on the Biggs character, but readers wanting to know if he was coming back. Whether Bishop Cecil O. Biggs and his alter ego, the clown called Trusty, would ever make another appearance I had no way of knowing, but what I did have was more on the origins of his own quirks and what basically left that irreparable crack in his psyche and turned him into the remorseless killing machine years later, with nothing but loathing and contempt for his brethren and sistren.