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Introduction |
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Psycho Noir
The term Psycho Noir seems to be used to refer to noirish films with a psychotic edge to them--Taxi Driver, for example. After spending a half-hour googling the expression, hell if I could come up with a definitive definition. To me, Psycho Noir is a natural way to describe Jim Thompson's best and most psychotic works: Hell of a Woman, Savage Night, Killer Inside Me, Swell-Looking Babe and Pop. 1280. These are books populated by characters whose perception of reality is just skewed and oft-kilter enough to screw them, as well as anyone with the misfortune of getting too close to them. Reading these books can be both a startling and exhilarating experience as it slowly dawns on you that these characters who are trying so hard to convince you that they're normal are actually mad, bad, and very dangerous. There's an energy that buzzes through these books that is hard to find any where else in crime fiction. Anyway, this was my definition of Psycho Noir, and this was the challenge I put out there--to write the type of stories that would make Jim Thompson proud--stories that are on the edge of madness--where the protagonists perceptions and rationalizations are just off center enough to send them to hell.
In my opinion, the writers for this issue more than met the challenge. These stories are buzzing with the same sort of psychotic madness and energy that you find in the best of Thompson--and I can't think of higher praise. This is pure noir at its heart. Brutal. Hard-hitting. Nothing watered down. Characters dancing on the edge of madness and destined to slip down the wrong side. This is the stuff I love, and I hope all of you enjoy these stories--as well as Jean-Pierre Jacquet's perfect accompanying artwork--as much as I did.
Dave Zeltserman November 2006
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