From a writer whose novels have been acclaimed for their unflinching exploration of evil comes a brilliant collection of short stories—some never before published—that distill dread back down to its essence—and inject it straight into the reader’s back brain. Andrew Vachss might have scissored his characters from today’s headlines: a stalker prowling around an anonymous high-rise; a serial killer whose transgressions reflect a childhood of hideous abuse; an inner-city gunman who is willing to take out a blockful of victims in order to win a moment of acceptance.
Tautly written and endowed with murderous ironic spin, Born Bad plunges us into the hell that lies just outside our bedroom windows.

Tortured far apart

Children of the Secret are

Alone until love

Stories

A Flash of White : Or how there’s always a snooping incel watching women undress from across the street and sometimes white isn’t the colour of panties.

The important thing was, I never hurt anybody. I just looked at them, mostly. When I went inside one of their houses, they were never home. I only took panties. The bitches keep their secrets, in their panties. If you hold them, you know their secrets. They belong to you.

Alibi: A father gets the same alibi as the paedophile who abused his child and got away.
Anytime I want: a short story about a thief (quiet in his own words) who discovers and calls in a murder of his sister. He’s aware of who the culprit is as he has been growing up in his house. He used to brag that he can have any woman in the household “anytime he wants”. This thief and his brother who just got out from Juvie deal some divine justice on the man they used to live with (I assume step dad or dad)
Born Bad – Like the book name. A serial killer is on the loose who seems to collect women’s hearts

Profile? Yeah, we did a damn profile, Suzanne. Nomadic, prolific driver, rootless, pathological hate for females. Serial killer…that’s what we got. Big deal.”

The serial killer decides to write back

There is no biogenetic code for serial killer. There may be some hard wired personality propensities, but the only way to produce. such a monster is early, chronic, systematic child abuse.” How I pity your lack of intelligence—and what contempt I have for your cowardice. Like all liberals, you hide your head in the sand of religion, convincing yourself that evil does not exist.
Pay attention, you little worm: I was born bad. I came out of the womb evil. My only pleasure is power, and I learned early on that the ultimate power is to possess life. To extinguish it at my will. You know how some men break hearts? Well, I take hearts. And I keep them.

I am not insane, despite your fervent wish that I be so. The behavior you so carefully chart is not the prodromal phase of psychosis, it is entirely volitional. Should you be interested in propounding a more accurate, precise diagnosis, you might check your holy DSM–III, your biblical attempt to quantify human behavior. I’ll guide your dim brain to the right spot, Doctor: Anti–Social Personality Disorder, 301.70. Such high–flown verbiage to describe what I am. Dangerous. Remorseless. Evil.
By now I am certain you stand in abject awe of my protean grasp of psychiatric jargon.

Cain: Somebody beats up a dog. They call in a man who comes back with a very special mutt: Cain. All white with a black eye-patch like a pirate. Cain is a pitbull and a very vicious one. When they encounter the dog beaters, Cain could win the Oscar performance as he goes from scared-looking into a snarling death-machine.

Cough: Hitman accidentally kills the wrong victim as he only used his cough as an identifier. Whoops!
Crime Partner: Interesting story about a guy going for a drive with his friend carrying heroine and getting pulled over by the cops. Moral of the story: never ride with him again. Odd but hey!

Bandit: Guy steals a dog for his bestie in the group home and gets shipped out with the bad boys to juvie.

There are more stories and a few longer ones which seem to have common themes. Sweet Revenge, Kill the Paedo, Hidden Monster, Incels. The longer stories are half detective, half sci-fi but they seem to be ok as standalone. They start strong but towards the end they falter. I see why this was put into an anthology rather than attempt publishing on their own but as Mr. S King said – there’s nothing harder writing a short story – as you are constrained by length.

Andrew Vachss

Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social caseworker, a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for youthful offenders. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series, two collections of short stories, and a wide variety of other material including song lyrics, poetry, graphic novels, and a “children’s book for adults.” His books have been translated into twenty different languages and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, The New York Times, and numerous other forums. He lives and works in New York City and the Pacific Northwest.
The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is www. vachss.com