Bumper Crop by Joe Lansdale

This is a fine gathering of short fiction by the talented Texan. Most of the tales can be found elsewhere, but along with the earlier collection "High Cotton," "Bumper Crop" pretty thoroughly represents the early days of Lansdale's career, particularly his work for several national fantasy fiction magazines.
There are 26 stories included, including some as short as 2-3 pages. Twist endings are standard, as are outrageous monsters and charming villains.
Lansdale is a man who enjoys his work and loves to give his readers a good goosing. That often makes for eclectic, punchy and colorful stories. There are a couple of lemons in the package, but most of these pieces hold up really well, thanks to the writer's straight forward style and lack of pretentiousness.
My favorites include "Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock," Old Charlie," and the best of them all, the chilling "In the Cold, Dark Time." Also a lot of fun is "Pilots," which was written during the CB radio craze. That one brings back a lot of memories.
Highly recommended.