By Bizarre Hands is the first collection of short stories by American writer Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...

, published in 1989. The collection was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award

Bram Stoker Award

The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...

 for best fiction collection, and contains two stories which won Stokers. It has an introduction by Lewis Shiner

Lewis Shiner

Lewis Shiner is an American writer.Shiner began his career as a science fiction writer, identified early on with cyberpunk, and later wrote more mainstream novels, albeit often with magical realism and fantasy elements...

List of short stories

• "Boys Will Be Boys" (1985, originally published in Hardboiled #3) (excerpt of novel The Nightrunners)
• "By Bizarre Hands" (1988, originally published in Hardboiled #9)
• "Down By the Sea Near the Great Big Rock" (1984, originally published in Masques #1)
• "Duck Hunt" (1986, originally published in After Midnight)
• "The Fat Man and the Elephant" (previously unpublished)
• "Fish Night" (1982, originally published in Specter!)
• "Hell Through A Windshield" (1985, extended from shorter version published in Twilight Zone
  Twilight zone
  -Television series and spinoffs:*The Twilight Zone, the anthology television series and its franchise:**The Twilight Zone , the 1959–1964 original television series***Twilight Zone: The Movie, a 1983 film based on the original series...
  
   Magazine - non-fiction)
• "I Tell You It's Love" (1983, originally published in Modern Stories, 1983)
• "Letter From the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" {1986, originally published in Last Wave #5 (1986)}
• "Night They Missed the Horror Show" (1988, originally published in Silver Scream - Bram Stoker Award
  Bram Stoker Award
  The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
  
   winner)
• "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks" (1989, originally published in Book of the Dead - Bram Stoker Award
  Bram Stoker Award
  The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
  
   winner)
• "The Pit" (1987, originally published in The Black Lizard
  Black Lizard
  Black Lizard was a publisher imprint during the 1980s. A division of the Creative Arts Book Company of Berkeley, California, Black Lizard specialized in presenting rediscovered forgotten classic crime fiction writers and novels from the decades between the 1930s and the 1960s. Creative Arts Book...
  
   Anthology of Crime Fiction, ed. Ed Gorman
  Edward Gorman
  Ed Gorman is an award-winning American author best known for his crime and mystery fiction. He wrote The Poker Club which is currently in post production for a film of the same name directed by Tim McCann....
  
   (1987)}
• "The Steel Valentine" (previously unpublished)
• "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" (1986, originally published in Nukes)
• "Trains Not Taken" (1987, originally published in RE:AL)
• "The Windstorm Passes" (1986, originally published in Pulpsmith) (excerpt of novel The Magic Wagon

This collection contains nothing truly exclusive; although no other collection has included "Boys Will Be Boys" or "The Windstorm Passes", both are actually excerpts from novels which were sold as short stories when no company would buy the novels. The novels have been published, though they are both currently out of print.

Comics

By Bizarre Hands was also the name of two different comic book limited series

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

, a 3-issue published by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

 and a 6-issue published by Avatar Press

Avatar Press

Avatar Press is an independent American publisher of comic books, founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois.Avatar initially published only mini-series; however, they have since begun to branch out...

 in 2004, where other authors and artists adapted some of Lansdale's stories to comic book form.

The Dark Horse series was collected as part of Atomic Chili: The Illustrated Joe R. Lansdale

Atomic Chili

Atomic Chili: The Illustrated Joe R. Lansdale by Lansdale et al., is a collection of previously written stories by Joe R. Lansdale, adapted into comic book form by assorted artists and writers. The book was designed by John Picacio, and featured a cover by Dave Dorman...

.

The stories in the Dark Horse

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

 series are, by issue:

1. "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" (adapted by Neal Barrett Jr. - art by Phil Hester
   Phil Hester (comics)
   Phil Hester is an American comic book artist, penciller and writer.-Biography:This Eisner Award-nominated artist was born in eastern Iowa, where he went on to study at the University of Iowa...
   
   )
2. "By Bizarre Hands" (adapted by Jerry Prosser
   Jerry Prosser
   Jerry Prosser is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for his work with Dark Horse Comics.-Biography:Prosser was part of Dark Horse Comics from its early days, and was one of five creators, who as Team CGW created the Comics' Greatest World line for Dark Horse Comics...
   
    - art by Dean Rohrer)
3. "Night They Missed the Picture Show" (adapted by Jerry Prosser
   Jerry Prosser
   Jerry Prosser is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for his work with Dark Horse Comics.-Biography:Prosser was part of Dark Horse Comics from its early days, and was one of five creators, who as Team CGW created the Comics' Greatest World line for Dark Horse Comics...
   
    - art by Dean Rohrer)

The stories in the Avatar

Avatar Press

Avatar Press is an independent American publisher of comic books, founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois.Avatar initially published only mini-series; however, they have since begun to branch out...

 series are, by issue:

1. "By Bizarre Hands" (adapted by Dheeraj Verma)
2. "Not From Detroit" (adapted by Armando Rossi)
3. "The Pit" (adapted by Andres Guinaldo)
4. "Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back" (adapted by Dheeraj Verma)
5. "Night They Missed the Picture Show" (adapted by Andres Guinaldo)
6. "God of the Razor" and "My Dead Dog Bobby" (adapted by Dheeraj Verma)