“Dying in Bangkok” (1993)

There’s a lot to sort out about the provenance of this strange story by Dan Simmons. It’s already on the long side (ca. 25 pages) but word is there’s an even longer version (called “Death in Bangkok”) which was incorporated into his 1989 novel Carrion Comfort. The premise from that novel—people among us who can use mental powers to control others—is not really part of this story, or anyway not in the version in the Year’s Best anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Datlow and Windling used “Dying” in the title whereas ISFDB is adamant it is supposed to be “Death.” Somebody has something wrong. The story is extremely and ridiculously over the top and full of cliches, with Vietnam grunts on R&R during the war encountering depraved and decadent scenes in Bangkok brothels. It’s not erotic but there is a grotesque blowjob scene (actually more than one) involving a prehensile tongue that’s what? two and a half feet long? Guys come so hard they shoot blood, which is then consumed by these monsters. I mean... Simmons just patiently lays it out there deadpan. It’s incredibly repulsive stuff but he never breaks character as narrator, just keeps telling it. It’s basically a revenge story, as the main character’s best friend was killed by these exotic prostitutes. He takes years to find them again and set his own trap, which is tediously timebound by attitudes of the ‘80s and ‘90s. His plan is to get infected with HIV before he has his sexual encounter with them. My first and obvious complaint is how racist, and how boomer, everything is here about Bangkok. Simmons reels off statistics about the sex trade in Bangkok and its high levels of HIV infection. He views it all as a freak show and the biggest freaks tend to be Asian. Then the sex scenes are gross, overly detailed, and go on way too long. What I remember of Carrion Comfort is that Simmons had some sadistic tendencies, by which I mean he doesn’t just traffic in extreme violence but also puts his most likable characters in great peril and makes us watch. I never felt like he was getting off on it himself (unlike, say, John D. MacDonald in his Travis McGee novels) but it does feel mechanical about being extreme. Let me tell you about a prehensile tongue that’s two and a half feet long and makes you come blood. Too much! And the revenge story is weak. So I do not count this story as a good one, but I was happy to be reminded of Carrion Comfort, which is a pretty good horror novel.

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Seventh Annual Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Story not available online.