scarecrow decoys
scarecrow gods
winner of the bram stoker award scarecrow gods is the tale of maxom phinxs a black man tortured and disfigured in vietnam . maxom called the maggot man by the tennessee locals is feared and reviled because of his appearance . even so he takes under his wing a troubled young boy named danny whos fighting incest rumors to repair a shattered family wondering every day if his sister will return to clear it all up . in southern arizona john the new baptist has created a new religion promising salvation . most people believe in his strange ways . they dont understand he is establishing a herd for his personal use . only simon a faithless alexian brother and a homeless man named billy bones who speaks in palindromes anagrams and metaphor realize the evil and engage the scarecrow gods a circle of immense saguaro dressed in salvation army clothes who speak wisdom in the wind from pursed coke bottle lips . maxom simon danny and billy all fight and converge upon the center of evil as each journeys through the world of imagination the land of inside out and across america striving to defeat demons both personal and real to ultimately discover their deserved salvations .