Book Review: By the Time We Leave, We'll be Friends by J.David Osbourne

J.David Osbourne is an asshole. You know the type, The first time they
pick up a guitar they can play a power cord without any help. They
know how to ride a skateboard and do tricks the first time they try.
This is a first novel. An amazingly good, taunt fucked up mind binder
of Dark Bizarro that is so well crafted you wont believe it's a first
novel. I know, what an asshole. He should have to struggle through a
few good but not quite there novels before writing a masterpiece like
the rest of us. What a jerk. I am not the only author jealous of this
book, might the only one to come out and say it.

So you want to here more about the novel. Lets start by saying this
won the 2010 Wonderland award for Bizarro novel of the year. It is the
story of a Russian gulag in 1950's Siberia. The story follows a couple
different characters but focuses much of it's attention on Former
thief and prisoner, Alek Karriker. things change for Alek when he is
promoted from prisoner to being a guard.

This gulag setting is perhaps one of the most bleak locations for a
novel you copuld possibly pick. So of course that interested me the
first time I heard about this novel. Are you really goign to escape
when hundreds of miles of tundra are on the otherside of the fence?
This is a miserable place and opium is one of the few things that
helps to take Alek's mind off the conditions that he and prisoners
alike deal with. One problem he has is a hole in his neck is talking
to him. At the same time the prisoners are losing their minds to drugs
and depression.

So why not try to escape? It's insane right? There is no vegetation or
food in sight for hundreds of miles. That sets of the kick in the
pants that Karriker has in mind for making it to freedom.

Well this novel is total insanity and I will only fail to give it
justice. It's all well researched and written. It's compelling and
impressive in every way. Swallowdown publisher Jeremy Robert Johnson
has an amazing eye for dark horror themed Bizarro and so far batting
five for five on masterpieces.

As often happens with masterpieces it's only weakness is also a
strength. I admit I have no idea what happened at the end. Of course
the first time I saw Muholland Drive I was totally confused, second
time I totally got it. the fact of the matter is I will read this
novel again someday and I predict I will feel like Moron for not
getting it the first time. Either way J. David Osbourne will still be
an asshole for writing this amazing first novel

Book Review: We Live Inside You by Jeremy R. Johnson

We Live Inside You By Jeremy Robert Johnson
188 pages
Swallowdown press

Thanks to an insanely cool book cover and equally intriguing title
Jeremy Robert Johnson's book "Angeldust Apocalypse" became a cult hit.
The blurb from Fight Club scribe Chuck Palahniuk calling him a dazzling writer didn't hurt either. Perhaps the best marketing accident came when very few people who bought it realized that it was short story collection and not a novel. Ok, that might not have been an accident because the reality is collections never sell close to the units that novels do.

That's OK because once people ripped open the package from amazon they were treated with one of the most insane over the top dark bizarro collections all time. If you have not yet read that collection I'll give you hint you'll want both these books up on your shelf keeping each other company.

Johnson is the Bram Stoker award nominated co-author (With artist Alan
Clark) of the amazingly dark illustrated anti-drug novel Siren Promised. He is also know for having written a short story about a dude that makes a suit of cockroaches to survive a nuclear war which was spun off into a separate novella called Extinction Journals. After a hypernation period where Johnson hung out with his human spawn and complied a list of germs and parasites Many of us wondered if JRJ would write again.

He came out of hiding first to publish a collection and novel by bizarro horror berserker Cody Goodfellow and rumors of a new collection by Johnson himself were rumored. I saw a few of the stories here and there in magazines like Dark Discoveries and Cemetery Dance but it was not until I had We live Inside you in my hands that I was totally sure.

I am so glad he did. Angeldust was a strong collection but the growth in the writing between the first and his second collection is like a out of control virus. The best horror writers chase their fears and in this collection Johnson rolls around in his worst fears. It is no surprise that Johnson has a list parasites and viruses on his
wall. If I have sold you and are worried about spoilers, click off this page go to Amazon and buy it.

The collection is separated into to two sections, the second being short pieces Johnson wrote with co-authors and a extended version of a story that appeared earlier. It's funny two of my favorite pieces are one page flash fiction type stories that pack amazing punch into bare number of words used. My favorite being “Cortical Reorganization,” which was a super powerful one and half pager about a spare changer. Other favorites include a dark Sci-fi piece called “The Oarsmen,” a Portland crime piece called “Persistence hunting,” but my favorite is a horrific tale I first read in Cemetery Dance magazine called “ A flood of Harriers.”

Flood of harriers, created a stir when it was first published, despite being semi-autobiographical and based on real events Johnson was accused of being borderline racist. Frankly I laugh at that, the story which happens to include a a few native American thugs is far from racist, and leads me to believe the people who were upset didn't read the entire fantastic story. It is my favorite in the collection because it starts off as a realistic and effective suspense tale before shifting seamlessly into a surreal body horror Karmic revenge direction. Well done.

We Live Inside you is dark bizarro horror literature at it's sharpest point, sharpened enough enter through the temple and worm deep into your brain. JRJ comes from the same scene but doesn't rely on dildo jokes or B-movie tropes like a lot of bizarro writers do. The insane ideas are still there, but it's like crème filling in a fancy donut. At the same time it's hard for me to advise anyone to take a bite of a book written by a guy who keeps a list of parasites above his desk, but this book is a must for lovers of all literiture that is weird and dark.

Book Review: Ex-heroes by Peter Clines

Ex-heroes
permuted press
274 pages

It helps that I read a novel right before this one that I could not stand, but either way Ex-heroes is one of the best novels I read this year so far. It would be easy to describe this novel as Watchmen with Zombies but that is cheap. To me Ex-heroes is the best serious zombie novel I have read since the explosion of Zombie trendy madness. I know I wrote a Zombie novel myself, but if you noticed it was a satire and most of the modern novels make my eyes roll just in concept alone. The reality is that the concept of this novel probably would have caused the same knee-jerk reaction from me if I had not had this book recommended to me by someone I trust.

It would be easy to look at Clines Bio and think that the author was thinking of Hollywood pitch session when he came up with the story. "It's superheroes with zombies," while not a ground breaking concept (see Marvel Zombies), and sure it sounds like a cheesy Hollywood pitch but it doesn't matter. Why? For starters this story is so well told nothing else matters. Clines organized the plot and told the narrative so well that the novel crackles with story telling intensity. Clines told the shit out of this story.

The Story is set in post zombie Apocalypse LA, where a group of former super heroes help a group of survivors live on inside the walls of a Hollywood studio complex. Instead of zombies the walking dead are referred to as Ex's, as in ex-human. Secret identities lose meaning, and the struggle that is life after the end of the world takes a turn for the worst. Could it be that ex's are getting smarter or is their a super villian out there ready to fight the heroes.

The story is told in a non-linear fashion set up in “Then” and “Now” structure. The now chapters are told in third person and the flashbacks revolve between separate first person narratives. In the hands of weaker authors the first person narratives switching voices would not work, but they are perfectly placed in the story so they make sense. Depending on what the story needs the flashbacks either explain previous chapters or set up the chapters ahead in the story. This is all done with a drummer's perfect rhythm.

This is a strong novel so what could possibly make it stronger? “Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes, vigilantes, crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilities to make Los Angeles a better place.” The characters are original and interesting superheroes, which considering how many have been done in the last century is saying something. They are also rich and written with emotional depth.

The suspense beats work will and there are true moments of terror in the novel, not an easy thing to pull off when most of your characters are super humans. Clines also manged to disturb me in a scene where a zombie mother drags her living dead infant down a street with a rope tied to her waist. He left to our imagination, and for me I shuddered at the thought of the dying mother not wanting be separated from her child even in death. Brutal.

I could nit-pick some of the dated humor that comes with cheap jokes about celebrity zombies, but really I laughed most of the time. This really is a near perfect genre mash-up novel. Everybody who knows me, knows I am hard sell as this is a genre I have mocked in my own novel. I am excited for the sequel, and intend to follow the author in the future.

This novel needs to be a movie. Paramount or Warner bros should be in octagon fighting for this one.

Book Review: Bible Repairman by Tim Powers

Bible Repariman by Tim Powers
Tachyon
192 pages
$14.95 Trade paperback

I have long been a casual fan of Tim Powers and his work. I've always found his science fiction to balance grand idea with excellent writing and strong characters. I have read only novels in the past. I was a huge fan of his novels Three Days to Never' and "The Abunbis gates". The Bible Repairman is a collection odd surrealist borderline bizarro speculative fiction. No space opera or generic sci-fi themes this book is really one for highly literate and patient fans of high quality weird literature.

I really enjoyed the stories "Soul in the Bottle," a tale centered around a book collector and his fascination with Jean Harlow's star on the walk of fame, and "Hour of Babel" a neat time travel story inspired by the pizza joint that Powers worked at in the 70's. The writing in all the stories are high quality, Powers has master's level talent. The only story I could do with out is "Time to cast away stones" the final story in the collection, that bored me to tears. The subject matter about Bryon and Shelly did nothing for me personally, I understand this is a postscript to a novel Powers wrote called "The stress of her regard." Perhaps if I read that book I might have been more interested but to me that was a weak point in a otherwise perfect collection.

I think this is a good book for librarians to stock in their collection and to display, as I am hoping it more attention. It's neat collection. I am not so sure I would tell readers they need to rush out and buy it but that is why it's perfect for the library.

Book Review: Archelon Ranch by Garrett Cook

Archelon Ranch by Garrett Cook
Legumeman Books
111 pages

This is a weird book, but you knew that going in right? It's a bizarro novel by Garrett Cook who won the first ever bizarro showdown at the first bizarrocon so I knew it would be weird. In a way I would say this novel is a mix of dark city and Adaptation. Bernard the main character is being used in an experiment, the world seems to be trying to convince him that he is a hat. Sometimes other objects, all the while he is being shot with hallucinogenic mud.

The point is not that he is an object, as in a hat, or a dresser drawer. He is object, - protagonist of a novel. As he goes to greater levels he loses more of his sanity, and it's up to his brother Clyde to save him. Clyde is an interesting character,and he knows it. I mean literally he knws he is a character, he is aware that Garrett Cook is writing the book. It seems he has read a lot Garrett's work, and is fairly critical.

So if you have not figured it out it gets a little weird from there. There is a religion that believes in following the word of our author, and Clyde is trying to save Bernard from all the cruel intentions of the author putting him through the experiments.

Is this a horror novel? well I can't say it is not, but I was expecting something a little more horrific,maybe a little darker. That being said it is a great dip in to meta-fiction. If anything was missing, was a feeling that Garrett Cook as a author, and creator of this work was out of his mind. He did such a great job with this novel i felt he was in complete control. He wrote a brilliant piece of meta-fiction but because it was so well written I felt he was solid and in control of the work. That is impressive, but the novel lacked the bat-shit crazy-ness of say Phil K Dick in Three stigmata, where it was so crazy I had no idea where it was going, that novel just felt dangerous. We could have used a little more of that feeling of danger. That is not an insult, Cook is just to good to be that out of control.Well crafted bizarro meta-fiction. Read it, you'll be glad you did.

Interview: Jonathan Moon Horror and Bizarro author!

DA: Mister Moon, Tell us about your back ground where you grew and how you discovered horror and bizarro?

JM:I was born in southern Idaho and lived there until jr high. My family moved to Nevada and I graduated high school there. I bounced back and forth a half dozen times before hauling ass up to northern Idaho (sick of southern Idaho and Nevada).
I grew up with horror kinda’ ingrained in me. I remember my parents reading Stephen King and Dean Koonz out loud to each other on long car rides. Something about the darkside of things has always fascinated me. I always cheered for Cobra Commander and Skeletor-alas, to no avail. Once I hit high school I discovered Clive Barker and H.P. Lovecraft. Both blew my mind and gave my mental warping a direction. My brother has an incredible collection of horror DVDs and I spent many nights pillaging it and watching a wide range of horror cinema. Yep, I’ve been horror for ever.
Bizarro I’ve only discovered the past few years and the more I read the more I love. I think bizarro is a bubbling mix of pop culture, every literary and cinematic genre known to man, raw emotions, and unforgiving humor all stirred together by some men and women with huge vats of imagination and dedication. I can’t stop reading bizarro…I tried to take a break but it pulls me back. Bizarro is a genre every writer should, in my opinion, read. I’m a horrorhead with a major bizarro-jones.

DA: How long have you been involved in writing fiction?

JM: I’ve been writing stories since I was just a little half a Moon. When I was still in elementary I wrote, drew, and stapled my first comic book, The Blue Ninja, and sold copies for 25cents apiece. I’ve always had the urge to write and I’d fill double lined notebooks with long rambling violent tales that made little sense. Over the years I’ve honed my craft and found my style. I self published Heinous and then put together Mr. Moon’s Nightmares. Once I set my mind on writing I began receiving acceptances and they just encouraged me…and now here I am- kicking up dust and talking to the guy who wrote The Vegan Revolution…With Zombies.

DA:You refer to yourself as a horror-core author, how do you define that?

JM:When I was young my dad took us to Yellow Stone National Park all the time. I grew up walking the paths and sniffing the sulfur. When Yellow Stone burned I was there. I saw trees I had known since I could walk mere smoking shells of themselves. Entire mountainsides were blackened and dead. In my minds eye I could still see the beauty I had always seen over the burnt trees and earth. I watched butterflies flitting around wisps of smoke from charred path markers. Something stuck with me….there is beauty in the terrible and there is terrible in the beauty…that’s what I see as horror-core….finding the frightful in any thing and every thing. Horror and beauty swirled together.

DA: Tell me about Mr. Moon's Nightmares? It's great title for collection. Is there a theme?

JM:Thank you. There is a wide variety of stories in M.M.N. including two novellas, a 100 word flash piece, a limerick, and a serial story. I didn’t set out to do it but the majority of the stories contained within do take place in the same fiction mountain region. There are stories with werewoloves, witches, vampires, as well as a few baddies of my own creation. It is a collection I’m very proud of and I think fans of dark horror will dig it.

DA: Tell me about the process of picking and the stories and how much did you think about order they went in?

JM:I loved putting the stories in order. I think it awoke memories of mix tapes in high school. I read a lot of different stories in different orders just try to gauge the feel and the flow of the entire collection. I feel like each story stands well on its own but I wanted the overall feel of the collection to intensify as you read it. I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

DA: You co-wrote a dark bizarro novel called The Apocalypse and Satan's Glory Hole, Tell us how that came about and how did you divide the labor?

JM:Hahaha. Tim Long posted up on facebook asking if anyone felt like collaborating on a novel. I was wrapping up Mr. Moon’s Nightmares and was looking for something to tackle next. Tim is a big fan of bizarro as well and we decided to have a little fun a write a bizarro apocalypse. It turned out to be more fun than I ever expected. To be honest I didn’t know I could write comedy until I started working on Apoc!
We hammered out a few characters and a thin plot line through emails and phone calls and each followed a set of characters and two each of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. As far as all the work of putting a novel together all I did was write my parts. Tim on the other hand is a whirlwind of talent and he did the formatting, worked with the cover artist and editor, and everything else I can think of. Really he spoiled me and I’ll be a useless collaborator from now on.
We are actually planning on splitting it up into smaller books and writing a third part to wrap the entire madness up. We hope to have the first book available by May.



DA:You just edited a collection of bizarro horror called Houdini Gut Punch can you talk about the theme and what you were looking for in this collection?

JM:Yes, Houdini Gut Punch was my first editorial offer to the world. It is 15 tales of weird horror. I feel like I was fortunate enough to get some really great stories from some very talented established authors and a few first time stories from previously unpublished authors. All in all a think I built a very entertaining collection for fans of the weird and the dark.
My main goal with the Library of Bizarro Horror is to publish great weird dark fiction and spread it to new people. Submissions are open for the next anthology I’ll be editing, Technicolor Tentacles. Along with that I’ve got a number of super cool things cooking from the Library of Bizarro Horror this year including a duel novella book from Jordan Krall and William Pauley III.

DA: Your first novel, HEINOUS, is going to be re-released by The Library of Horror can you tell us about it?

JM: HEINOUS is the story of a demon and the boy he possesses. If I had to describe it with one word I’d say ‘brutal’ if I had two words I’d say ‘brutal’ and ‘emotional’. I originally self published it a few years back and ended up very unimpressed with the company I was working with and the quality of the book. I sent Doc Pus (my publisher over at The Library of the Living Dead and all of its sister imprints) a copy for Christmas two years ago and he loved it. He saw through my half-assed editing and the shitty formatting to the twisted story beneath. I was lucky enough to get the chance to re-work it. I’ve added quite a bit and re-written most of it so it is becoming the beast I always knew it could be. It should be available end of April/beginning of May. HEINOUS is the most powerful, as well as, darkest, most vile and hardcore violent thing I’ve written (yet).

DA:Five films that most resemble your work?

JM:The entire Hellraiser Series, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Creeping Terror (1964), Zombieland, and, although it was really a television show, Twin Peaks.
I should also give credit to Guy Richie and Quentin Tarantino for being major influences on my writing as I progress and get comfortable in my style.

DA: You could only read books by 5 authors for the rest of your life who would they be?
JM:Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, David Dunwoody, Jordan Krall, and Hunter S. Thompson.

Book Review Praise the Dead by Gina Ranalli

Anyone who has followed my blog knows I love Gina Ranalli and her wide range of horror and bizarro books. House of Falling Trees to me is her at her horror best and Suicide girls in the Afterlife is her bizarro best. Gina returns with a unique spin on the zombie tale, see I’m not the only vegan with a zombie novel out.

Gina plays it serious with a mini-epic written in minimalist style. She tells a story in 170 pages that would take Stephen King a bible thick 1,000 pages or more to tell. At times it does feel like we are reading the final chapter of a bigger story but Gina has said we have not seen the last of some of the interesting characters in this novel.

Praise the Dead is the tale of two gifted kids born in other parts of the country each with strange talents. Lindy talks to birds and they tell her important things from a young age. Andrew has the power of resurrection, he starts with small animals and before long he is killing and returning humans.The forces of good and evil are taking sides behind Andrew and Lindy, with a great battle coming Andrew builds his army.

Ranalli has done a good job of finding a interesting hook to update the zombie story, in a re-telling of the Joan of Arc myth. This one doesn’t focus on siege or survival and in that sense it is different. It has more in common with the second half of the stand than it does Night of the Living Dead. I don’t think it’s as good of introduction to her work as House of Fallen trees, but it is hint of the trilogy it is meant to kick off. Can’t wait to read the next two.

Count Agranoff's Top Ten Books of 2010

The idea behind this post is to make a few suggestions that will benefit some struggling artists. But this is an honest top ten list of my favorite books I read this year that were released during 2010. You see that there are no authors or books on this list that are sold in airports or on the bestseller list. I didn't do this on purpose, but after I looked at I was excited that so many independent authors made this list. It's not that I didn't read any major authors this year. I read a few classics(they don't count) but I also read major releases from excellent authors like F.Paul Wilson (Ground Zero), Kaaron Warren (Slights) and David Morrell (The Spy who came home for Christmas) as great as all three were they didn't make my top ten.

The one thing I am bummed about is the lack of Non-fiction. I just read mostly fiction this year, and besides Jeremy Rifkin's disappointing new book there was much I was interested in. This is the list and believe me these days most writers depend on the independent press. You can safely bet the only authors making a comfortable living off their art are the ones you see in airports.

When you buy a book by a independent author, each sale means a lot to us. We get excited when we have sold 8 books in a month! Each one counts. So as a lover of books, storytelling and struggling artists I thought I would suggest some writers and books for you or for gifts. Dig deeper to find authors you that are not in the mainstream. So think of these as gifts that “give” not only to your friends and family but to the author and the independent press who published it.

A book is a gift that can pass on ideas, and hours of entertainment, but make sure the people you give these gifts too that that they understand why they are such wonderful gifts. Of course it's based on my tastes and opinions but I am going to tell you why with each one. Also if you bounce around my blog you will find interviews with many of the authors on the list that I did.

Honorable mention goes to Pandora's Seed by Spencer Wells. It is basically a study that lays out why civilization has been more negative than positive for our species. A little dry at times but mostly awesome.


Number Ten: Bizarro Starter Kit (Purple) Okay I have a bias because my novella, Punkupine Moshers of the Apocalyse is in this book. He is what you have 10 novellas by 10 bizarro authors including some of my favorites like Cody Goodfellow, Cameron Pierce (Lost in cat Brain Land), Jeff Burk (Shatnerquake), Garrett Cook (Murderland) and many more... 10 novellas from new authors basically one dollar a piece. This is the third bizarro starter kit. It is a great way to explore the authors outside the mainstream. Sample 10 authors for 10 bucks. Hard to fail if you like strange, out there fiction.

Number Nine: Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness by Robert Cheeke: If passion ever bled through the pages of a book about veganism, this is the one. While some of the information about bodybuilding competitions is not for everyone this is a great motivational book about veganism and fitness. Robert brings his trademark passion and energy to this excellent well thought out guide to vegan fitness. It works for both the newcomer and can also help vegan veterans.

Number Eight Werewolves and Shapeshifters Edited by John Skipp: This is a must read for fans of horror fiction. John Skipp has done here something that editors always try to do when they do a theme anthology. If this is not the ultimate collection of shape shifter stories I want to pointed to one that is better. Featuring classics from as far back as Hp Lovecraft’s Shadow over innsmouth to 80’s classics by David Schow and George RR Martin. The collection goes from strength to strength with original stories from some of my favorites like Cody Goodfellow and Jeremy Robert Johnson. Skipp combines classics and the voice of new bright stars in both the bizarro and horror movements. Fantastic anthology.

Number Seven Fistful of Feet by Jordan Krall: The best thing I can say about Jordan Krall's bizarro horror Spaghetti western is that I pictured it in my head with grainy old VHS look and the dialogue in the soundtrack was dubbed and slightly off. Got to love a western with Lovecraftian Cthulhu worshiping native Americans and saloons named after Charles Bronson characters. It's also well written and a heck of a lot of fun. Fistful of Feet is a excellent western that just happens to be amazingly weird as well.

Number Six Jade By Gene O'Neil: A 101 page novella released by Bad Moon books is a charming post apocalypse story, yep you read that right. O'Neil is a talented story teller through and through and this story set in the ruins that had once been San Diego is emotionally gripping from the first page to the last. I read this on a flight in one sitting, only stopping flip down my tray for my drink.

Number Five Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp: Nominated for the Bram Stoker Award this is the third fiction release of Jeremy C. Shipp who is quickly making a name for himself in two fields of dark medicine. A word surgeon with skills that cut like a knife across the genres of horror and bizarro. A first rate surrealist who is assured enough in his craft to throw out the rules completely. It takes amazing skill to weave a horror tale the way he has without the benefit of a standard structure. Disturbing and funny all at the same time, this is a first rate piece of bizarro as literature.

Number four Castle of Los Angeles By Lisa Morton: She has won the Bram stoker award three times, and this is first first novel. Morton has packed in an unbelievable amount of story for it's length. She doesn't waste pages and paces the story so well the pages fly by. I read the book in 48 hours that included two work days. Lisa Morton takes a familiar riff, tuned slightly to her pitch and the result is a near perfect traditional horror novel. The first of three haunted house stories on the top ten list, each has it's unique take.


Number Three House of Fallen Trees by Gina Ranalli: I can't say enough about Gina. Her books have crazy range from surrealist laughers like Wall of Kiss to political commentary of Mother Puncher. This year saw the paperback release a classic grade A horror novel. HOFT shows mastery of pace and deep knowledge of genre that Gina has never had chance to show off in her many bizarro books. A Creepy story with strong characters and a little early Stephen King influence. A short but effective read. Gina followed it up with a very original take on the zombie genre. A Vegan warrior and effective horror writer, if I had sister author it is Gina Ranalli.

Number Two Deadheart Shelters By Forrest Armstrong: I have actually delayed writing this review twice because I didn't believe I could do this novel justice. If you do the right thing and get this novel you will understand. I found myself, reading sentences and feeling compelled to read them out loud. DHS is a surreal novel filled with poetic prose that is disturbing and beautiful all at once. This story of an escaped slave is like a journey on a spiral staircase into another world, Armstrong creates a surreal landscape that is vivid, and the prose itself has to be savored like fine chocolate that slowly melts in your mouth. This is an amazing book, it deserves to be celebrated.

Number One Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow: Perfect Union is a weird masterpiece. Influences ranging from Cronenberg body horror, Evil Dead style gore comedy to a fascinating political dissection of Marx and Thoreau. The combo make this a genius horror novel destined to be mis understand by the the masses, but loved by the readers ready to get in the ring with Cody. It's not for everyone, The sex scene between tweakers in the opening chapter is beyond gross and a signal to potential readers....can you hang? Cody Goodfellow can disturb, offend and amuse in a single sentence, he has done all three to me in a speech tag before.
This is a book where a woman bites the heads of fetuses and throws them at people, but also intelligently explores the failings of communism. Cody leaves the rest of us in his dust, it is hard to describe Goodfellow's writing without sounding over the top or hyperbolic. The man is a diabolical genius.
As I said in my review of his short story collection...This is more than Lovecraft on acid, this is Lovecraft after a smack bender in Tijuana, one where he wakes up handcuffed to bed and covered in someone else's blood. Goodfellow's fiction has the otherworld -ness of Lovecraft, the sarcasm of Joe R. Lansdale, the mojo of a Motley Crue tell-all and best of all it's wrapped together with prose that would satisfy fans of high literature in horror.

Book Review: Slaughterhouse high by Robert Devereaux

Slaughterhouse high by Robert Devereaux
Deadite Press


For most people high school is a painful experience, I am Keenly aware of this not just because I endured it myself but my day job as a para-educator in a high school gives me a daily view. It is a hard gauntlet that seems impossible to survive. When you are facing the four years of daily education and social indoctrination getting out alive can feel like struggle to survive a slasher movie. And what about the cream of the crop? The prom queen and king have mastered the bullshit that is high school. Worse yet those assholes often take a nosedive and end up crashing into a life of mediocre tedium.

This to me is the brilliant heart of the satire that is Slaughterhouse High by Splatterpunk’s saintly uncle Robert Devereaux, the man behind a pre-bizarro but very clearly bizarro classic “Santa Steps Out.” This book is four parts bizarro and one part horror but is an all around visceral and deadly satire.

It takes place in the Demented states of America, where the greatest spectator sport is the serial killing of the prom queen and king across the country. The plot circles around the functioning of a small town and the big night at Condrum high school.

Devereaux has wicked and dangerous imagination and this novel exists in fictional universe every bit as real and fully formed as the world in science fiction novels like Dune or fantasy like Lord of the Rings. But it’s demented take on our own world similar but messed in that sense to Phillip K. Dick’s “Flow My Tears the Policeman Said.” But this not like putting goatee on Spock, this is a deeply fucked-up alternate universe. Don’t enter this world unless you are ready for blood and guts dripping down the walls.

Now I have given you lots of reasons to get this book. All valid, is there a weakness? A small problem but the only one I had with the novel was a lack of strong POV. There is no character that I felt I could relate to strongly, and there are so many characters and shifting Point of views that I think the novel suffered a bit for it. The invention of the universe it takes place in more than makes up for this minor shortcoming.

In the scope of the whole novel that is a minor complaint. Slaughterhouse High is master work socio-political bizarro satire.

Book Review: Super giant monster time! by Jeff Burk

Super Giant Monster Time!
By Jeff Burk (illustrated by Chrissy Horchheimer)
Eraserhead press

The third of the choose your mindfuckfest bizarro parody of the classic choose your own adventure novels this time written by Shatnerquake author Jeff Burk. You gotta hand it to Burk first and foremost he is a master at the high concept bizarro. Both of his novels just excite people when they hear the ideas behind them. This book is is not quite as funny as Shatnerquake but is still a really fun read.

You get to choose from three character's a scientist, a punk rocker, or an office drone. It's not long before the giant monsters show up to destroy earth. You make think choosing to be the scientist is the safest option but being in super secret lab wont protect you. As with many classic godzilla movies there are aliens around for some unexplained reason. They also have lazer guns that turn you into a punk rocker.

Look bottom line this is a giant monster novel, but not any giant monster novel, it's a one where not only do you direct the plot but you have chances to end up drowning in pool of monster sperm. What else would happen if a monster humped your office building? That is perhaps my favorite part of the book.

I could have been offended when my own subculture of punk rock (Vegan straight edge) is made fun of, but honestly if you read the book enough times and roll your dice( yes you have to roll dice) then you'll see Jeff makes fun of every kind of punk rocker you can think of.

You will laugh a lot and it will look great on the shelf next to Shatnerquake which is also super, duper funny.

Book Review: Lost in Cat brain land with Cameron Pierce

Lost in Cat Brain land by Cameron Pierce
Eraserhead Press
136 pages

There is a word you will hear over and over when talking about this short story collection and this author. Imagination. That is because Cameron's weird as hell imagination bleeds through every page with a syrupy thickness like no other author I've read.Culled from the pages of various Bizarro and horror zines, websites and such Pierce tells stories that are surreal, aburdist and sometimes disturbing. Unlike some authors that are just trying so very hard to be weird the strength of Cameron Pierce as a bizarro author is that he is excellent writer and most important it's natural.

Nothing feels forced in this collection. It doesn't have the "Look at me I'm weird and different feel that alot surreal fiction suffers from.

Take the title story Cat Brain Land or my favorite a flash piece A Scorpion in A Calfornia Town. the later story's opening paragraph made me laugh out loud and never did I feel like Cameron was writing with a neon sign flashing over his head that said "look at me I'm so weird." That is not to say that Pierce doesn't know what he is doing because he certainly does. A good example was a a sad little tale called the depressed man that really was a sad story to read and evoked sorrow for narrator in it's two and half pages.

I am sold on Pierce's skills as writer and not enough can be said about his imagination. I am interested in seeing if these types of stories can be extended into a novel. If anyone wants to find out he already has three novels, after this book they are on my list.

Book Review: Morning is Dead by Andersen Prunty

Morning is dead by Andersen Prunty
139 pages
Grind house press


Laugh out loud funny at times this novel is a surreal trip into the mind of Alvin Gentry who lies in coma in a Dayton hospital. Is it in his mind or has he been sent to a hell where there is no morning. The night never ends. Sex, violence and humor lace this nightmare of paranoid delusion. A short but effective little book that I enjoyed.

It is hard to talk about this book without giving away the plot or the twist, but it involves two storylines and depending on your interpretation, which time line is reality and which is a nightmare is in question throughout.

I'm back in Dayton Ohio, where the last noevl I read was also written. I read Prunty’s book right after another Dayton author Tim Waggoner's Like Death. I set out not to compare them but i don't see how I can avoid it. I got Morning is Dead because Jordan Krall(Bizarro author of the amazing Fistful of Feet) described it as Phillip K. Dick-ish horror. With that idea in my head and the fact just enjoyed Waggoner’s novel that I would describe as mind fuckingly PK Dick-ish I might have seen it more than way.

They both feel Dick-ish in different ways. The twisting of reality to me was more effective in Like Death, but Prunty captures the hilarious dialogue wry sense of humor Dick was underrated for. Morning is Dead is a nightmare and a great little bizarro read laced with laugh out loud moments. Very entertaining, nice little book and reason enough to support the cool line of books Grindhouse press has starting putting out. I am also looking forward to reading Slag Attack by Prunty.

Screams from a Dying World nominated for a Wonderland award!

My short story collection Screams From a Dying World was nominated for a Wonderland award for best collection. This is the third year the bizarro lit movement has given out awards at it's annual bizarro con here in Portland. That will happen in November. I super excited that I was nominated along side Cody Goodfellow who was nominated for his amazing collection "Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars." I can't think of anyone I would rather lose to!

Congrats to all the nominees!

BEST NOVEL

FISTFUL OF FEET by Jordan Krall
SHATNERQUAKE by Jeff Burk
WARRIOR WOLF WOMEN OF THE WASTELAND by Carlton Mellick III
ARCHELON RANCH by Garrett Cook
ASS GOBLINS OF AUSCHWITZ by Cameron Pierce

BEST COLLECTION

SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS by Cody Goodfellow
A MILLION VERSIONS OF RIGHT by Matthew Revert
SEX DUNGEON FOR SALE by Patrick Wensink
SCREAMS FROM A DYING WORLD by David Agranoff
SEE JACK by Russell Edson

Interview: Bizarro Author Jeremy C. Shipp

Sorry I have not put an interview up in awhile. I have been trying to do interviews with my non-author friends, some of the other interesting people I know. Should I be surprised that the authors are the ones that are good at sending me these interviews back? Anyhoo, I only know Jeremy from his books and the internet. I am hoping he'll join us for bizarro con this year. Creme filled Vegan donuts are on me Jeremy! I reviewed all three of his books here on this blog. Look them up, read them you'll be glad you did.

Most authors have one book or books that first inspired the love or narrative story telling. What did it for you?

When I was a kid, my muse burst from her cocoon after I read The Time Machine. Then, she danced a jig of joy after I experienced The Count of Monte Cristo.

Your prose and narrative structure is what most would consider experimental. Can you give us an idea how you developed your style?

I started writing novels when I was 13, and I’ve been writing at least one a year ever since. And so, my style has evolved ever so slowly. I’ve grown more and more minimalistic over the years. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I’ve learned that a meaningful sentence can be worth a thousand words as well.

How different is the writing style between your short stories and novels? Or one novel to another?

I want each of my tales to be a unique experience for my readers, and so I mold the narrative style of each story to reflect the psyche of the point of view character. For instance, Nicholas from Cursed is quite obsessive and neurotic, and so he thinks in lists. And Bernard from Vacation often thinks in literary terms.

Vacation your first novel is in part about a corporate retreat. Is this inspired by a job in your past?

Vacation isn’t inspired by a job, but it is, in part, inspired by real life travel experiences. For instance, I’ve volunteered at an orphanage in a poor part of Mexico, and I’ve also visited some rich port cities. The differences between these two areas are staggering. My novel, Vacation, is in some ways about this dichotomy. I know people who have traveled the world, but have never seen the world at all, because they have merely hopped from resource bubble to resource bubble.




Vacation got some rave reviews from authors like Gary Braunbeck and Piers Anthony. Between all three of your books the blurbs have come from a range of authors. How has that been for you?

The praise has indeed come from a diversity of authors, from Piers Anthony to Gary Braunbeck to Carlton Mellick III to Jack Ketchum to Susan Straight. I’m monumentally honored by the praise my work has received over the years. And these reviews have helped me to connect with a wide range of readers. My fans tend to be readers of Bizarro, horror, science fiction, dark fantasy, and literary novels.

You have a fantastic collection of short stories called Sheep and Wolves. Can you tell me about the selection process?

Thank you for the kind words. I’ve written over two hundred short stories over the years, and so I had a lot to choose from when building Sheep and Wolves. Basically, I wanted to include what I viewed as my best work. I also wanted the stories to fit the theme of social and personal abuse. Most of the tales I ended up using were newer stories, although I did include one older novella: Flapjack. Flapjack is very different from the other stories, in terms of narrative style. Still, the tale fit with the theme. This is one of those stories that people seem to either love or hate, but I decided to include it anyway, because it holds a special place in my spleen.


Cursed is a fast paced novel. The prose style is tight through out. Was there a longer version that was stripped down?

Nope. Cursed was always minimalistic and boney. And this means that writing Cursed was an exercise in obsession. For me, the tighter my prose style, the longer it takes me to write each sentence. Each word.

What does the Bram Stoker award nomination mean for you as a Bizarro author?

The nomination is a blessing. My readership has grown since the announcement, and I’ve received several offers for interviews and other projects. And, of course, my hope is that Bizarro as a whole will benefit from the nomination. Bizarro is a community and a literary movement, and so no Bizarro author is an island.


How does living in a haunted house affect your life, writing?

For the most part, my ghosts are rather lazy. However, they do manage to freak me out from time to time. One example: my father and I were working in the attic (this is before the clowns moved in up there, mind you), taking apart the old chimney, and we came across a mound of ash. After a while, something started rising out of the ash. At first, we thought it was an animal, but it turned out to be an old doll. It’s during those times that part of me wishes my house were haunted by Casper or Boo Berry. The other part of me appreciates those horrifying moments, because they inspire me creatively. For instance, the incident with the doll inspired my story “Watching.”


You are a vegan. How did you get interested in that lifestyle?

I ate meat for most of my life, and for most of my life, I worked hard not to think about where my food was coming from. Then, a few years ago, my wife became vegan, and her compassion inspired me. And so, finally, I opened my eyes to the true horrors of factory farming. I read, I watched, I cried. For me, becoming vegan was an act of love and respect; a natural reaction to reality. Of course, I don’t expect everyone else in the world to make the same choices that I do. Everyone chooses their own acts of love, and they’re all important.

Final comments?

1. I like lists.
2. You know you’re eating peanut butter too ferociously when you find some inside of your hat (at least I hope that’s peanut butter).
3. A barrel of monkeys is actually quite heartbreaking.
4. The Chupacabra really gets my goat.
5. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, if you throw it hard enough.

Book Review: Bizarro Western Fistful of Feet by Jordan Krall

Fistful of Feet by Jordan Krall
210 pages
Eraserhead press

Jordan Krall and I have very similar tastes in movies. Horror sure, but we also share a love for brainless 80's action movies and spaghetti schlock, not just Westerns, but Italian zombie and post apocalyptic mad max rip offs. There is a certain vibe you get from watching a a brilliant filmmaker with modest means do the best they can without enough resources. There is a charm to bad but ballsy films, the Italian filmmaker of 60's, 70's and 80's don't give a shit about looking silly that is why they produced some the weirdest movies of the era. (Look up trailers for Raiders of Atlantis, Deep Red, the Beyond, Django movies, After the fall of New York).

Krall has no limitations, certainly he has powerful imagination drips off every page of this short and effective novel. Fistful of Fist is many novels in one, a horror novel, a bizarro novel and most of all it's a spaghetti western. Sure this novel has Cthulhu cult native Americans, sexually transmitted tattoos, pistols that burp when fired and mutants mad from syphilis. It's a bizarro novel no doubt, but the greatest strength of Fistful of feet is that is feels 100% like a western.

There are pages that pass that feel like a straight western novel and I would forget about the bizarro elements. This was really effective because I would get comfortable with the western vibe and some kind of bizarro crazy-ness would come out of nowhere and shock me.

This is rare thing in a bizarro novel, when you crack open a genre novel, doesn't matter the genre it is an absolute pleasure to be tricked consistently throughout the pages. That more than anything else impressed me about this novel. The weird elements managed to still weird me out, thwe balance with a western sorta “realism” was impressive.

The story is about a man named Calamaro walking across the old west pulling his wooden donkey. He happens about Screwhorse Nevada which is the weirdest town in the history of westerns, that is no small feet. It has the corrupt mayor, the town gang led by the town thug, the weird brothel and a saloon and hotel named after Charles Bronson. Krall gets many points for naming the guy running the place Kersey, if you don't get you are not watching enough Bronson.

I dog eared a page (80) because the scene so captured the spirit of the western for me. I cast Lance Hendrickson (Bishop from Aliens) as sheriff in my mind. If there is any weakness in this novel it is not the authors fault but the fault of the genre. Towards the end the novel takes part in the stereotype of the “western movie Indian” when a battle erupts between the townspeople and the savages. Considering the level of tribute Krall could hardly avoid this, it is sadly a trope of the genre.

Fistful of Feet is a excellent western that just happens to be amazingly weird as well. It is also one of the best written works to come out of the bizarro genre, Krall demands attention and I think if he keeps up his Italian genre capture and release program he will go far.

Yeah read Fisftul of Feet is must read for spaghetti western fans. Get it!

Interview: Wonderland award winning author Gina Ranalli

Gina Ranalli

So I am doing this series of interviews on my blog. The reason for this is simple. As I watch my friends from very diverse and varied backgrounds interact on Facebook I had the idea that those people needed to know more about each other. I also know many writers, musicians and artists who have tons of amazing creative projects to promote. I want you to discover their creations as well.

Who do I start with. From the start I decided that I would launch with Gina. She is one of my favorite writers and more importantly one of my favorite human beings. This Seattle based writer is a Wonderland award winning author(Best collection for 13 thorns). She made a splash on the bizarro scene with slew of successful books for afterbirth books starting with Chemical Gardens.

One of the most impressive things about Gina's books is how different each book is. House of Falling Trees (my personal favorite) is straight gothic horror. Chemical Gardens is a hilarious punk rock spin on the Wizard of Oz, Suicide girls in the afterlife is a dark social comment, so is mother puncher but in a totally different way. Then you have books like Sky Tongues which is a surreal mindfuck.

Gina is the reason the small press is vital. An author like Gina no matter how brilliant didn't stand a chance in the traditional genre publishing. Now she has awards under her belt, a loyal following and is considered to be one of the top selling authors at the Horror Mall. (Horror-mall is one of the big DIY horror fiction websites, check it out.) Hear she is...


Where does the first act of the Gina Ranalli story begin?

I grew up in Massachusetts and was really excruciatingly shy. Just always buried in some fantasy world, either of my own or some book or movie. Any book or movie, really. And thank god I had those kinds of escapes because I never would have lived through my upbringing otherwise. My childhood was, sadly, much too typical, full of woe and loneliness. I wish I could say otherwise.

What was the first book you read the inspired you to become a writer?

It was probably something by Paul Zindel. He was my favorite writer when I was a kid. His stories were just so different from anything else I had read up to that point. Just full of misfits and whacky adventures. I completely related with those outsider characters. They sort of became my friends.

Chemical Gardens has been called a punk take on the wizard of Oz. You have had some years and some distance from that book how do you feel about it today?

I never re-read my own stuff, but I do still like the story, which kind of relates back to the previous question. A bunch of weirdos in an extremely bizarro situation. Plus, I think it might be my funniest book. At least I think it's funny, but I don't know how many people would agree with that assesment.

Suicide girls in the Afterlife was really where you first made social commentary but was also much darker than your first novel. What inspired this book?

It began with the characters rather than the commentary. I never start out with the intention of talking about a particular social observation in mind. The books eventually take on a life of their own and at some point I have kind of an AH HA! moment where I say, "So, THIS is what I'm writing about." I don't know if I could actually write a book with the intention of writing a social commentary. I need people and humor first and foremost.

A man couldn't get away with writing a novella like mother puncher, did you have the title or the story first?

I think I had the title first. And I've caught some flack for the book myself, despite not being a man. It made a few feminists mad, which is interesting to me, as I myself identify as feminist and think the book is actually very pro-feminist. I mean, that's kind of the whole point. It's satire.



House of fallen trees is a more straight forward horror novel, written before mother puncher do you approach a horror novel different from a bizarro novel?

Oh, yeah. For me, bizarro is more fun to write, but less challenging. The genres are very yin-yang for me. I can write bizarro really fast, which works best for me, but some people like my horror a lot more, but the horror takes a long time to do. They are both great in their own ways.

favorite meal?

I love Thai. Probably anything with curry. Put some curry on an old tire and I'm sure I'd eat it.

One book, one DVD and one toy to survive the apocalypse with?

This is a hard one. For the book, I'd probably pick either A Confederacy of Dunces or The Alchemist. For the DVD-I'm really into Watchmen right now, but maybe the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Would that count? The reason being it's so long. But, I'd really probably pick Bringing Up Baby, despite having seen it about 20 times already. And a toy. Hmm. Computers are toys, right?

What should a librarian know about your books?

They're in English and should be filed next to Ayn Rand. Besides that, I don't know. They could save your life?

Which books are you most proud of and why?

Well, I'm really proud of 13 Thorns because it was a bitch and a half to write, but we somehow pulled it off and I think it came out pretty good. House of Fallen Trees for the same reason. I also have another book coming out called Praise the Dead and that one was tough too. So, I guess I'm proud of the hard labors.

Which famous persons would like to see in a thunderdome?

I'd love to see Ann Coulter and Fred Phelps duke it out. It would be a win/win for all involved. (except the loser, of course.)

How did you get into veganism?

I came to veganism later than most do. Growing up, I didn't even know any vegetarians and I just didn't question the consumtion of animal products and secretions. Just never occurred to me. But, as an adult, I went to a city fair or something and they had a petting zoo. Those animals-most of which I'd never seen close up, always having lived in a city-looked so pathetic and unhappy. I remember looking right into their eyes and they looked back. I saw souls in there and had to stop eating meat. After that, giving up dairy was easy and I hadn't ever bought fur and hadn't bought new leather in something like two decades, so it was easy once I finally realized that I needed to be vegan. Now, knowing what I know about the cruelty and sadism involved with animal slavery, I just couldn't live with myself if I was anything but vegan.


www.ginaranalli.com

Book Review: Perfect Union by Cody Frackin Goodfellow!

Perfect Union By Cody Goodfellow
Swallowdown Press
256 pages


Cody Goodfellow is one of three authors (Gina Ranalli and John Shirley) who have received their own Tag on my blog. The man is a diabolical genius that fills his fiction with equal parts genius, gore, humor and genuine terror. Best of all this dangerous soup also has highly literate prose and well developed characters. When I read Cody's first novel Radiant Dawn I believed I was looking at the future of horror fiction in the same way those early readers of Clive Barker's books of blood were.

Many of you horror fans have read his short stories as Cody has become a staple in the field for new anthologies quietly racking bizarre and strange catalog of shorts that Swallowdown released last year in a collection ( Hit the Cody tag at the bottom of this post you'll find it). Cody's first two novels were a single story and as great as they were Perfect Union was a real test for Goodfellow. While his short stories have a modern weird tales kinda thing going on could the ultimate bizarro off the hook Goodfellow short story go full length. The answer is yes!

Perfect Union is a weird masterpiece. Influences ranging from Cronenberg body horror, Evil Dead style gore comedy to a fascinating political dissection of Marx and Thoreau make this a genius horror novel destined to be mis understand by the the masses but loved by the readers ready to get in the ring with Cody. It's not for everyone, The sex scene between tweakers in the opening chapter is beyond gross and a signal to potential readers....can you hang? Cody Goodfellow can disturb, offend and amuse in a single sentence, he has done all three to me in a speech tag before.

PU is the story of Drew who recently married Laura and agreed to go on a road trip with her hysterically funny twin brothers to help move their mother out of her rural Nor Cal home. Laura didn't talk about her family for good reason, mom was a commune hopping hippie and abusive enough give all three of her kids serious issues.

Mother lives near Utopia - a town founded by hippies and home to a failed communist compound that was moved into a an old aslylum. A new commune has grown out of the house, which uses radical biological experiments involving bees, mind control and the ultimate communist hive mentality taken to an extreme.

Goodfellow's characters slowly lose control and as the novel amps up. This happens as the hive mentality takes control of the narrative. Once that happens the blood, guts, and fetuses fly. Goodfellow spins a mind bogglingly insane tale of body horror that manages to dip it's fingers in uncomfortable gore while invoking laughter and deep thought about issues of personal freedom. Who knew a book where a woman bites the heads of fetuses and throws them at people could also explore the failings of communism. An intelligent socio-political dark bizarro masterpiece and one of the most original horror novels in years.

Book Review: Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp

Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp
214 pages Trade paperback and hardcover
Raw Dog Screaming press


It's really hard to to this review without

1).making a list.
2).resorting to praise.
3).saying shit, because I promised I wouldn't make a list.

Cursed is the second novel and third fiction release of Jeremy C. Shipp who is quickly making a name for himself in two fields of dark medicine. A word surgeon with skills that cut like a knife across the genres of horror and bizarro. A first rate surrealist who is assured enough in his craft to throw out the rules completely. It takes amazing skill to weave a horror tale the way he has without the benefit of a standard structure. That structure became standard because it works, but this is dark bizarro after all.

The story follows Nick and Cicely whose grow to become friends after they realize that each has been cursed. Nick can't make threw a day without getting slapped. He can't fake either asking his friends to slap doesn't count. At some point somebody is gonna be mad at him and give him a smack.

Nick and Cicely set out to find the person or thing that has cursed them. Along the way you might think that Shipp is writing by the seat of his pants but I don't think he was. Cursed while written with an experimental structure, mostly in Elmore Leonard worthy dialogue with action done mostly in lists it works. Lots of little details fly by and most of them pay-off. Probably all of them pay off I'm just not sure I caught all of them.

Shipp is my favorite Bizarro writer, this book is surreal, horrific, edgy, weird, funny and unlike most Bizarro books sentimental at times. A short entertaining read, Shipp is doing some great stuff I hope you reward him for his efforts. Read this book!

Good news about my first novel - Hunting the Moon Tribe

My first novel Hunting the Moon Tribe is on the way soon from Afterbirth books. While Afterbirth is closing down Karen wants to finish out the books she was planning to publish which include books by myself and Bradley Sands. All Afterbirth books will stay in print so I'll still be selling copies of Screams and Moon Tribe no problem.

I should be getting the cover art this month and blurbs are starting to come including this first from bizarro author Jordan Krall. (check the description of Jordan's latest book at the bottom of this post)

“Remember that old Shaw Brothers / Hammer Studios flick The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires? HUNTING THE MOON TRIBE is what that movie should have been. It is an extremely entertaining epic of kick-ass martial arts and bloody horror. Agranoff not only dazzles us with breathtaking action scenes and vampire violence but also tugs at our heartstrings with realistic family drama and romance. It’s a scary martial arts fantasy that will please just about everyone. David Agranoff is a gifted storyteller.” - Jordan Krall Author of Fistful of Feet and Squid pulp Blues

Can't wait to read Hunting the Moon Tribe? Well in January you'll get a chance to read the the prequel entitled The Fallen Guardian’s Mandate. It will be published as web only serial on the the fantastic Freezine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. My short story “A Planet of Our Own” appeared in the July issue alongside a serialized novella Sky pirates by one favorite authors John Shirley.

The prequel will be the headlining story of January, featuring what basically amounts to the pilot episode and will introduce Xu (pronounced Shee-you) a fallen Shoalin monk.It is also a kungfu Wuxia pan Dark Fantasy think like X-files meets the Bride with White Hair. Each month the freezine will contain another chapter that will continue the story. I hope you will check it out. If you follow the the web-novel and read Hunting The Moon Tribe when it comes out you'll get a extra special reveal in the story line that will bring both together.

In the mean time don't forget that my short story collection Screams From a Dying World is still for sale. You can buy it at the Afterbirth books website, bizarro central, Amazon, or Barnes and Nobles. So here is the promised info About Jordan Krall check out his website and his book. I can't wait to read Fistful of Feet, I read the prequel story in the first issue of bizarro magazine and loved it.



From the back cover:
A bizarro tribute to Spaghetti westerns, HP Lovecraft, and foot fetish enthusiasts. Screwhorse, Nevada is legendary for its violent and unusual pleasures, but when a mysterious gunslinger drags a wooden donkey into the desert town, the stage is set for a bloodbath unlike anything the west has ever seen. His name is Calamaro, and he’s from New Jersey.
Featuring Cthulhu-worshipping Indians, a woman with four feet, a Giallo-esque serial killer, a crazed gunman who is obsessed with sucking on candy, Syphilis-ridden mutants, ass juice, burping pistols, sexually transmitted tattoos, and a house devoted to the freakiest fetishes, Jordan Krall’s Fistful of Feet is the weirdest western ever written.

Jordan Krall: www.filmynoir.com/

Book Review: Sideshow PI - the Devil's Garden

Sideshow P.I. - The Devil's Garden By Nathaniel Lambert and Kevin Sweeney
Graveside Tales 155 pages
$10.95

Eddie Ghash is down on his luck, after losing his job in show business he spends two years drowning himself in drink before deciding he needs a new vocation. He is going to be a private detective. Eddie you see works the beat in New Ramoth, a freakazoid city filled with biazrro charcters. Perfect beat for a dog faced boy whose carnival freak show went bust. He learns everything he needs to know from THE IG'NANT ASS BITCHES GUIDE TO SLEUTHING.
This is high concept Pulp fiction noir style bizarro that only takes a few pages to build a universe that is filthy and disgusting. The pages are dripping with gore, goo and slime. It is so gross that it will take a reader with a healthy love of repulsiveness to be able to read it. If you can get with that you will find a lot to like this bizarro horror novel.
Introduced by the fantastic bizzaro literary flag bearer and horror master Gina Ranalli, that in itself is a sign that this good stuff. The two authors did a wonderful job of creating a mystery that involves a murder and conspiracy of biblical scope. Eddie and his former sideshow partners populate a bizarro city that is surrounded by rivers flowing with afterbirth. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, and strange-ness but this short novel has several truly uncomfortable moments of effective horror.
This is one of the best novels to come out of the young literary movement bizarro. This is the first one from the growing movement where I could really see a series and lots of follow sequels coming naturally. The further investigates of the dog faced private dick are something I look forward. If you take my advice and make this book a hit!