Fan of David Lynch? Check out Bizarro fiction then eat some muffins
Love David Lynch's surreal style? Dive into Bizarro fiction with our curated list of mind-bending books. Perfect for fans of the weird and wonderful—don’t forget the muffins!
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Sea of the Patchwork Cats
by Carlton Mellick III
It is a story that has been passed down generation after generation. The story of conjoined twin goddesses floating peacefully in the middle of the sea. Many of those that have seen them, usually on calm starlit nights, swear that they are the sirens of mythology, luring sailors in to their doom. Others claim that the twins are not live women, but an ancient stone structure carved to resemble two females sitting back to back. A fewbelieve they mark the gateway tothe lost city of Atlantis, or a gateway to the spirit realm. But on all accounts there is one consistency: if you listen closely, at just the right distance, you will hear them echoing on the ghostly wind . . . dozens and dozens of meowing cats. Sea of the Patchwork Cats is a sad dreamlike tale set in the quiet ashes of the human race. A must-read for Mellick enthusiasts who also adore The Twilight Zone.
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Sex and Death in Television Town
by Carlton Mellick (III.)
A band of hermaphrodite gunslingers fight for their lives in a desert infested with crispy black demons. Along with a motley collection of survivors (including a sex-crazed female samurai modified to resemble a bipedal stegosaurus) they take refuge in the only safe haven left: Telos . . . a strange town near the end of the world, where the citizens have televisions instead of heads.
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Kafka's Uncle and Other Strange Tales
by Bruce Taylor
An alternate universe? A different dimension? The "id" of America? Meet Anslenot and his tormentor/confident, a giant tarantula, as they wander through a blasted, desecrated landscape of broken ideals and shattered hopes. In this place, nothing is right. The Militant Lambs fight with the Opposition and no one knows whose side who is on. Add to that Martians... Venusians... Elvis.... To top it off, Anslenot is hounded by his dysfunctional family and upbringing...and legendary surrealist Franz Kafka makes Anslenot his honorary uncle. Nightmarish, strange, bizarre--the way things are to be? Or the way things--really are? Also included in this collection is the novella The Humphrey Bogart Blues, a sympathetic look at Marilyn Monroe, who had she just been able to hook up with the Martians... ...and twenty-eight additional stories, previously published as well as some unpublished, testify to the breadth and scope of writing of, as one editor has stated, one of the top writers of Magic Realism.
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Sheep and Wolves
by Jeremy C. Shipp
Jeremy Shipp is the master of the mind-bending tale. Much like his critically acclaimed novel, Vacation, these stories bewitch and transport the reader. Though you may not know where Shipp will travel next, each story is an unforgettable thrill-ride and you'll be glad you took the trip.
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Spider Pie
by Alyssa Sturgill
Recipe for Spider Pie: blend 2 cups of dark humor with a healthy dash of oddity, add a pinch of ground freak's ear and 2 tsp of secret desires. Bake until your neighbors start complaning about the smell. In her debut book Alyssa Sturgill firmly establishes herself as the enfant terrible of contemporary surrealism. Laden with gothic horror sensibilities, Spider Pie is a one-way trip down a rabbit hole inhabited by sexual deviants and friendly monsters, fairytale beginnings and hideous endings.
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Fugue XXIX
by Forrest Aguirre
Fugue XXIX is the first full-length collection of short stories available from World Fantasy Award winning editor and author Forrest Aguirre. These marvelous tales come to you from the fringe of speculative literary fiction where innovative minds keep busy dreaming up the future's uncharted territories and mining forgotten treasures of the past. Whether exploring the stars or unearthing ancient cultures these stories will surprise and delight. In Aguirre's world anything can happen, and does, with regularity.
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Fishy-fleshed
by Carlton Mellick
Fishy-fleshed is an illustrated collection of thought-logs from a child-like man living in the cartoonish future world of Ocean City, so technologically advanced that everyone possesses the ability to walk on water, cure diseases, clone food, and raise the dead . . . an entire civilization of Messiahs. When a team of researchers travel back in time to the days of the Real Messiah, they discover the past is a lot different than they imagined. It is an illogical flatland lacking in dimension and color, a sick-scape of crispy squid people wandering the desert for no apparent reason. Part science-fiction parody, part nightmarish absurdism, Fishy-fleshed is likely to leave a green-gray taste in your mouth. This volume includes both the English translation and the original Ywellish language text.
