This collection highlights dark surrealism at its most experimental and absurd depths. The texts are perception-altering and soul-poisoning, humorous in the way that accidental amputation and spontaneous combustion are. From the man who works at the foot fungus factory to the man who lives in a giant rectum, Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades will leave you wondering where you misplaced your sanity.Bio: John Edward Lawson is an author and editor living just outside Washington, D.C. His poetry collections include The Horrible and The Scars are Complimentary. His novel, Last Burn in Hell, was published in 2005. John is editor-in-chief of Raw Dog Screaming Press and The Dream People webzine, and has also been editor of several anthologies, including Tempting Disaster and Sick: An Anthology of Illness.
Billy Gillespie wakes up one morning to discover his junk is gone. In its place is his wife's junk. Billy is now Tina, and Tina is dead. That's because Billy's dead. His lifeless body is still in bed and empty beer bottles and a container of antifreeze litter the kitchen counter. Over the next 24 hours, Billy and an odd assortment of neighbors, all experiencing their own bouts of body switcheroo, try to figure out what happened and why. Can they do it before the Feds find Billy's body? Was it aliens that caused this, or God, or the government? And did Edgar Winter really sleep with his sheep? Pro football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw has those answers in a story that asks, What Would Kirk Cameron Do?
Tangerinephant by Kevin Dole 2 THIS IS THE WAY TENSION BUILDS . . . Michael Tangerinephant has problems. He's on the outs with his cyborg-prostitute girlfriend. He's in trouble with his (formerly) criminal syndicate. He's been framed to take the fall in a trillion dollar stock scandal. Things seem like they can really get no worse when aliens abduct him and force him to reenact 20th century daytime television. The Chill are strange. The Chill are deranged. Unpleasant things begin to swim towards the surface of his (sub)conscious in their presence. They might drive him crazy, if he isn't there already. . . A swirling vortex of science fiction, satire, and surrealism, Tangerinephant will suck you in and chop you into moonrocks. Tangerinephant is one of the most wildly imaginative books I've read in years, ---Carlton Mellick III, author of Satan Burger The world of Kevin Dole 2 is vibrant, irreverant, and most of all important. His is the kind of jubilance found only among madmen and geniuses. ---John Edward Lawson, author of Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades
The bizarro prison sex horror road trip exploding with alien invasion action! Kenrick Brimley, the state prison's official gigolo, hangs over a lava pit on trial for his life in a strange land. He will reveal the course of his life one misguided step at a time for his captors. From his romance with serial arsonist Leena Manasseh to his lurid angst-affair with a lesbian music diva, from his ascendance as unlikely pop icon to otherworldly encounters, the one constant truth is that he's got no clue what he's doing. As unrelenting as it is original, Last Burn in Hell is John Edward Lawson at his most scorching intensity, serving up sexy satire and postmodern pulp with his trademark day-glow prose. The Director's Cut edition includes: *Deleted scenes *Alternate ending *Photo stills *Remastering for more enjoyable viewing *And more! The critics agree: "Last Burn in Hell is an exceptional creature as far as books go...Lawson is an exception to the business of comparison in that his voice is a worthwhile addition to the chorus of authors following the trend most prominently presented in Palahniuk's body of work. An earnest, but wry honesty in writing, exploring the paradoxes of our contemporary American society." —Scott Lefebvre for Icons of Fright "I like writers who say things that you're not supposed to say, and Lawson’s fiction is exhilarating in its anarchic rebelliousness—obscene, crude, sacrilegious, and explosively intelligent." —Write-aholic "From hereon forth, I will not be able to bring up Vonnegut without speaking of Lawson. John Edward Lawson could contest the throne that Chuck Palahniuk sits upon with the masses of college students looking for something different, a voice of the counter-culture." —Skullring.org "John Edward Lawson is very much a man of ideas (one need only read his poetry to understand that), and Last Burn in Hell: Director's Cut shows that not only is he constantly coming up with new ones, but he is also unlikely to run out of them anytime soon...it would very likely appeal to fans of The World According to Garp, and it deserves that large and diverse audience." —Somebody Dies "In Last Burn in Hell, John Edward Lawson takes us on an insane trip where predicting what happens next is virtually impossible. This book draws the reader in right from the beginning and continues to be laugh-out-loud funny and nightmarishly scary to the very end... It ranks right up there with other bizarro cult classics like Satan Burger." —The Swallow's Tail
IT CAME FROM BELOW THE BELT, BY BRADLEY SANDS Meet Grover Goldstein: Twenty-First Century rascal, trainee provocateur, boy next door who won't stop snickering at you from behind the lawn gnome. Swallowed by a giraffe and regurgitated oodles of years into the future, Grover must satisfy his urge to go home-even if it means going back to high school and helping his severed, and sentient, penis win the presidential election. Come along to Assumption High as Grover tries to answer the age-old question, What if I had forgotten then what I don't know now? Absurdism at its finest, and part of the new and expanding Bizarro genre, this highly-anticipated first novel is by the editor of the zine Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens.
Thirteen years after a police officer searching a suspected child molester's home spilled a vial of silver pollen, America is still struggling with how to recognize its sentient fruit population. Charles is just a normal guy working at a doughnut shop until an apple and a banana shoot each other in a mafia dispute, leaving a briefcase full of foreign currency and a specimen bucket at the corner booth. When Charles turns the wiseguys into doughnuts and steals their luggage, hoping for a better life for himself and his kiwi fruit girlfriend, he finds himself in the middle of a mafia war. As his girlfriend travels the DC metro area, selling off the contents of the bucket, Charles finds he is the target of a seasoned hit-tomato, who happens to be the biggest Michael Jackson fan who ever lived.
Meet Manny. He's your average shut-in with a penchant for late night television and looting local fountains for coins. With eight locks on his door and newspapers covering his windows, he's a more than a bit paranoid, too. His wasn't a great life, but it was comfortable-at least it was until the morning he awoke with an egg between his legs. But what might have been a curse becomes a charm as this unlikely event leads him to all night diner, where he finds inedible pie, undrinkable coffee, and the girl of his dreams. But can this unexpected chance at love survive after the egg cracks and time itself turns against him, dead-set on rerouting history and putting a shovel to the face of the one person who could bring real and lasting change to Manny's world?
Already known for his works of speculative fiction, author John Edward Lawson uses Discouraging at Best to take a look at the "real" world. On the pages within are five interlinked tales that, when pieced together, paint a panorama of apathy, greed, and manipulation. We follow the self-inflicted plight of working-class families and their efforts to step on others in the race to get ahead. We watch the petty wars of Nobel laureates. We become immersed in the minds of those caught in an ankle-biters rebellion. We are drawn into the intrigues and incompetence of those pulling the strings at the highest level of government. And, ultimately, we wonder: why? Here the absurdity of the mundane expands exponentially creating a tidal wave that sweeps reason away. For those who enjoy satire, bizarro literature, or a good old-fashioned slap to the senses, Discouraging at Best offers extra helpings of each. "The content of the stories moves from profoundly disturbing to surrealistically hysterical, giving the book a manic texture...John Edward Lawson has written a powerful work with Discouraging at Best. Its stories are strong enough to stand on their own, but when taken in the thematic context of the rest of the book, they reveal added levels of meaning. Raw Dog Screaming Press has a real winner on their hands — a disturbing, thought-provoking, wildly humorous book. Highly recommended." —Jeff Burk for The Dream People "A genuinely funny (yet serious) collection, demonstrating that satire is indeed the vital blood of bizarro fiction; and it should be read by anyone who shares the opinion that America is a ship of fools that is slowly sinking, and all one can do is sigh and laugh at the sight of its going down, disheartened but amused." —Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens "Providing the reader with a mosaic-like narrative comprised of different voices and perspectives, Lawson’s approach is both imaginative and hilarious in its pairings, juxtapositions, and contrasts....Discouraging at Best is an accomplished and enjoyable read. A fabulous introduction to John Edward Lawson’s work as well as a treat for long-time fans, these stories are stylistically innovative and engaging. Highly recommended." —Midwest Book Review
Lawson’s second poetry collection mixes the humorous with the grotesque in a bizarre collection of new and previously published poetry. This volume showcases his more story-like poems, many of which are favorites at his readings. Appearances by Pee Wee Herman, the hook hand of urban legend, and the Egyptian god Anubis will have you laughing despite yourself. This second edition contains over 30 pages of bonus material featuring Lawson at his most bizarre and irreverent. "Collected poetry from previous publications, The Horrible gives you tiny tastes of the horrific dementia and wonderfully imagined regurgitations of Lawson's own nightmare bucket. He leaves you with images that will remain long after you've finished reading — something akin to shadows in the aftermath of an A-Bomb." -Kelli Owen for HorrorWeb
A brutal ambush in Iraq that threatens to wipe out his unit forces U.S. Army Ranger Jake McPherson to admit he possesses mental and physical powers most humans can only dream about. Using his powers exposes Jake to an ageless order of evil dedicated to spreading chaos to create a world they can rule.
