Declaring that she cannot neglect the brilliant anthropology of the Homo sapiens and his Celestial Orientations, she earnestly reflects upon the piano composition she had been most thankful to share at the Rosicrucian Order during the '70s in San Jose, California. Due to immense hardship, however, she regrets that she was unable to attend a meeting at which she was to meet Carl Sagan. "Freewill is an underlying idealism of common convention that disadvantaged and victimized creatures are incapable of maintaining. Controlling our environment poses insurmountable limits." The thematic content of Pirouetting Spheres reflects her association with the Rosicrucian Order, the San Jose Egyptian Museum bearing her profound sentiment. "I am from such a broken home that I was truly ashamed-pathetically incapable of extending rightful hospitality to those extending invaluable moral support. I hereby reflect upon the struggles of mortal man." She maintains that accurate responses are not always possible during moments too typical and fleeting. "I hope this poetry will encourage my fellow brothers and sisters to seek Justice and Fulfillment through the History of Civil Code and Astral Appeal."
"Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, the 19 stories in this new best-of annual anthology feature episodes of graphic gore and violence—including torture, dismemberment, self-mutilation, and home abortion—that are designed to push buttons as well as boundaries...strictly for hardcore horror fans."—Publishers Weekly Excerpt from the Introduction: Editors Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax put the call out to horror writers and editors of extreme stories, the hardcore stuff that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, the transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). We staked out our territory and nailed this to the wall to guide us: YEAR'S BEST HARDEST HORROR Not your mama's best-of horror annual. This stuff comes from the edge of the abyss, stories you read at your own risk because you feel the abyss looking right back into you through the tainted lens of each twisted tale. Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the reader some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding. Most of the stories collected here are from small and specialty press anthologies, with a few from periodicals, like the prestigious Splatterpunk Zine in the UK and Thuglit here in the US. Bizarro is also represented with a couple of tales from the unlikely anthology Blood For You: A Literary Tribute To GG Allin from Weirdpunk Books. (If you're not familiar with the late GG Allin, you can find snippets from some of his outrageous and obscene punk shows online, which will increase your appreciation of those two tales.) So for now, forget about that neighbor you suspect is a serial killer, don't worry about the drunk driver that could take you out on your next trip to the store, push those troubling news stories to the back of your mind and immerse yourself in the imaginary horrors at hand. But don't be surprised if you sense something dark staring back at you from between the lines. That is to be expected when you enter these forbidding realms. With any luck, you may find something useful to help you survive the approaching Apocalypse. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: The Year That Was "Worth the Having" by Michael Paul Gonzalez "Awakening" by Jeff Strand "Readings Off The Charts" by Adam Cesare "Reborn" by The Behrg "What's Worst" by David James Keaton "Dead End" by Kristopher Triana "What You Wish For" by Lilith Morgan "King Shits" by Charles Austin Muir "Cleanup On Aisle 3" by Adam Howe "Bath Salt Fetus" by Jorge Palacios "Bored With Brutality" by MP Johnson "Exposed" by Monica J. O'Rourke "Eleanor" by Jason Parent "The Scavengers" by Tony Knighton "The Most Important Miracle" by Scott Emerson "Hungry For Control" by Clare de Lune "Clarissa" by Robert Essig & Jack Bantry "Where The Sun Don't Shine" by Pete Kahle "Blackbird Lullaby" by George Cotronis
This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.
Daring... Dueling... Disturbing... Damning WANTED: Bizarro writers to provide their take on "How the West was Weird." Nine outlaw writers rode into town from obscurity to pen nine tantalizing tales of horror and fantasy, and leaving once they branded their own personal marks on the weird western genre and became living legends of the American Frontier experience. Like drunken Indian scouts, the writers fervidly tracked down and captured the Western genre, tore off its fashionable veneer and ravished its exposed essence. So belly up to the bar with your favorite soiled dove and enjoy perusing these thrilling tales of Old West debauchery, danger and desire; compiled by the publisher of The Big Book of Bizarro and featuring the bizarro novella Big Trouble in Little Ass by Wol-vriey. Stories include: Demoneye by David J. Fairhead - A vengeful loner finds the courage to battle evil, but only after a few stiff drinks. The Undesirable by Jessie J. Saxon - When a series of unsolved murders occurs, a small town sheriff discovers that he can't just abandon his duty and run away from his problems. The Tailsman by Gary Lee Vincent - A ladies' man uses his unique charms to tame a wild beast and become a living legend. The Man With Too Many Names by Kelly R. Martin - The more sinners that a holy man eliminates, the more heathens he seems to attract. Just Enough Rope by Nelson W. Pyles - A bounty hunter must decide between claiming his bounty or hanging up his holster on the bed post of a bountiful beauty. The Whore in the Mirror by Kimberly Bennett- A man tracks down his missing brother, straight into the deceitful arms of a narcissistic ne'er-do-well. Succubi Sundown by Scott Emerson - An injured and delirious gunslinger finds comfort, peace and faith at a strange desert oasis. A Town Called Rupture by Rich Bottles Jr. - Twin philanthropists try to bring together a town divided by greed and hate. Big Trouble in Little Ass by Wol-vriey - A hired assassin realizes that desperate times call for desperate measures and that only the love of a beautiful woman can save him. WARNING: These adult western tales are intended for... ahem... 'mature' audiences.
This wide-ranging book illuminates the importance of the Western in American history. It explores the interconnections between the Western in both literature and film and the United States in the 20th century.Structured chronologically, the book traces the evolution of the Western as a uniquely American form. The author argues that America's frontier past was quickly transformed into a set of symbols and myths, an American meta-narrative that came to underpin much of the 'American century'. He details how and why this process occurred, the form and function of Western myths and symbols, the evolution of this mythology, and its subversions and reconstructions throughout 20th-century American history.The book engages with the full range of historical, literary and cinematic perspectives and texts, from the founding Western histories of Theodore Roosevelt and Frederick Jackson Turner to the New Western history of Patricia Nelson Limerick and Richard White.
