Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Scorpion Ranch by Carlton Mellick III

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

My choice this week is a literary exploration of gender identity and emotional abuse from the grand master of Bizarro fiction.

Scorpion Ranch

by Carlton Mellick III
Science Fiction | Bizarro
April 15, 2025 by Eraserhead Press

For over 20 years, Carlton Mellick III has been writing some of the strangest and most compelling novels the bizarro fiction genre has to offer. Described as one of the top 40 genre fiction writers under the age of 40 by The Guardian and “one of the most original novelists working today” by extreme horror legend Edward Lee, Mellick returns with a literary exploration of gender identity and emotional abuse.

Daniel Munch is in a toxic relationship, but not just because his girlfriend is selfish and manipulative. She is also literally toxic-born with glands in her mouth and genitals that spew deadly poison. Every time they kiss or make love, he puts his life at risk. She could kill him at any moment and he has no choice but to trust that she would never do anything to cause him harm.

But when they decide to get married, Daniel is pressured into doing the switch-a procedure where couples swap bodies in order to better understand each other. For one month, he will become her girlfriend while she will become his boyfriend. It’s only for one month, so what would be the harm in giving it a shot? Surely it wouldn’t utterly destroy each and every aspect of his entire life…

From the Wonderland Book Award-winning author of Quicksand House, Glass Children, and The Girl with the Barbed Wire Hair.