We’re all about the sordid, salacious, and taboo happening everyday. And we believe there’s uncanny power in the things that make us uncomfortable. So with VOLUME Ø, we’re giving you our worst: stories that provoke — shock, disgust, awe, you name it — as long as it’s not boring. Visceral, unsettling stories with endings that deliver a punch. Welcome to the fun house.
ISSUE 6 PARTY WITH CLIMAX BOOKS
Featuring works by: ALEXANDER WEINSTEIN, GUNNHILD OYEHAUG, KELLY KARIVALIS, LYNN SCHMEIDLER, DEMREE MCGHEE, JUAN VALENCIA, MYRIAM LACROIX
Transcendence 4 stars (view spoiler)[ Wow. So you go into a room and lay on a mat, add an VR and they help you work thru the various elements of getting over it. The mc is an alcoholic who has lost the right to even see is daughter. He's in need of a job and finds himself applying and getting the job and the one place that will hire him. With that he is able to work thru his addiction issue and his guilt for an accident with his daughter that cost him his parental rights. I would have read more of this story if it was there. (hide spoiler)]
White dove becomes black crow 2 stars (view spoiler)[ This is definitely a short story that left me saying....um....okay??? Maybe it's a case of everything happens for a reason??? (hide spoiler)]
The Big Texan 2 stars (view spoiler)[ Another story that I'm just not sure i understand what the point is. A couple are traveling and are in the panhandle of Texas. They are vegans but the lady has had enough of Chipolte so they head to The Big Texan restaurant. The watch an "Icelander" trying to each a meal that if he eats it all in 60 minutes and doesn't puke he gets the $72 meal for free. He accomplishes this but others around don't. (hide spoiler)]
Deep Hollow Close 1 star (view spoiler)[ I have no idea what this story is supposed to be about. A women, Writer, finds an earing in their vehicle and becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair with their neighbor. She goes into the neighbors house and into a secret closet in the main closet that has bins filled with things from her past. I don't get it. (hide spoiler)]
Exchange 2 stars (view spoiler)[ A couple, who are petty thieves, get caught by a Target employee who wants to learn their trade and steal something big. She starts hanging around with Mark (the boyfriend) and with the girlfriend together and separate. Eventually the girlfriend moves out and a few months later sees the Target employee (Shelly) and Mark on the news after they were arrested for stealing a big screen TV. (hide spoiler)]
Poking Holes 2 stars (view spoiler)[ I think if I was more of a horror story reader this might have been better but I'm not a huge fan of this kind of horror. A man (at least I think it's a man) hires a boy to come over so he can poke a needle into him repeatedly and then he pokes it into himself repeatedly. When that isn't enough he uses a wooden knitting needle that kills the boy. (hide spoiler)]
The Meaning of Life 3 stars (view spoiler)[ An interesting story. Not very realistic but I get the meaning. Two women (lesbians) find a baby outside of a comedy club. They take the baby home and realize that this really makes them whole. They accidently bump into the real mother who then stalks them. They eventually meet her and the 3 ladies agree that the husband/father is a jerk so the mother (Dinah) agrees to leave him, packs and they all move in together and decide to raise the baby because she sees that they are good to her son. Moral I think is love conquers all. (hide spoiler)]
ISSUE 6 PARTY WITH CLIMAX BOOKS
Featuring works by: ALEXANDER WEINSTEIN, GUNNHILD OYEHAUG, KELLY KARIVALIS, LYNN SCHMEIDLER, DEMREE MCGHEE, JUAN VALENCIA, MYRIAM LACROIX