neko cam > Recent Status Updates

Zeno's Lethargy is an interesting thought.

"[The Bubble] came into being as a whole, in an instant - but because the earth was eight light-minutes from it's centre, the time-lag before the last starlight reached us varied across the sky, giving rise to the growing circle of darkness." Huh... well that makes perfect sense.

'City Streets' 3/5. A fine seemingly post-apocalyptic story that, unless it was a simple parable, I didn't fully grasp. Still it was a pleasant and engaging read.

'Of Tunafish and Galaxies' 4/5. I don't believe I understood the story on the whole, but it was an interesting little read nevertheless. The paradoxically rational irrationality of a mental patient and, I think, the same across the universe?

'A Little Spider Shop Talk' 5/5. Flash fiction concerning a discussion between a man and his spider neighbour primarily of why people are so fearful of spiders. It was very concise and surprisingly insightful. I think 'magical realism' might be a favourite style of the genre for me.

'The Breath Amidst the Stones' 4/5. Probably my favourite story of the collection, this short piece of magical realism sees all inanimate objects suddenly receive sentience. It reminds me of a similar story, though one I barely remember. It may have been in China Mieville's 'Less Than Jake'.

The next author is Bruce Taylor.

'The Truth in Ruins' 2/5. A post-apocalypse story that felt too sporadic and random for its goings on to hold weight or impact.

The next author is John Edward Lawson.

The next author is John Edward Lawson.

'Survivor's Dream' 3/5. Dreamlike indeed, and a strange sort of adventure.

The next author is Steve Beard (who appears disappointingly beardless).

'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Ragnarok' 3/5. I'm a but partial to Norse mythology, so this story gets a few bonus points for that.

'Peel and Eat Buffet' 3/5. An obvious metaphor, but still unsettling in a visceral way.

'The Screaming of the Fish' 3/5. Short and strange in a simple kind of way.

The next Author is Vincent W. Sakowski.

'Dont F(beep)k With the Coloureds' 3/5. Like a darker 'Cool World', with a few scenes that stood out and a single page illustration that made me wish there were more like it.

Partway through 'Don't F(beep)k With the Coloureds' and I've hit a comic-like illustration. Oh man, more of this bizarro stuff should have illustrations!

The next author is Andre Duza.

'Suicide Girls in the Afterlife' 2/5. It's hard to do a good Catholic alternate afterlife story because, if you'll excuse the pun, it's already been done to death.

The next author is Gina Ranalli.

'The Greatest Fucking Moment in Sports' 2/5. I liked the protagonist's backstory, and the way it made him eccentric, but most of the rest of the story was just so-so.

'The Greatest Fucking Moment in Sports' 2/5. I liked the protagonist's backstory, and the way it made him eccentric, but most of the rest of the story was just so-so.

The next author is Kevin L Donihe.

'Extinction Journals' 4/5. A post-apocalyptic story about a man in a cockroach suit trying to survive, and despite that it's somehow less strange than most of the other Bizarro fiction so far.

The next author is Jeremy Robert Johnson.

'The Baby Jesus Butt Plug' 5/5. Creepy and unsettling, it reminded me somewhat of Eraserhead, which I'll now have to re-watch.

The next author is Carlton Mellick III.

'Digging for adults' 3/5.

'Classroom Dynamics' 4/5. These stories, set in familiar scenes but heavily dosed with irreality, are my Bizarro bread and butter. This one concerns a university professor who feels for his students more than is considered acceptable by his peers and his Dean.