Skin Tape!

Written by Anthony Trevino 

Anyone that knows me well can attest to this fact: If I see a sign that reads KEEP OUT or if someone says, “DON’T GO IN THERE,” chances are I’m going in there with a flashlight and a crowbar. Because there’s still an angry adolescent in me that refuses to be told what to do and I enjoy feeling as if I’ve been exposed to some kind of hidden, off beat treasure, which is why my love-hate relationship with the internet could best be summed up as a Trouble Every Day kind of affair.

Now, granted I haven’t been spelunking in an abandoned house or lurked around the perimeter of a boarded up hotel in a while. However, I have been known to sink hours into following bizarre threads on Reddit and YouTube wherein I find myself shaking my head and saying, “I wish I hadn’t clicked on that.”

It was during one of these time-sinks that I came across Shaye Saint John’s video “Skin Tape.” Now, I should have known better, but what was I going to do? Not watch it? Pfffft. The video opens like an 80s workout tape with text that reads: Modeling Session: Skin Tape. From there I was thrust into two minutes and forty nine seconds of some of the oddest scenes my brain has ever been exposed to.  

I was thrilled. I was terrified. And I watched it again…and again.

The video has the just the right amount of absurdity, comedy, and horror. The production value is pretty much zero and its shot on what I can only assume is a low-definition video camera, which adds to the dirty imagery that plays out on the screen. I was beside myself with uncomfortable joy, and yet, I felt like there was more to what was happening, like I wasn’t’ quite getting the full picture.

So, I went on a mission to find more intel on this individual made up of disparate mannequin parts. See, Shaye used to be a knockout super model that was disfigured in a horrific accident. Following her recovery she created a series of bizarre videos that would lead her to be an underground sensation.  

Knowing about Shaye’s accident put the Skin Tape video in a different perspective. It became less about strange visuals and more about the character trying to cope with the loss of who she used to be. Shaye continues to repeat the same lines over and over. “Skin Tape”—which is just duct tape—and “It’s part of my condition,” along with shots of her rolling around a mountain of empty soda bottles that she refers to as a “Baby Bottle Ball Bath.”

There’s a lot of repetition in the video, as if to display the constant loop that Shaye’s psychosis is stuck in. The skin tape becomes new skin. The condition is her disfigurement. And to be honest, I don’t know what the fuck the Baby Bottle Ball Bath is, but I’ll never forget seeing that face leering at me for the first time from a top the pile of bottles.

And now….neither will you.

*The character of Shaye Saint John was created by Eric Fournier. Unfortunately, Fouriner passed away in 2010 thus ending the saga of Shaye, but leaving a legacy of hilarious terror behind.   

King Space Void - A Review

King Space Void – Anthony Trevino

Gargantuan, Semi-Robotic, Planet-Eating Monster, you say? I'm in!

All right, King Space Void owes a teeny, tiny little nod to Jack Kirby and Galacticus but let's be honest here, everyone who is being creative at this moment in time owes a debt to Marvel somewhere.

So, King Space Void is the tale of Dane Shipps, a worker in the guts of the eponymous, planet-devouring god. He's a regular schmo, but slightly dissatisfied, think Winston Smith at the start of 1984. He meets Scarlett, who is a sort of commando from one of the planets about to be devoured. She, using Danes naivety, convinces him to step outside his routine. Together they journey through the titan's innards in an attempt to stop the monster once and for all.

Anthony's novella has a smattering of the Orwellian about it. The great clanking machine which one cannot possibly hope to destroy and the small rebel band trying to take it out. But, it also reminded me of the Odyssey as well (just like Karl's Towers but in a different way). The episodic nature as Dane travels from organ to organ, each organ being a new setting of weird, is good and fun and keeps the story from becoming stale and it is this quality which reminded me of Odysseus's journey.

Some of these island stop off's didn't work for me, although they are varied I would have preferred them be directly linked and representing each biological system, and then the descriptions and inhabitants reflecting that. And sometimes the pacing can get confusing especially during the action sequences. But these are little quibbles and in future projects I'm sure Anthony can refine this.

At first glance, this novella can appear a little nihilistic – there's a giant, robotic, planet-devouring monster on a search for the end of the universe and we're the ones running it! But look a little closer and there is hope in here. Perhaps hope in just the moment of existence before you are obliterated, or perhaps hope in a wider sense, the reader will have to decide.

Do, I recommend King Space Void? Yes. If you like the idea of Orwellian 1984, mixed with some Homeric Odyssey, through the filter of Marvel's Galacticus, then you're completely bat-sh*t crazy, but you've also found the book for you! So, take a journey on King Space Void, it's well worth the read.

King-Space-Void-Anthony-Trevino

The Bizarro Holiday Guide for Those Trying to Escape Reality

Hey there, folks. I hope the holidays are treating you well and instead of steering your gigantic death machine toward a helpless civilization, you’re able to kick back with some booze and enjoy the company of your friends and family. However, if you or someone you know is working the skin from their hands under the tyranny of a vicious and uncaring god, then you might want to pick up some things this Christmas to help you or your enslaved loved ones experience a brief reprieve from the never ending workflow.

1. Santa Sangre - One of surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s later films, Santa Sangre tells the tale of Fenix, a young man trying to cope with the violent acts he witnessed as a child. Got the holiday blues? Think your life sucks this Christmas? Trust me. It doesn’t when compared to Fenix's. 

2. Perfect Union By Cody Goodfellow - One hell of a body horror novel that makes Cronenberg’s early work look like fucking Care Bears. If you haven’t already been indoctrinated into the Cult of Goodfellow then I feel bad for you. Get in here. Join us. We need you... 

3. Perturbator's Dangerous Days - What better way to get your blood pumping for a revolt than with 80s inspired synth-tunes like “Humans are Such Easy Prey” and “Satanic Rites” ?!

4. Ovipositor and Alien Mask - If movies, books, and tunes aren’t your thing then how ‘bout diving head first into that alien fetish you’ve been hiding all these years? Break the chains of that vanilla sex life this season and give into your extraterrestrial naughty side. 

5. Bitchin' Space Biker Shirt by SKINNER - Mother. Fucking. Space. Biker. Wear this and be the baddest guy or gal in the galaxy. 

 

6. King Space Void - Lastly, what better way to round out your surreal, science-fiction inspired sex gifts than with a copy of this here book. 

*Extra cool points if you snag a print of the cover art from that smooth talking paint-slinger Kai Martin's web store: http://www.kaimartinart.com/#/king-space-void/ 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I LOVE YOU ALL! 

 

Where are They Now? Interview with Scott Cole

by Anthony Trevino


Scott Cole is one cool cat. I had the pleasure of meeting him at BizarroCon 2014 and he’s been an awesome friend ever since. His work makes me think of what if Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon made the jump from film to writing, and if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading SuperGhost yet, then get on that! It’s an excellent read that’s as scary as it is gut-bustingly funny. 

AT: So, to kick this off, I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do this, and was the Frizzi 2 Fulci show as awesome as I think it was?

SC: Thanks for asking me to take part!

Yeah, the Frizzi 2 Fulci thing was indeed pretty great. I’ve been a Fulci fan for so many years, and the idea that I would be able to hear the music from some of those classic films performed live is something I never really expected I’d have an opportunity to experience. The fact that they played my city as one of only 5 North American shows made it feel even more special.

I got to see Goblin twice (2 different configurations of the band) in 2013, so there was an odd sense of balance in my musical brain getting to see Fabio Frizzi now.

If the rumors about John Carpenter touring soon prove to be true, my head’s going to explode. Here, take this poncho.

AT: Oh, man, I’m so jealous. I had a similar experience when I saw Faith No More in 2010. There’s this great surreal feeling you get when something that never before seemed tangible suddenly becomes real. If Carpenter tours for Lost Themes I’m going to line up at that venue now.

How’d you end up being a part of last year’s New Bizarro Author Series?

SC: I had been wanting to submit something for a while, but really never felt comfortable writing something longer than a few thousand words. I had always just considered myself a short story writer. I figured it out eventually, though. And once I did, I started coming up with tons of longer-form ideas.

Anyway, I finished the first draft of SuperGhost just before heading to my first BizarroCon in 2013. When I was there, I sort of inadvertently pitched the book to Spike Marlowe, and a couple months later, after some revisions, I sent her my official, more formal pitch. She liked it, and we moved forward from there. Next thing I knew, I was at my second BizarroCon launching my first book and thinking of ways to promote it.

The entire NBAS experience has been a great one. Now I’m looking forward to the incoming group of books, yours included.

AT: Thanks, that’s great to hear, man. I think you knocked it out of the park with SuperGhost. For a book about a giant incorporeal Frankenstein’s monster and ice cream it’s as funny as it is horrifying.

Let’s talk a little bit about promotion. I know you’ve been hitting the pavement pretty hard in terms of spreading the word. So, looking back on last year, how was your experience promoting the book? Also, do you have any phantom gummy arms left?

SC: Thanks, man! I’m glad SuperGhost has struck a chord with as many people as it has. It was a lot of fun to write, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

Promoting the book has been a lot of fun, too, but also a little tricky, in that you need to find the right balance between getting the word out, but not being too spammy about it on social media. I tried a bunch of different things—some were more successful than others, and some were more exciting than others. But it was fun getting a little press, doing interviews, vending at cons, and also coming up with contests and small scale tie-in products.

I’m a fan of weird toys and cool limited edition trinkets, so I knew I had to do something along those lines for SuperGhost. One thing I did, which you mentioned, was to create limited edition SuperGhost candy. It’s actually a hard candy in the shape of a hand and arm that I had a local company produce, and then I designed a header card to make it look like something you might buy off a rack in a store. I had a few of them with me at last year’s BizarroCon, which I gave away at my reading/performance (people had to drink shots of “Super” Ghost Pepper hot sauce to win them). The rest have been doled out as prizes over the course of the past year. They’re all gone now, I’m afraid. 

I also had Killin’ Me Softly design and produce super-crazy-limited edition plush SuperGhost keychains, which turned out really cool. Those were available as prizes in the recent SuperGhost September contest.

AT: Damn, I should have taken that pepper sauce challenge. Oh, well, my stomach is weaker than rice paper anyway.

So, with all these great promotional items and the SuperGhost September contest, it looks like you had the promotional aspect on lock down. Was there anything you weren’t able to do to get the word out there, but really wanted to?

SC: Before deciding to do the candy, I originally wanted to get little glow-in-the-dark plastic phantom limb keychains made—actually, I found a number of people willing to do them for large amounts of money, and one person who could do it for a reasonable cost, but simply didn’t have time. I might have to revisit this sort of idea in the future.

I also teamed up with Little Baby’s Ice Cream for a co-promotional giveaway thing over the summer. I had hoped to convince them to do a SuperGhost flavor, but unfortunately, time and logistics were against us.

Other than that, there was certainly some press I hoped to get that just didn’t pan out, and some scheduling things that didn’t work out. But for the most part, I did what I could and had fun doing it.

AT: If the keychains ever do work out, I’ll take five! All things considered, I think you’ve done an amazing job getting the word out there, man. Kudos.

What words of wisdom would you like to pass on to this year’s NBASers?

SC: Think big. Be cool. Promote who you are as much as, if not more than, the books you’re trying to sell. Work together. Support and promote each other. Use the fact there are 9 of you and  the fact that you’re spread across several different continents to your advantage. Know that there will be times of doubt and frustration, and be prepared to push through them. Have fun.

AT: One more question and I think we can wrap it up. It’s a bit generic, but since I loved SuperGhost, I wanted to ask what do you have in store for us next?

SC: At the moment I’ve got a few different things in the works, but I generally don’t like to reveal too much about works-in-progress until they’re essentially finished. That said, if you like weird horror and grindhouse movies and 80s sci-fi/action stuff, you’ll probably like what I’m cooking up for the future.

AT: Totally understand. I’m sold based on that short teaser alone. All right, Scott. Thanks again for taking the time to do this!

SC: No problem. Thanks so much for asking me to take part. And best of luck to you and the rest of the New Bizarro Authors. 

Where Are They Now? Interview with Tom Lucas

by Anthony Trevino 

My first interaction with Tom Lucas was through the Bizarro 101 course that Rose O’Keefe taught over at LitReactor last April, but it wasn’t until Bizarrocon 2014 that I had the chance to hang out with the guy in the real world. Tom’s a great dude with impeccable world-building skills, sense of humor that echoes Warren Ellis, and a strong love for storytelling. His work is like Douglas Adams and Issac Asimov if they had loved industrial metal and punk rock as much as they did science-fiction. He’s the author of the novel Leather to the Corinthians and the novella Pax Titanus and I was thrilled to chat with him for a while.

AT: First thing’s first. How’s your back doing?

TL: Thanks, man. It’s doing great. Getting surgery over the summer sucked major ass. Time caught up with me. Back in ’96 I fell off a roof. Kids, don’t fall off a roof.

AT: Wise words. How’d you discover Bizarro fiction and Eraserhead Press?

TL: The Interwebs. I had written and self-published my first book and I simply couldn’t categorize it. A friend of mine, suspense writer Sidney Williams, suggested I look into bizarro. I found bizarrocentral.com and went from there.

AT: We took the Bizarro 101 workshop together last year over at LitReactor where you were laying down some killer stuff. Was that your first try at writing bizarro or were you a seasoned vet by then?

TL: It was really my first attempt at bizarro. I’ve been a writer in various shapes and forms over the years, but mainly in the areas of journalism and copy writing. Fiction is something fairly recent, and bizarro even more so. However, I’d like to stay with bizarro. It’s so much fun to write.

AT: I hope you stick around, man. Pax Titanus was awesome and I’m looking forward to what you do next. Speaking of Pax, how did you get into the NBAS?

TL: Ah, you know already! But for the benefit of those who don’t – in April of 2014 the fabulous Rose O’Keefe held a bizarro writing workshop on LitReactor. I was there, as were you and a few other of the class of 2015 (looks like a great year for NBAS, by the way).

I knew that this was a great chance to get my work in front of a publisher as well as a bunch of fellow writers, so I wrote my ass off. I wanted to make a good impression and I did. At the end of the month, the class was invited to pitch to Eraserhead. I pitched three novellas, each based off of the stories I wrote in the workshop. Pax got over the wall and I immediately went to work. 

AT: How has your experience promoting the novella been?

TL: It’s work, man. It’s work. I put a lot of time in knocking on digital doors, doing conventions, podcasts, interviews, and special promotions. It was on my mind nearly every day. It’s not easy selling books. Rarely is there a sense of immediacy on the part of the reader and that’s completely understandable. I’m the same way. In the last year, there were at least 15 books released that are must-reads for me. At some point, I’ll actually get to read them.

Beyond the work, what was most rewarding for me – the new friends I have made by getting Pax out there. I have made friends that I suspect will be around for a lifetime, and that’s the true wealth of life. I am a rich man for it.

AT: What advice do you have for this year’s gang of new bizarro authors?

TL: You all have something that Scott and I didn’t have. Numbers. You have a solid group of writers, books, and based on what I am seeing online, a lot of enthusiasm. I am excited for the class of 2015, and perhaps just a bit envious!

Use the size of your group to your advantage. Cross-promote, interview each other, blog, network, but most of all, share your resources and opportunities with one another. This isn’t a competition. It isn’t about who sells more books. The NBAS is an annual literary gift to the world. It’s a celebration. The NBAS is a family, and a special one at that. Now there are what, 40 of us total?

AT: Yeah, that sounds about right.

TL: And with that, there is some responsibility. Be kind, cool, and professional whenever you are out there representing. Don’t get caught up in any personal bullshit, online wars—none of that. Steer clear of any drama. I’ve seen some shit online this year. People posting personal and damaging things…just ugliness. Don’t be one of those people. Don’t be an asshole. Take care of your personal shit behind the scenes if you absolutely have to.

I want you and all the other members of the new class to know that I have your back. I am here to support you in any way possible. My door is always open and I hope you all are crazy successful this year.

Lastly, find new readers outside of the scene and promote bizarro! This is going to be an amazing year. Embrace it.

AT: Thanks, man. I think I speak for all of us when I say your backing and support means a lot. That’s one of the things about the NBAS (and the bizarro community in general) that really stands out to me. There’s no every one for themselves mentality. We’re all doing what we can to help each other out. It’s a beautiful thing.

All right, just one last question before we're ejected out of the air lock: Got any more awesome non-fiction tales for the Ultimate Bizarro Showdown this year?

TL: I do. It’s called Navajo Death Race and it’s as dark as last year’s was funny. The Bizarro Showdown roster is filled with talented, capable performers. I do not think of myself as a performer. I can’t match them and it’s a competition. And, unless I’m just talking, I have a tendency to get nervous when I’m on stage. So last year, my strategy was simple—just talk, tell a story.

I got through it and they even created an award for me! The Creative Non-Fiction Award, which was a collapsing stage knife. A spectacular result. I never intended to be the “Non-Fiction” guy, but clearly when it comes to the Showdown, it’s where I need to be. I have no idea how many showdowns I will appear at, but if you see me there, count on it being a real, bizarro story from my life.

AT: That makes me so happy! I don’t have the stones to get up there yet, which now means I owe Michael Allen Rose a lot of booze, but I’ll get there someday.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!

TL: It was my pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity. You have a book out and for the next year, you will be given attention from many. So for your first move to be talking to an out-going NBAS author…very classy. A true gentleman you are. May your book delight a ton of readers and I hope it flies off the shelf.

AT: If it doesn’t then all these monkey paws were for naught.

TL: Wouldn’t it be great if we became a part of the next wave of Eraserhead Press flagship authors? How cool would that be? The coolest.

AT: That would be a level of face-melting awesomeness.

TL: The next fountain I see, I will flip it a silver dollar with a wish on our behalf.