Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues
True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine 'Morbid Curiosity'
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
For ten years, Morbid Curiosity was a one-of-a-kind underground magazine that gained a devoted following for its celebration of absurd, grotesque, and unusual tales -- all true -- submitted from contributors around the country and across the world. Loren Rhoads, creator and editor of the magazine, has compiled some of her favorite stories from all ten issues in this sometimes shocking, occasionally gruesome, always fascinating anthology.
This quirky book is filled with tales from ordinary people -- who just happen to have eccentric, peculiar interests. Ranging from the outrageous (attending a Black Mass, fishing bodies out of San Francisco Bay, making fake snuff films) to the more "mundane" (visiting a torture museum, tracking real vampires through San Francisco), this curiously enjoyable collection of stories, complete with illustrations and informative asides, will entertain and haunt readers long after the final page is turned.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Originally published in the San Francisco-based magazine Morbid Curiosity, edited by founder and multivariate writer Rhoads from 1997 to 2006, this anthology tackles a range of topics falling under the rubric of "all the dark adventures that make life worth living." Beginning appropriately enough with "Why," artist explains her fascination with gross objects: "What could possibly inspire me to make art from hundreds of photos of dog crap... or a collage from bloody squares of gauze?" Elsewhere, Michael Hemmingson recalls playing doctor with his cousin Veronique when they were barely into double digits; Simon Wood chronicles the time he hit a bicyclist with his car; Dana Fredsti writes about a desperate job she took in an L.A. strip club; and George V. Neville-Neil recounts his landlord's suicide. For all the dramatic goings on, however, none prove particularly memorable and most feel detached, lacking in empathy and emotional depth. Though that might be (part of) the point, conflating the tragic and the everyday, this disturbing volume ultimately disappoints.
