Zeigt Titel in Literatur des Absurden

An imposing castle looms over a village and no one seems to be allowed inside...not even K., the Land Surveyor whose livelihood depends on getting inside. Though never completed due to Kafka's untimely death, The Castle paints a striking image of absurdity and the nature of existence itself.

Jackson and Rae thought their discovery was already strange enough. But when answers about the scroll leads them into the heart of New Orleans, they uncover a prophecy older than memory—one that speaks of soulmates bound by amulets, and an ancient curse. Madame Aucoin tells them a story of heirs to an ancient burden, but the truth hits harder than any legend: the tether isn’t just myth. It’s in their blood, in their bodies, pulling them toward each other even as it threatens to tear them apart.

First Runner Up, Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2024 Eric Hoffer Award & Grand Prize Shortlist Finalist! Aliens have hatched a rockstar. Brain extractions, falling body parts, and blood-vessel explosions are the norm. Alex’s dream job has turned into a nightmare. What should she do? It's the 1990s. Alex arrives at Acht Records, her improbable blonde hair streaked stress magenta and anger black. Her first duty is to wipe blood off her boss's walls. It goes downhill from there. Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a humorous story about life inside a record company.

Kevin Welch was just a small-time thug until a brutal encounter made him the pope! Now being hunted through the streets of Rome by clergy intent on taking his place as pontiff, Kevin finds a possible, though unlikely ally in an enigmatic and alluring hitwoman, but it seems she would just as soon kill him as help him, so can he actually trust her? Does he have a choice? Kevin just wanted to get his life back, and the only thing standing between him and that life is a cadre of bloodthirsty bishops and cardinals, furious nuns, hallucinogenic manifestations of Satan ... and his own ineptitude.

Most folks worldwide have visited a flea market, swap shop, or bazaar. Still, few take the time to get to know the variety of vendors peddling their lightly used or dubiously acquired inventory every weekend. At the Dusty Bucket, a self-described "androgynous pansexual with no more ambition nowadays than making a living as a flea market 'artist," sets up a table with their recently deceased mother's unremarkable collectibles. The booth neighbor sells discount cigarettes and has a tale of bluster for every occasion.

Steve Capone, Jr. shares three of his previously unpublished works from the last half decade or so. They are a bit odd. Wonder what it might have been like to see Jesus push a kid off a roof? Why an upstanding young woman might be breaking into a thrift shop after hours? Or what a man earning his million-miler recognition might have sacrificed to earn such high esteem? Three shorts answer these questions, at least in the mind of their author.

Beyond legend lies a reality so absurd it threatens to invert everything. Oscar Teabag-Dooven, poet by nature, Velvet Paw by necessity, is the only hope for a land on the brink of ignition. Some books brighten the world. This one sets it aflame. In a world where cats and dogs act like people, absurdity reigns supreme. Bedlam threatens to engulf the world—unless Oscar can stop it, which he’s willing to try, provided he has an enormous breakfast first.

When dark magic and deceit collide, the biggest threat also becomes the most ridiculous. Forget what you know about heroes: this one’s earless, accident-prone and remarkably ineffective. In a world where cats and dogs act like people, absurdity reigns supreme. With Sinson Rascalion threatening to plunge society into darkness, Oscar Teabag-Dooven is once again thrown into the fray. After stumbling upon the arrogant bard The Dodosette and the beautiful cat Vaasi-Vee, the unlikely trio argue their way across the world to do something about it.

The city of Liebe is gone and Oscar presumed dead. With Tabby Miss Cakes adrift in a crumbling realm of myth and memory, she's not sure what’s real anymore—or if anything ever was. When Oscar reappears, inexplicably alive, the two stumble into a bizarrely wholesome world where people sand horses, kindness is weaponised and no one seems to notice the sky is falling. That’s because a poet is eating reality.

Oscar Teabag-Dooven, former Velvet Paw of Asquith and occasional poet, is ready to leave the chaos behind. Having faced tendony beasts, collapsing palaces, poetic terrorists, and exploding pastries, he’d much prefer foccussing on the opening night of his theatrical debut. Unfortunately, the world has other ideas.

Gregor Samsa, a seemingly average salesman and cloth merchant, awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect. Trapped inside his new grotesque form, Gregor struggles to hold down his job and maintain his place in the family who become increasingly wary of him, frightful of his new body. Soon Gregor is unable to communicate at all, and becomes fearful he will forget his human side altogether.

Getting to the Shamrock Motel isn’t easy. It’s just off Concession #18, but you can’t get there through a sequence of lefts and rights. To find the Shamrock you have to be lost–not just on the map, but in your heart and soul. The Shamrock Motel does not accept reservations. The only way to get a room is by walking into the office and asking Rosemary, the owner/operator for one. Try not to stare at her hair.

Oscar Teabag-Dooven, once a Velvet Paw, is all that stands between a fractured universe and total obliteration. But Oscar wanted to be a poet, not a hero, not a destroyer, and certainly not the most loathed animal on the planet. After his avant-garde recital triggers mass death, suspicious reincarnations and catastrophic misunderstandings involving curry, he’s the only one left to blame.

Lost in the Wonderland is a journey through strange roads, wild rivers, and half-remembered songs. It begins with a botched bank robbery and spirals into a netherworld where music is seeded and rises in the airwaves. When the worlds collide, the spell shatters, leaving the odd, the brave, and the broken-hearted to search for their lost spark, through misguided choices, stolen Christmas nativities, roadside attractions, pills, and flamethrowers. Blending magical realism with mythic undertones, Lost in the Wonderland follows people caught between worlds, driven by longing and the need to belong.

They're soft, they're snuggly, they're adorable, and they're absolutely deranged! Welcome to the plush nightmares of Get Stuffed--a hilariously unhinged collection of short stories where teddy bears commit arson, attend Furry club events, infiltrate Wall Street, and sabotage doomed couples in remote cabins for kicks. These aren't your regular bedtime stories. They're blood-soaked, trauma-inflicting emotional roller coasters!

For Justyna Kowalski, who lost her sight as a child, the world is a map of sounds and textures. So when a freak accident allows her to see by consuming a human eye, she doesn't just embrace the miracle—she starts a spreadsheet. In a gritty, mutated Warsaw where the grotesque has become mundane, she rates each borrowed glimpse of the world for clarity, duration, and side effects, sourcing her supply from a semi-legal food truck called "Eye Scream."

Mike is a foley artist who traveled from England to work with his friend Dwain—the first foley artist in the porn industry. On set, Mike finds himself drawn to Chloe, an actress who looks like Marilyn Monroe… if she’d been involved in an industrial accident. The loss of her leg hasn’t stopped Chloe from becoming a top star in Freak Porn. Inspired by his feelings for her, Mike sets out to bring a touch of artistry to the sleaziest corner of cinema by creating tastefully erotic films featuring abnormally shaped performers.

Margot is the child of renowned musicians and the product of a particularly punky upbringing. Burnt-out from the burden of expectation and the bad end of the worst relationship yet, she leaves New York and heads to to the Pacific Northwest. She's seeking to escape both the eyes of the world and the echoing voice of that last bad man. But a chance encounter with a dubious doctor in a graveyard, and the discovery of a dozen old film reels, opens the door to a study of both the peculiarities of her body and the absurdities of her famous family.

Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows is widely hailed as one of the greatest works of supernatural fiction ever written. Blending breathtaking descriptions of nature with an atmosphere of mounting unease, Blackwood creates a tale where the boundary between the real and the unknown grows dangerously thin.

Meet Percy Thunderpops before the Old West turned him into a legend. In this outrageous prequel novella to The Legend of Thunder Pops, Percy is younger, dumber, and livestreaming his way into fitness folklore. Welcome to Thunder Nation Live—the most chaotic workout show ever broadcast to an audience of zero and a future cult of millions.