The First Case of Rot
One evening, when the feral cats have already called off the hunt and retired to their nests, there is a knock on the door of the modest quarters I currently rent. I reach for the Empress, my trusty cane. I…
Category Fiction
The Lady With the Nightingale in Her Chest
An Apathetic Apothecary In Torino I admit that I have cultivated the ridiculous dream of settling down and living a secluded, harmonious life. Why not here in cool, wonderful Torino with its glorious buildings and piazze? But who am I…
The Dance of the Chopped-off Limbs
“Losing your head, is it good or bad for you? What case can be made for the superiority of the headless man?” “Do you expect me to solve this riddle, Master?” “I do, but you may take your time. Try…
In the Field of Pseudo-Existence With God in the Margin
The Ash Lubber Limping like a village idiot through the ash heaps of the dead world formerly known as planet Earth, I spot a sudden movement in the distance, past the perimeter of the impact zone, and it catches my…
The Lone Wolf and the Hooknoses
Manhunters for Humanity As I step out of my cabin for a breath of night air, I hear them howling in the periphery. Are these wolves or Carpathian Shepherd Dog bastards, the kind that have mixed their blood with wolves…
Jean-Paul Sartre the Shitlib
At the time of these events, Europe had hit an all-time low. Well, thinking back, there was the Black Plague and the Thirty Years' War, but both of them had been beneficial to me, so they are excused. There was also the Great War of 1914, the sack of Constantinople, the fall of Rome and a couple of other skirmishes, but you get my point.
The Demon Drug Dealer in the Blistering Snowstorm
It is downtown in the deserted city, and a long-haired man drags himself across the plaza in the early Sunday snowfall. He has corkscrew curls, a full head of them, but they are slightly greying, and he wears washed-out yet…
King Midas Among the Entrails
After the Ice Storm I always knew, right from the start, that I would complete my journey down to the bottom, that I would end my days as a cannibal. It was only a matter of time. This is not…