This week, I continue the list of eight great novellas and collections that I have somehow missed in my reviews and lists this past year.

Check out Part 1 here.

CRISIS BOY by Garrett Cook

This book would have easily made it into a previous 5 Favorite Bizarre Books list if it were not for one thing: the editing. I would be remiss not to mention that. However, if you strip away the fact that it reads like a first draft, you find an amazing story about a young man that serves as a prop for school shootings. Cook uses humorous yet apt commentary on the world of conspiracies. Let me just warn you: this book is not for the easily triggered. You will be offended.

You can find Crisis Boy on Amazon here

FORTUNE BOX by Madeleine Swann

Swann’s collection was one of the first bizarro books I ever read and remains up there with my favorites. While written as independent stories, they all revolve around the mysterious Tower Ltd. and the bizarre packages they send out. The whole collection feels like a series of Twilight Zone episodes strung together, weird happenings that show both the characters and readers new perspectives. When introducing family and friends to the genre, Fortune Box is always my first recommendation.

You can find Fortune Box on Amazon here

MOTHERFUCKING SHARKS by Brian Allen Carr

I may have mentioned this before, but this novella sits in the triumvirate of my favorite bizarro books of all time. Don’t let the title throw you: this short book is a piece of art. Set in the Wild West, we enter a world where sharks leap from puddles, murdering everything in their path. It is the writing, however, that takes hold of you. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read, evoking emotions I hadn’t thought possible in writing. Read this!

You can find Motherfucking Sharks on Amazon here

SUICIDE GIRLS IN THE AFTERLIFE by Gina Ranalli

This was another title that didn’t attract me at first. But I am very glad I picked it up. It is the story of a young woman named Pogue who takes her own life and finds herself in a hotel of the dead as both heaven and hell are under renovation. The higher up in the hotel, the higher your status in the afterlife. As such, Pogue is restricted from going upstairs. This doesn’t stop her and the companions she meets along the way, leading to a view of good and evil we do not expect.

You can find Suicide Girls in the Afterlife on Amazon here

Happy reading!

Tchau,

Zé