By Wayne SimmonsThe word 'novel' is a funny old fish of a word, isn't it? We use it to describe something new, some delightfully innovative approach to life that hasn't been tried. An idea that excites us so much, the very thought of it has us smiling to ourselves, its little metaphorical light-bulb flashing above our heads!
In the literary world, the word 'novel' isn't used quite this way. Old ideas are, too often, churned out by publishers like froth from a river. The Popcorn Press almost writes a script in their guidelines for you to follow, religiously, when writing a 'novel' for them. Chick-lit is rolled out by the barrel-load - sparkly-covered and shiny-whiny as it sings its usual banal Bridget-Jones-like tune to every Milly-Molly who enjoys reading with one eye open, and half their brain asleep. A 'novel' approach can be the last thing you can expect in popular literature. Alas, the same can be said even for horror.
Yes, even in bookcases where darker volumes reside, the smouldering corpse of individuality clings desperately to hope's spine. Apocalyptic yawns litter the shelves of big and small presses alike, one too many square-jawed GI Nerd giving it large to whatever revamped mythological mojo is in vogue this side of Hell. Originality, even for the likes of horror lit, is as rare as hens' bollocks.
It's not surprising, then, when writers such as Gina Ranalli (Suicide Girls in the Afterlife, Chemical Gardens) and Alyssa Sturgill (Spider Pie) swagger onto the scene to relentless applause. Unafraid of the consequences of writing viscerally and surreally, almost in equal measure, these two women join a small number of others heralding in the new bizarro horror sub-genre. They bring new breath to the tired, old 'novel', offering light at the end of horror's murky, slurky tunnel. And we love them for it.
But what exactly is Bizarro?
From the FAQs on the Mondo Bizarrro Forums (www.mondobizarroforum.net), a place where both publishers and writers within the genre doth gather, it becomes very clear that an exact definition of this sub-genre is difficult to pin down. Luckily, therefore, I had Jennifer Barnes, Editor and Art Director with one of the three main bizarro publishers, Raw Dog Screaming Press (www.rawdogscreaming.com) on hand to help out.
In this, our first of several Pretty/Scary Features on the bizarro genre, and in particular the women within such, we ask Jennifer all about the genre that could soon rise up from the underground and literally explode onto the horror scene.
The Bizarro FAQs on mondo bizarro seem to offer a fairly wide interpretation of the genre. How would you describe bizarro, as a person, within every day life, and also as a publisher?
It's unfortunate that there isn't a more clear definition of bizarro but at the same time it gives the movement room to grow. Personally I think we face bizarro challenges every day living in the modern world. To me it's that nexus of oddity and irony created by ridiculous situations that are very serious, so serious that you have to laugh. Take one look at President Bush...how did a gibbering idiot become the spokesman for the free world? It would be hilarious if the consequences weren't so devastating.
As for publishing bizarro, my favorite works are the ones that point out the absurdities in life but make them entertaining. For example, our consumer culture and the way we commodify violence are pretty awful but in the forthcoming novel Dr. Identity D. Harlan Wilson makes me laugh about it with his depiction of a Wal-Mart style shopping town, called Littleoldladyville, where you have to buy something every 15 minutes or face the wrath of bug-eyed monsters. He also includes the most preposterous list of weapons available for sale to the average citizen.
How do you see Raw Dog fitting in with the sub-genre? What drew you to the genre, both as a person and as a publisher?
Well, Raw Dog was founded before the term bizarro came about. However, the whole reason we started the company was because there were no venues for weird, odd and uncategoriz-able fiction available. So Raw Dog is the perfect home for bizarro. But at the same time we also publish quality dark literature that fits more closely into horror genre. And, when something is really well written but won't be released by the mainstream for whatever reason we aren't afraid to tackle general literary fiction.
The thing that draws me to bizarro is the pure creativity of it. I like to be surprised by the story I'm reading. I want it to take me to places I didn't expect or never thought of. I can't stand those formulaic detective stories, romances or what-have-you with the same character going through basically the same story novel after novel.
How would you define *true* horror and, in particular, true bizarro horror?
<
"Bizarro" horror is a slippery beast. It could be horror conventions used in an absurd way, a spoof of horror like a giant man-eating sandwich. Or it could be something disturbingly odd. There is a lot of angst over the truly different, unique and new so bizarro can often push us into unfamiliar and frightening territory.
The 'holy trinity' of bizarro lit, Raw Dog, Afterbirth and Eraserhead seem to be controlled, mainly, by women. Is there a feminine quality about bizarro lit - or is this completely by coincidence?
I've wondered myself why there are so many women involved in the publishing end of bizarro. I don't think there's a particularly feminine quality to the writing but there's a fascination with the marginalized and voiceless, the underrepresented and powerless. Women often fall into that category and bizarro is a good forum to express dissatisfaction. Women are also often champions of the underdog and bizarro is certainly the underdog of the literary world.
Tell us about your work with Alyssa Sturgill, and a little about her release through Raw Dog - Spider Pie.
Our relationship with Alyssa goes back even before Raw Dog to our first publishing endeavor, The Dream People (an online literary 'zine). We'd published a few of her stories in the 'zine and when we decided to go into print we put out a call for manuscripts. Her story The Bunny Threat had always been one of my favorites from The Dream People so when she came to us with a collection I was very excited. Spider Pie was a lot of fun to work on because it has a kind of devil-may-care aspect to it. It's full of contradictions; adorable in a grotesque kind of way. The stories are short and quirky but very unique and satisfying. I added some iconic drawings to go with many of pieces and tried to match the mischievous flavor of the book. To tell the truth we don't get to work with that many female authors so that was an added bonus to the project.
Do you think there is a danger of bizarro lit imploding, disappearing up its own arse the way many artists dealing on the sidelines can often do? How would you guard Raw Dog from such a danger, if you perceive there to be one?
I definitely think, as with any new movement, there are a lot of dangers lurking for bizarro. It could get lost in the shuffle, co-opted by corporate culture; it could implode, explode or fade away quietly. But bizarro is just a word. People will still be looking for new, odd and exciting fiction regardless. That's why our mission at Raw Dog has always been to put out quality books first and not worry too much about what category they fit into. But my guess is that bizarro is a movement whose time has come and it will only snowball from here.
What does the future hold for Raw Dog, and bizarro lit in general?
The next six months are going to be really busy for us since we have at least 7 releases scheduled to come out before March 07. The first is Steve Aylett's And Your Point Is?, a fictional book of literary criticism on the work of Aylett's fictional author character Jeff Lint. Well also have the DVD style re-release of John Edward Lawson's Last Burn in Hell done as a Director's Cut with bonus features, outtakes and alternate endings. Dr. Identity the first novel by D. Harlan Wilson will be out in February and an anthology of groundbreaking fiction titled Text:Ur, The New Book of Masks edited by World Fantasy Award winning editor Forrest Aguirre is also on the schedule. After that we're going to need to take a break to catch our breath and figure out our next move. I've got lots of plans about using new media ways to promo our books. For instance, we've started putting together trailers to advertise novels. I want to break into pod casting and possibly even compile a DVD. We'll be attempting our first audio book release too and we may even venture into the realm of graphic novels. We're also starting up an imprint, Guide Dog Books, to do non-fiction pop-culture related books and no doubt there will be material about bizarro published there.
I know bizarro lit will continue to grow and I imagine we'll see the ranks of bizarro authors swell in the months to come. There are plans for a Bizarro Starter Kit II and III to follow up the initial collection that was released over the summer. Both Eraserhead Press and Afterbirth books have full schedules for the coming year. There have been talks about possibly doing a bizarro con so who knows where it will all be in a few years. It's definitely an exciting time to be in publishing.
For more info on bizarre in general visit www.mondobizarroforum.net
For upcoming releases and the current bizarre catalogue from from Raw Dog Screaming Press head on over to www.rawdogscreaming.com
Keep a watchful eye open for further Pretty-Scary articles on bizarro, featuring Gina Ranalli and Alyssa Stugill
