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Under a Black Rainbow
The eighteen stories found within are mental and emotional excavations of fractured traumas, the awakening of unique pleasures, and the moments where we come face to face with the hungry voices whispering to us from the dark.
Before falling asleep every night, a man ritually unlaces the stitches keeping his chest tied closed.
A pair of lovers allow their strangest thoughts to invade and infect their lovemaking.
One unsuspecting child learns why so many others are afraid of things they cannot see.
A family slowly unravels as the father seeks his buried name in the walls and the mother unbecomes.
The death of a child leaves a living, lingering reminder behind as memorial.
One woman becomes unexpectedly aroused by a new and surprising happenstance.
The entrance to a strange and deserted museum suddenly appears in the side of a city building.
These stories are misshapen and deformed offspring; these are lessons that continue to go unlearned.
Before falling asleep every night, a man ritually unlaces the stitches keeping his chest tied closed.
A pair of lovers allow their strangest thoughts to invade and infect their lovemaking.
One unsuspecting child learns why so many others are afraid of things they cannot see.
A family slowly unravels as the father seeks his buried name in the walls and the mother unbecomes.
The death of a child leaves a living, lingering reminder behind as memorial.
One woman becomes unexpectedly aroused by a new and surprising happenstance.
The entrance to a strange and deserted museum suddenly appears in the side of a city building.
These stories are misshapen and deformed offspring; these are lessons that continue to go unlearned.
382 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2023
6 people are currently reading
3377 people want to read
About the author
Adam Rodenberger
5 books62 followersAdam “Bucho” Rodenberger is an abstract artist and fiction writer from Kansas City, specializing in surrealism, dark fiction, horror, and dystopian stories. In 2009, he earned dual bachelor's degrees in English and Philosophy while minoring in Political Science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He earned his MFA in Writing at the University of San Francisco in 2011.
He has been published in Agua Magazine, Alors, Et Tois?, Aphelion, Bluestem Magazine, BrainBox Magazine, Castabout Art & Literature, Cause & Effect Magazine, Cahoodaloodaling, Crack the Spine, Eunoia Review, Five Quarterly Magazine, Ginosko Literary Journal, Glint Literary Journal, The Gloom Cupboard, Hamilton Stone Review, The Heartland Review, Inlandia, L’allures des Mots, Lunch Box, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, New Plains Review, Offbeatpulp, Penduline Press, Phoebe, Poydras Review, Punt Volat, The Santa Clara Review, Serving House Journal, The Seventh Wave, Sheepshead Review, Slice Magazine, The Raw Art Review, Up The Staircase, WAXING & WANING, Fox Spirit's "Girl at the End of the World: Book 1" anthology, and was shortlisted for the Almond Press “Broken Worlds” fiction contest
He has two novels in progress ("Impasto" & “Rise") and three short story collections from which numerous stories have been published: "Scaring the Stars into Submission," "The Machinery of the Heart: Love Stories," and his latest “Under a Black Rainbow.”
He is currently cobbling together a hybrid collection of fiction and non-fiction pieces on grief and its effect on the creative life called "An Atlas of Bone & Sorrow,” which he hopes to publish by 2025. He is also working on a new story collection of grimdark, surrealist horror fables called ".corpsegod."
His socials can be found at: https://linktr.ee/buchorodenberger
He has been published in Agua Magazine, Alors, Et Tois?, Aphelion, Bluestem Magazine, BrainBox Magazine, Castabout Art & Literature, Cause & Effect Magazine, Cahoodaloodaling, Crack the Spine, Eunoia Review, Five Quarterly Magazine, Ginosko Literary Journal, Glint Literary Journal, The Gloom Cupboard, Hamilton Stone Review, The Heartland Review, Inlandia, L’allures des Mots, Lunch Box, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, New Plains Review, Offbeatpulp, Penduline Press, Phoebe, Poydras Review, Punt Volat, The Santa Clara Review, Serving House Journal, The Seventh Wave, Sheepshead Review, Slice Magazine, The Raw Art Review, Up The Staircase, WAXING & WANING, Fox Spirit's "Girl at the End of the World: Book 1" anthology, and was shortlisted for the Almond Press “Broken Worlds” fiction contest
He has two novels in progress ("Impasto" & “Rise") and three short story collections from which numerous stories have been published: "Scaring the Stars into Submission," "The Machinery of the Heart: Love Stories," and his latest “Under a Black Rainbow.”
He is currently cobbling together a hybrid collection of fiction and non-fiction pieces on grief and its effect on the creative life called "An Atlas of Bone & Sorrow,” which he hopes to publish by 2025. He is also working on a new story collection of grimdark, surrealist horror fables called ".corpsegod."
His socials can be found at: https://linktr.ee/buchorodenberger
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 6, 2024
Rodenberger brings a reflective mind to stories that are fresh, weird, and inspired. I enjoyed this book immensely! It feels different and hauntingly weird. The stories simultaneously manage to be authentic to experience and yet strangely foreign/alien. They tap into a surreal truth in a way I haven't experienced in fiction before. I strongly recommend it to those looking for the new direction of weird surrealism.
January 24, 2024
If you’re only just now discovering some of these amazing collections of short stories by Adam (Bucho) - it’s better late than never! This one does not disappoint. He has curated yet another amazing set of apocalyptic, dystopian stories that shock and amaze. Buy it and buckle up!
March 25, 2024
"Bucho" Rodenberger weaves short unnerving tales in this ethereal horror anthology that get under your skin, make a home there, and leave you asking for more in the best way possible. Each of these stories feels both personal and widely applicable. The buildup in each leads to a satisfying conclusion that will delight fans of horror.
The surrealistic aspect of each story is remarkable and laudable. Rather than confine the reader to a restricted setting or a familiar place, Rodenberger finds a way to make the familiar feel alien and the strange feel normal. His world building finds ways to slowly unfurl like a flower, leading the reader in to each story with a warm hand, only to find horrors within. The provided context to each story helps peel back the curtain of the process and invites the reader to a sort of "fireside chat" with the author, illustrating intentional and unintentional symbolism in a way that deepens each story/vignette.
If you're a fan of horror, surrealistic worlds, and philosophical existentialism, this book will serve you well. I couldn't put it down.
The surrealistic aspect of each story is remarkable and laudable. Rather than confine the reader to a restricted setting or a familiar place, Rodenberger finds a way to make the familiar feel alien and the strange feel normal. His world building finds ways to slowly unfurl like a flower, leading the reader in to each story with a warm hand, only to find horrors within. The provided context to each story helps peel back the curtain of the process and invites the reader to a sort of "fireside chat" with the author, illustrating intentional and unintentional symbolism in a way that deepens each story/vignette.
If you're a fan of horror, surrealistic worlds, and philosophical existentialism, this book will serve you well. I couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews