The Outer Darkness

by Dominic Peloso, Junnie Chup (illustrator)

In the dimly lit labyrinth of an unnamed city, a solitary figure embarks on a nocturnal odyssey in search of purpose and meaning. "The Outer Darkness" delves into the existential journey of our protagonist as he navigates through the desolate streets, grappling with the absurdity of existence and the elusive nature of truth.

As he wanders through the eerie alleys and empty squares, the man encounters a myriad of peculiar characters and surreal situations that challenge his perceptions of reality. From enigmatic strangers who speak in riddles to haunting specters from his own past, each encounter serves as a mirror reflecting the existential dilemmas that plague his mind.

Haunted by the existential void and the relentless passage of time, our protagonist confronts his deepest fears and doubts, wrestling with questions of identity, mortality, and the nature of human connection. In his quest for meaning, he finds himself drawn to the shadows, where the boundaries between dream and reality blur, and the secrets of the universe seem tantalizingly close.

As the night unfolds and the city reveals its hidden truths, our protagonist grapples with the realization that perhaps the search for meaning is not about finding answers, but rather about embracing the uncertainty and absurdity of existence. In the end, he discovers that true meaning lies not in the destination, but in the journey itself, and that the only certainty in life is the ever-present shadow of solitude.

133 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 14, 2024

About the author

The author has tried a number of methods to make people cry over the years — pulling their pigtails, putting spiders in their lunch, waterboarding, and telling them that he loves them when he knows in his heart it isn't true, but he's found that the most effective way by far is by making comic strips to post on the internet.

Reviews

[Colin Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Outer Darkness feels like an homage to Camus, with the aimless journeys of its protagonist resonating with intellectual wanderers and philosophical dabblers alike. Peloso masterfully captures a detached mood through sparse prose and excels when focusing on the novel’s action. However, the narrative tends to bog down during the protagonist’s spiraling thoughts. Yes, some of these philosophical musings are both necessary and insightful, but they sometimes come across as if Peloso is merely a recently converted absurdist who has compiled his reflections on absurdism into a narrative form. That may very well be the case, and that approach isn’t in and of itself a problem, it’s just that, though there is little here to hate, the novel occasionally feels a bit too literal in its execution.