Bad Sunset

by Alex S. Johnson

The little southwestern border town of Malpuesta Del Sol is no stranger to trouble. But when a routine saloon brawl knocks a hole in spacetime and a creeping black ooze slithers in, it's going to take more than the usual jabber and bravado to set things straight.

Genres: Bizarro Fiction

201 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2013

About the author

Alex S. Johnson is the author of two novels, Bad Sunset and Jason X IV: Death Moon, the collections Wicked Candy and Doctor Flesh: Director's Cut,the co-author of Fucked Up Shit! with Berti Walker, as well as numerous Bizarro, horror, science fiction and experimental literary stories, including works published in Full-Metal Orgasm, Bizarro Central, Gone Lawn, Ugly Babies Volume 2, Master/slave, Noirotica III, Cthulhu Sex, The Surreal Grotesque, Cease, Cows, and many other venues. He is the creator/editor of the Axes of Evil heavy metal horror anthology series He has also been a music journalist for such magazines as Metal Hammer, Metal Maniacs and Zero Tolerance and a college and university English professor. Johnson currently lives in Sacramento, California.

Reviews

[David Eccles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malpuesta Del Sol, or Bad Sunset, is a true Bizarro novel in every sense of the word, and one that I hope readers and critics alike will hold high and show reverence to in the same manner that the Chinese revere Chairman Mao Tse-Tung's "The Little Red Book".
The genius of Alex S. Johnson is revealed in this book, which has taken over three years to write and refine. Who in their right mind would even consider weaving a tale comprised of elements such as a Wild West town; the second coming of Jesus Christ in the form of The Christo Kid; an Aztec death deity; a six thousand year-old mystic who rides around on a salamander and his student, Juan; Satan in the role of the Contessa, a flame-haired temptress; a saloon brawler with enough power in his punch to tear apart the fabric between the nine universes and set loose an unspeakable, nameless evil which in turn, raises the dead, and much, much more?
Did I fail to mention the copious amount of violence, gore, depraved sex performed upon every body orifice available, and the ingestion of sexual body fluids as a teaching aid and a method of expanding one's understanding of the self and of cosmic consciousness? My apologies. I'm just so blown away by this masterpiece of fiction. I need to lie down and reflect further on what I've just read.
Outstanding, highly recommended and well deserving of five stars.

[Jamie Grefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnson knows how to have fun on the page. The dialogue in BAD SUNSET is crisp, fresh, funny, and easy to hear bouncing around in your mind. But this is THE Alex S. Johnson, right? Odd things shall abound. Of course, while his characters are trading lines back and forth, and you realize you're only pages into the book, but he's ripped open a space-time continuum, introduced you to a badass magic man who rides a salamander, brought Jesus Christ himself into the mix, and let's not even get started on what zombie ooze lurks in the gutters, is crawling out of the muck to eat your brains and suck your soul. More, too. This is a metaphysical Bizarro western comedy drenched in mescal-juice and you're too deep in it to back out, because, like I said, that dialogue is darn good, and the leaps and bends are unexpected, but appropriate for how's laying it down--the rules are, Johnson makes the rules, just enjoy what he's throwing at you. He may have something to teach, too, might be things in here that have escaped me on first read, but what doesn't escape is his love of the genre and quest to give the reader something to savor and smile at--something to titillate?--and I'm hooked. Good work, Mr. Johnson.

[Pedro Proença · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Bizarro Western that's also a beautifully crafted novel on it's own, "Bad Sunset" is a great read. Complex and dense, this book mixes various characters in Malpuesta Del Sol, a ultra-violent western town. Add some Biblical retelling, a pissed off Messiah, a mystical Brujo, his apprentice, and you got yourself a damn entertaining story. If you like well written Bizarro and the Wild West, this is definitely the book for you.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find myself in quite the quandary here. The fact of the matter is I didn't like Bad Sunset. But - and here's the kicker - that isn't Alex S. Johnson's fault.

It's mine.

That's because I gave this short novel a shot even though I'm not normally a fan of bizarro works. I did so because I am a huge fan of westerns. And even though I understand that bizarro is going to warp any and all preconceived perceptions a reader may have for a book, I just couldn't get on board with Bad Sunset. For me, it took too long to get up and running. When the promised black slime that oozes through a hole in time and space to reanimate the dead finally made an appearance, the book was three-quarters over. In the meantime, the reader is treated to a variety of scenes that go beyond bizarre and are catapulted straight into the realm of the absurd. I can't possibly do them justice describing them here, but if scenes involving a bandit Jesus having his virtue tested, people being reduced to living dildos, and a shaman making his student eat various components of himself grabs your interest, order this book immediately.

Such scenes were simply too absurd for me, especially without a strong enough central narrative to hold them together. The breaking of the fourth wall by the characters on various occasions was another example of this absurdity.

However, having said all that, there is no doubting Johnson is a skilled writer who has a particularly impressive ear for dialogue. The scenes I most enjoyed in Bad Sunset involved the various characters riffing off each other in amusing ways.

So the long and short of it is, I might have failed to buy into Bad Sunset, but if you're a fan of bizarro works, don't let this review dissuade you from giving it a shot.

1.5 Dark Lords of Heffalump for Bad Sunset.

[Vinicius Camargo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Wild Wild West

Bad Sunset it's a beautiful novel. It's a intense book with lots of well-constructed (and well known) characters, locked in horribly bizarre situations inside a town swallowed by time and dust. Bizarro, that's the perfect term to describe this warm world created by Alex.

Mr. Johnson is one of these rare and incredible talents, a handful story-teller. Once you start to read, everything, including the most complex, the unthinkable, the wrong, all begins to happen inside your mind with a frightening ease. Your body starts to react with the story too. Man, I was sweating while reading some of the chapters, and if a writer makes you feel like this, if one story shoots through the pages and grabs you by the neck, well, then you must know that something is really really right.

Also, for the fans of connections and references, well, come on right now. From Biblical retelling to The Exorcist, Nirvana and Necronomicon, well, everything crossed my mind. And it was beautifully put together. This book is for you.

Bad Sunset is a great and a wild read. Check it out, it's brilliant.

[Charie La Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now here is a guy who knows how to write with the business end of a pencil! Start with Clint Eastwood in a poncho somewhere in the Italian Old West. Add a zany cast of characters, a lot of bullets, and an assectomy and you have just scratched the surface of what you will find in this book. There are laughs on every page. It is slick and well written, chock full of pop culture references that will have you turning the pages as fast as you can read. I had to stay up until i finished reading this one. Funny in a way that most books in this so-called genre Bizarro are not. This one is the real deal. And if they ever turn it into a movie, I will be the first one on line. Russell Brand would make a fantastic Christo Kid. 5 stars all the way. Loved it. Hope there will be a sequel for Christo Kid and Juan.

[Terry West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes Virginia, there will be a review of this fine work...