What do you think?
Rate this book
Slices: Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror
Are you hungry for something different? Something weird? Horrific? Funny? Uncomfortable? Surreal? Try a slice.
A man opens his door to a most unusual salesman, whose wares are not quite what they seem... A writer on a retreat discovers a talking insect, and a tree bearing fruit that looks just like cats... A demented clown acts as one poor soul's daily alarm clock... A man in a homemade spaceship encounters a terror he never could have expected - something that wasn't in his guidebook... A professional eater starts to crave the most forbidden food... A man on the verge of suicide begins cutting, and in doing so, finds a reason to exist...
These and many more Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror.
A man opens his door to a most unusual salesman, whose wares are not quite what they seem... A writer on a retreat discovers a talking insect, and a tree bearing fruit that looks just like cats... A demented clown acts as one poor soul's daily alarm clock... A man in a homemade spaceship encounters a terror he never could have expected - something that wasn't in his guidebook... A professional eater starts to crave the most forbidden food... A man on the verge of suicide begins cutting, and in doing so, finds a reason to exist...
These and many more Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror.
109 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2017
13 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Scott Cole
38 books54 followersScott Cole is the author of Crazytimes, Triple Axe, and SuperGhost, as well as two collections of short fiction, Departures and Slices. He is also an artist and graphic designer. He lives in Philadelphia. Find him on social media, behind you in the mirror, or at 13visions.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 3, 2018
This is one of the most bizarre and delightful collections of (very) short stories that I have ever read. I say delightful, because the strange, the impossible and the stream of consciousness form of writing all blended together into an abstract, found-object style of creative literature makes me happy. The author employs samples from Skinny Puppy. He likes metal, the movie The Tenant and experimental music. If you find these facts delightful, you're going to love this book. It tastes like salami.
July 30, 2017
"The first mistake Landau made was choosing a helmet made entirely of tuna salad."
Surrealism and Bizarro are close cousins. But if I had to differentiate between the two in my own subjective manner, this is what I would say. The surrealist says, "I am trying to get to our deep subconscious by creating loosely associated, sometimes random dreamscapes". The Bizarro writer says, "We are already living in a loosely associated, sometimes random dreamscape. I'm just going with the flow."
Scott Cole is one of the newer Bizarro writers on the horizon. His SuperGhost was one of the big surprises for me in 2015. In that novel, he exhibited a strange but accessible humor along with an almost casual sense of the bizarre and impossible. In Slices: Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror he does the same with 33 brief stories. Most qualify as flash fiction while a few go on for slightly longer. They can all be called surreal or bizarro and they all delve into impossible scenarios. (except for "Rough Night" which accurately describes how I feel most mornings). The most distinctive thing about Slices is that these tales are more horror related than that of SuperGhost. Many dwell on biological transformation or what is know as Body Horror. In fact, there are a lot of exploding body parts. I think it may be a Cole trademark.
The best one word description of a Scott Cole short fiction work is "mindblowing". No matter how short or long, he usually captures you with the first sentence, like the one at the beginning of this review which is from "Landau Made Some Mistakes". You are pretty much hooked from there in. Some stories are straight on surrealism as is the first story," The Degenerates". Others like "Violins for Sale" resembles more of a normal horror story, with "normal" being a relative term. While I find the flash fiction exhilarating, I am more drawn to the slightly longer stories like "Cat Tree Summer", "A Field of Poppies", and "666 Baby Jesuses, Give and Take," a story that should appeal to anyone who have ever had the collector bug. But if you go for a more visceral and uncomfortable type of horror, you should not miss "Slices of Me" where a man is determined to share his delicious flesh with the world.
I like the writings of Scott Cole because he always surprises. In this case, we have 33 little surprises. If I had to compare this book to anything else I might call it a horror version of Italo Calvino's CosmicComics. If i had to issue a warning, it would be that some of the biological horror may be a little too much for sensitive stomachs. The author has a way of making the horrific both scary and amusing. it's a trick I hope he holds on to. Overall, Slices is a nice introduction to a very imaginative, if weird, mind.
Surrealism and Bizarro are close cousins. But if I had to differentiate between the two in my own subjective manner, this is what I would say. The surrealist says, "I am trying to get to our deep subconscious by creating loosely associated, sometimes random dreamscapes". The Bizarro writer says, "We are already living in a loosely associated, sometimes random dreamscape. I'm just going with the flow."
Scott Cole is one of the newer Bizarro writers on the horizon. His SuperGhost was one of the big surprises for me in 2015. In that novel, he exhibited a strange but accessible humor along with an almost casual sense of the bizarre and impossible. In Slices: Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror he does the same with 33 brief stories. Most qualify as flash fiction while a few go on for slightly longer. They can all be called surreal or bizarro and they all delve into impossible scenarios. (except for "Rough Night" which accurately describes how I feel most mornings). The most distinctive thing about Slices is that these tales are more horror related than that of SuperGhost. Many dwell on biological transformation or what is know as Body Horror. In fact, there are a lot of exploding body parts. I think it may be a Cole trademark.
The best one word description of a Scott Cole short fiction work is "mindblowing". No matter how short or long, he usually captures you with the first sentence, like the one at the beginning of this review which is from "Landau Made Some Mistakes". You are pretty much hooked from there in. Some stories are straight on surrealism as is the first story," The Degenerates". Others like "Violins for Sale" resembles more of a normal horror story, with "normal" being a relative term. While I find the flash fiction exhilarating, I am more drawn to the slightly longer stories like "Cat Tree Summer", "A Field of Poppies", and "666 Baby Jesuses, Give and Take," a story that should appeal to anyone who have ever had the collector bug. But if you go for a more visceral and uncomfortable type of horror, you should not miss "Slices of Me" where a man is determined to share his delicious flesh with the world.
I like the writings of Scott Cole because he always surprises. In this case, we have 33 little surprises. If I had to compare this book to anything else I might call it a horror version of Italo Calvino's CosmicComics. If i had to issue a warning, it would be that some of the biological horror may be a little too much for sensitive stomachs. The author has a way of making the horrific both scary and amusing. it's a trick I hope he holds on to. Overall, Slices is a nice introduction to a very imaginative, if weird, mind.
June 14, 2022
I like bizarro, but the vast majority of these stories were way too out there for my taste. You can write about strange subject matter, and still be able to have it make sense. This was not the case here, unfortunately. I did enjoy 2 or 3 of them, but this was really just not for me.
August 30, 2017
An entertaining read that puts Cole’s imagination on full display. With an effortless bounce, he takes us from the absurd and surreal to the horrific and bizarre with what I picture is a big, sloppy grin on his face. A solid collection of flash and short stories – the author shows range and confidence as a storyteller for sure, but his true strength is his ability to paint with wild imagery -- creating a lucid set piece and dressing it with strange and wonderful accoutrements. He’s so effective at this that it makes one wish that he was not only a writer but a filmmaker.
There were a couple of stories that hung with me for days, these being terrifying “Violins for Sale” and playful yet pensive “We Built the Moon.” I enjoyed his first book SuperGhost thoroughly but he works even better in short form and these two pieces have that secret sauce that make them, for me, stellar examples of Cole when he’s firing on all cylinders.
Highly recommended.
There were a couple of stories that hung with me for days, these being terrifying “Violins for Sale” and playful yet pensive “We Built the Moon.” I enjoyed his first book SuperGhost thoroughly but he works even better in short form and these two pieces have that secret sauce that make them, for me, stellar examples of Cole when he’s firing on all cylinders.
Highly recommended.
November 28, 2021
There are some extremely wild and out-there stories in Scott Cole's SLICES that allows us to see an enormous range of his creativity. Most of these stories are just a couple of pages, but they are all filled with some of the most unique and bizarre little bites of horror I have read in quite some time. It amazes me that there are people out there who can think of some of the things they do, and Cole really impressed me with all that he conjured. Some stories grossed me out, some parts of others made me laugh out loud, and many of them had me wanting even longer stories/novellas/novels to expand upon the ideas! Some of these tales are so strange, but I still had a ridiculously fun time reading them. I was not okay when I finished the last story because I want more of these absurd and bizarre slices.
October 4, 2022
This is a tough book to rate. On one hand, I felt it had a high school mentality to it with little pay off. Is it just bizarro for bizarro sake?! Most of the stories were simple, straightforward, some gross stuff, but no real depth that "wowed" me. Funny at times, but still, not enough to carry through the collection.
On the other hand, I am not published nor can write this well so what the hell do I know. A few stories were more socially aware and intriguing....they said something about our world at large. Some humor, but nothing memorable.
I rarely rate books lower than 3 stars, but even with the story notes at the end of the book, I felt there wasn't enough respect given to the genre and the maturity of the readers for me to even recommend it.
On the other hand, I am not published nor can write this well so what the hell do I know. A few stories were more socially aware and intriguing....they said something about our world at large. Some humor, but nothing memorable.
I rarely rate books lower than 3 stars, but even with the story notes at the end of the book, I felt there wasn't enough respect given to the genre and the maturity of the readers for me to even recommend it.
August 1, 2017
One of the strangest collections I've ever read. Its funny, bizarre, surreal, gross and creepy. All the ingredients for a good time.
May 22, 2023
Slices is a hodgepodge collection of bizzaro horror musings and moments.
I found some of the shorts semi poetic and some more prompt based.
It’s hard to judge this work as a whole when it has several gems with other works inside it which left me feeling no particular way at all.
Violins For Sale, Slices of Me, Let it Out, Landau Made Some Mistakes, and 666 Baby Jesuses, Give or Take are definitely some highlights within.
I appreciate that each story was its own thing and that each idea had its own flavor.
I definitely plan to read more from Scott Cole.
I found some of the shorts semi poetic and some more prompt based.
It’s hard to judge this work as a whole when it has several gems with other works inside it which left me feeling no particular way at all.
Violins For Sale, Slices of Me, Let it Out, Landau Made Some Mistakes, and 666 Baby Jesuses, Give or Take are definitely some highlights within.
I appreciate that each story was its own thing and that each idea had its own flavor.
I definitely plan to read more from Scott Cole.
June 24, 2019
Recently finished reading Slices by Scott Cole and must tip my hat to his talent. This collection of stories moves from the laugh-out-loud ridiculous to contemplative gross out and back again. A worthy read to challenge your stomach and stretch your imagination.
January 27, 2022
Cole has quite the imagination. Bounces between dark, silly, and surreal, often multiple times on a single page. These wild transitions feel as effortless as they do fun, and I came to the end of every story with a wild grin on my face.
August 15, 2018
A collection of stories ranging in size and absurdity. I laughed, I cringed, I smiled at the violence. Highly recommend if you are new to this author.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews