- Paperback: 104 pages
- Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press (May 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1933293055
- ISBN-13: 978-1933293059
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 0.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,276,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Recipe for Spider Pie: blend 2 cups of dark humor with a healthy dash of oddity, add a pinch of ground freak's ear and 2 tsp of secret desires. Bake until your neighbors start complaning about the smell. In her debut book Alyssa Sturgill firmly establishes herself as the enfant terrible of contemporary surrealism. Laden with gothic horror sensibilities, Spider Pie is a one-way trip down a rabbit hole inhabited by sexual deviants and friendly monsters, fairytale beginnings and hideous endings.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stories that are like literary (and intelligent) versions of Troma movies,
By Bradley (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spider Pie (Paperback)
I was really impressed by this collection of short stories. Alyssa leaves out the filler, accomplishing in a few pages what it would normally take an entire novel to achieve.
In one of my favorite stories, "Beware of Kitten" the protagonist's mother gives birth to a litter of kittens after her daughter is late for curfew. Most authors would feel that this clever idea satisfies their quota for uniqueness in a story and give us pages and pages of boring quirkiness about life with this unusual family. But Alyssa goes behind that - she has the protagonist buy a basket for her new siblings; a basket that is haunted by the ghost of a victim of the French Revolution who seems like a nice guy at first, but soon brainwashes the kittens into doing unspeakable things. This book has lots of gore and lots of laughs. Alyssa possesses an extraordinary imagination, which is what I really look for in a book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Death of a UPS Man,
By Spock - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spider Pie (Paperback)
I would have given this 4.5 stars if it were possible, but that isn't an option and I feel Spider Pie is closer to 4 stars than 5.
Anyways, this reminds me a lot of the stuff I've read by Carlton Mellick III, but seems to have condensed all the strangeness of his novels/novellas into short stories. After reading this in August (it's now September), "Death of a UPS Man" stands out most vividly in my mind. I can only hope that a longer, more in depth version is someday written in which we are told more about the UPS man as he's handcuffed to the door. But maybe my love for this story has to do with the joy I sometimes get from checking the mail. A few of the stories here weren't quite to my taste, "I Wear Black to Mourn Myself," for example, but nothing ever drags and not once did I grow even remotely bored. I might also add that this book is full of hilarious moments. Bizarre and inspiring. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If Danny Elfman were a restauranteur...,
By Michael Smith - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spider Pie (Paperback)
...I'm quite sure he would demand that Spider Pie be added to the menu. The vignettes within are grandiose fragments of surrealism and absurdity; the characters she creates appear to be multi-dimensional without ever having to drown them or the plot in background/history; she provides us with an adequate character sketch and she moves forward, successully weaving her wonderful webs (no pun intended). These tales have this magical ability to create within the reader a kind of poignant delight that commands attention, meaning, you are compelled by the 'what will happen next?' factor.
Capable of invoking laughter, eye-widening, laughter, consumer and cultural awareness, sympathy, laughter...Alyssa is the ringleader of a 24 ring circus. At times satiric, at times grotesque, at times animated, at times poetic, there's not a bad apple in the bunch; the content is the very definition of surreal... You ask: "How 'bout an example?" Hmm...how 'bout: "After closing the arm for a month of repairs as a result of the incident, Simian decided never to rent himself out again. Instead, when the extensive renovations were complete, he decided to enjoy the fruits of his own labor, and moved into himself." (from No.5 Simian Place) You say unto me: "What...the...f---?" I say unto you: "You simply HAVE to read for yourself." 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As Bizarre as Bizarro gets,
By Dennis Duncan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spider Pie (Paperback)
A woman gives birth to a litter of kittens. Another woman finds out that she is pregnant and about to give birth to a television. A man sells bags of hair on the black market. A man installs a zipper into his arm for drug use. A serial killer likes to prey on albinos. Bunny aliens plan to invade earth. All of these things take place in Spider Pie. A short story collection from the genre of Irrealism or as most people refer to it as Bizarro. Alyssa Sturgill has written a collection of short stories that cant be defined.
Reading Spider Pie is like having the most bizarre dream you could imagine, or having a acid trip from hell. That is the only way I can describe this book. I have read a lot of different Bizarro stories but this one takes the cake. Spider Pie is on a level all its on and I loved every minute of the experience. It took a very vivid and wild imagination to comes up with these stories. I especially enjoyed Leviathan, Born, Not Made, I wear Black to Mourn Myself, and The Secret Ingredient. I had to go back and read them over and over again. They are gruesome, poetic, and satiric. I highly recommend Spider Pie to anyone who enjoys the bizarre and surreal. This book was a pure joy to read and I wont soon forget it. If Carlton Mellick is the King of the Bizarro genre then Alyssa is the Queen. She is one of the brightest new voices out there and I cant wait to see what she gives us next. Go grab a copy for yourself and see what I mean. You wont be able to put it down. |
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