Customer Reviews

Sunset with a Beard

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I wish I would've discovered Calrton Mellick's work through these short stories, as I had a bit of a rough time at the beginning of Satan Burger. So, if you're new to CM3's work, this is the place to start. You can see just how crazy his stories get. As always, most of them would make incredibly awesome cult movies. For those who like science fiction and surrealism, try this !

This collection of short stories is an imaginative, weird read. If you like horror and science fiction, and are looking for an author who really stretches boundaries well past the breaking point, look no further. Anti-mainstream, vivid, head shakingly weird - This book is a great intro to CM3. Highly recommended.

This is the first work from Carlton Mellick III that I have read so I had no idea what to expect. I thought it was gosh darn great. Surreal, wierd and funny. I don't think you can ask for more.

It is a collection of fourteen stories that try and blur the lines between surrealism and science fiction. It is an enjoyable book that extemporizes the breadth and imagination that CM3 possesses. It is through this collection of eclectic works, touching on everything from the surreal to horror to science fiction, that his true genius as a write comes through. Laying off of the blatant attacks on Christianity, as well as toning down his sexual and violent references from his earlier works, makes this book an extremely accessible work, rife with his strong captivating powers. A great novel for everyone to read, and a great place to start when looking into CM3's work.

I must begin with the fat that this books was an impulse buy and I ended up appreciating the stories better than I did that actual writing.

Carlton Mellick's "Sunset with a Beard" is a short-short story collection that full of dazzling little treasures - his settings and concepts certainly rival (if not feed off of) H.P. Lovecraft. I was immediately won over after reading the first short story, "The Ear Wig Flesh Factory". My father had scared me with dozens of Ear Wig stories during the camping trips we took when I was younger, but Mellick's own tale dives into a surreal mythology/folktale style of writing, giving the brief history of a tribe that must sacrifice some of its members to supply flesh and the survival of the rest of the group.

Still, one must remember that Mellick seems to favor worldly tales and sociological dissections more so than character-driven plot lines. This is completely forgivable due to his enthusiasm in designing bizarre cultures and characters' fascinations. Still, there are moments when characters feel too empty and the writing needs to be tightened. Again to reference "Earwig Flesh Factory", I hope future short fiction pieces will rely less on fokelore repetitions and introduce more 3-D characters. Still, Sunset with a Beard is a worthy buy and good quick read: for those with a healthy imagination, sci-fi fans and fantasy and flesh starved readers alike!

Carlton Mellick III is undoubtedly amongst the most imaginative authors working today, and despite all his anarchy, has produced a perfectly civil book of stories that everyone can read and love.

His claims to blend both the genres Science-Fiction and Surrealism to create a paradoxical book of Surreal Science-Fictions has been realised. Indeed, without weeks of analysis one would be unable to seperate the two genres in his book.

There's a story for almost all tastes in this book, which simply shows how broad Carlton's range is, even though most of these are written in a bleak, dystopian tone.(that is quick becoming authentic to Carlton alone) The story "High-Strung Heroes" takes place in a fantasy world, and so does "Creatures of Heaven". "The Earwig Flesh Factory" is an amazingly creative apocolytic story, which could also be called subtle horror. Stories like "Kiss the Sun" are for romantics. "Drunk and King" is for the faceticious lot, and the entire book comes to a heart-wrenching conclusion in "An Era of Liquid Streets", explaining the titling of the book and leaving me in tears.

[...What I'm trying to say is, buy the book. It's great stuff. Probably the best $12.55 I've ever spent in my life.

Lavaix]

by Sashaemillee Myhrom

Without a doubt, Carlton Mellick's book "Sunset with a Beard" lives up to the author's claim that the reader will be unable to tell science fiction from surrealism in his stories. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that the entire collection calls for almost unreasonable stretches of the reader's imagination.

Mellick tries incredibly hard to achieve surrealism in his writing, though in places the obvious effort simply comes across as overkill. In the short story "The Earwig Flesh Factory" the oxymoron "beautiful ugliness" is overused and a bit of a stretch even for a surrealistic future. The phrase and others like it are used throughout the book and make it seem as though Mellick is trying too hard to achieve surrealism.

Aside from a few weak subplots that lead nowhere, Mellick's writing is outstanding. With a style all his own, the author uses hyphenated descriptive words to precisely depict a motion or feeling. "Slap-brushing," "droop-staring," "scream-hissed" and "tickle-crawling" are but a few examples of this incredibly effective writing technique.

Mellick is a master of painting with words; particular lines lead the reader into the story, vividly drawing a mental picture with little effort. Creative lines such as "Watching the ghostly New Yorkers walk like smoke down the icy sidewalks" and "...sky, which seems to hang a little too close above me, like I am finely printed words that it is trying to read" draw the reader into the narrator's world in a way that few authors can successfully do.

Though much of Mellick's book displays a flare for the dramatic, it is at times poignantly short. Sentences such as "he is a very decorative man" are just precise enough to make a point; some lines have no need for garnishing.

"Sunset with a Beard" is a fantastic (and fantastical) read that improves with every story. Though unnecessarily disgusting in parts, the overall effect is sensational.