There’s no dearth of genres when it comes to books. Every day, I discover something new, typically a subgenre that, more often than not, pushes the boundaries and presents readers with something new and exciting. The following three utterly bizarre reads fit into the above bracket perfectly.
Before I divulge more about these psychedelic horror stories, I should confess that the last year has been somewhat of a revelation for me. Not only did I grow to love horror books, all thanks to ARCs from BookSirens, but I also discovered the so-called “bizarro” subgenre.
Bizarro is horror to a reasonable extent, but then it’s also outlandish, with hints of pop culture and social commentary thrown in for good measure.
However, from what I’ve read so far, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. The extreme episodes interspersed through these stories are pretty wild, to put it mildly. At the same time, the gory aspect, if you have a good imagination, will lead to a few restless nights.
Nevertheless, the following utterly bizarre reads are fascinating and something you should fiddle with, especially if you are a horror fan.
God’s Leftovers by Grant Wamack
God’s Leftovers turned out to be quite a unique read and was the first ever “bizarro” that I indulged in.
Weird, horrific, unnatural, and certainly not for everyone, the author takes us on a journey, albeit a short one, where imagination runs wild and your worst nightmares come true.
Beware, the book will not leave your thoughts that easily. It’s cruel in a weirdly exciting way and lingers on in your mind for days as you wonder what made you read it. Or instead, what made the author write it.
Somehow my liking for mediocre gore prepared me for the triggers, and there are a few. Still, this level of sickening literary extreme was something new for me. And while not scarring, it is pretty shocking.
I don’t know what it says about me, but I enjoyed the book for its absurdities, to the point that I am now reading Grant’s next book.
XCRMNTMNTN by Andrew Hilbert
Possibly the weirdest book I’ve read… ever!
A story about a mountain of s#@t from space landing in the middle of a city, an eccentric film crew, and loads of fantastical elements, XCRMNTMNTN is an out-an-out bizarro read.
The plot is weird, taboo, gross, over-the-top, imaginative, out-there, sickening, and unabashed, making it incredibly original.
Admittedly, there are times when the story goes in way too many directions simultaneously. Moreover, it’s a book that the reader needs a good imagination to really appreciate.
Still, it’s something totally different and brave enough to overlook traditional characters and scenarios to tell a tale that will put you through a bevy of emotions.
Ghosts of East Baltimore by David Simmons
By the time I got around to reading Ghosts of East Baltimore, I had forgotten about the blurb. Since I was reading an ebook on the Kindle, I didn’t have the cover in front of me either.
As a result, I pretty much went into the book blind.
So, imagine my surprise when the story did a 180-degree flip mid-way.
Ghosts of East Baltimore starts rather modestly, with Worm getting out of jail and trying to fit back into his neighborhood. The author uses this time to comment on the state of Baltimore, the town’s past and present. All of which made the story very interesting.
But then, a solitary psychedelic episode diverts the plot in a completely new direction.
It becomes gory and out-worldly, packed with weird and interesting characters, bizarre happenings, and more gore.
Eventually, Ghosts of East Baltimore is a hero origins story about a simple man on the cusp of self-discovery who has a love-hate relationship with the city.
To some extent, it’s like reading two wildly different books that somehow, in a bizarre way, seamlessly amalgamate somewhere in the middle.
The Sunday Book Club 
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