Naked Snake Press is publishing Rigormarole later this summer! Here’s the description from the back cover:
Why do zombies lumber?
What is the Resurrectal Cortex?
What lurks in the Home Depot of the Dead?
RIGORMAROLE is a score of poems for the walking dead by Michael Arnzen, the award-winning author of Grave Markings and Play Dead. Featuring original sketches by John Skipp, splatterpunk godfather and editor of Book of the Dead.
“Reanimated flesh, cannibalism, brain succotash…the stuff that great poetry is made of! Mike Arnzen fuses humor and gore with a poetic sensibility to create his own fun subgenre! Come in and take a bite! — Tom Piccirilli, author of November Mourns
He wants to put his head
inside a cardboard box
to keep him company.
But it’s problematic.
Getting the right-sized
carton is proving difficult
because they make
them for hats not heads,
and he tumbles and thuds
inside every one he’s tried
so far, bruising him ugly.
Then there’s matter
of which side to face up
since sometimes he
doesn’t want to look
him in the eyes when they talk
and at other times he wants
to pull him out by the hair
and pretend it’s his birthday.
And the cardboard is weak
and the bottom keeps
getting so soggy that the head
is like an upside-down
jack-in-the-box
but it isn’t as fun.
So he has to use a liner
but it crackles inside
and this inexplicably
disturbs him.
After he finally finds
a good enough box
he mails the head
to himself just for kicks
but it never arrives
and after awhile
the postman smiles
too much for a man
delivering his replacement
without a box to keep it in.
My second novel, Play Dead, is at the printers and pre-orders are currently being taken for the hardcover edition. I’m told the book will have an off-white jacket cloth and metallic red foil stamp to emulate the look of a playing card. I continue to be impressed by the attention to detail that my publisher, Raw Dog Screaming Press, is putting into this book! The novel is due out in August.
New pre-release acclaim has come in…
“…a fast-paced, brutal, gritty, and unflinching novel.”
“Play Dead is a fun story full of power, life and death, intricacies of relationships, mysticism and survival. Arnzen weaves a gripping tale with just the right blend of intrigue, horror, and morality. Very entertaining.”
“Las Vegas is as diseased a city as there is, and Mike Arnzen knows this as well as anyone. In Play Dead, he distills its essence down to a uniquely brutal game and brings together as fascinatingly repellent a bunch of losers ever to make a grab for the corroded brass ring. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Jesus, let
This weekend I’m autographing the signed/limited edition of my next poetry collection, FREAKCIDENTS, so I thought I’d post a photo to let those folks who preordered long ago know that, yes, the book is finally here!
Freakcidents (think “Freak+Accidents”) is a collection of very twisted poetry featuring freaks, mutants, morons and sideshow splattractions. Come one, come all — see the amazing “Needle Baby” or the frightening “Spiderboy”; feast your eyes on the incredible “Human Scab” or the man who can swallow himself whole! The book is richly illustrated by the artist, GAK, and I think it’s my favorite of all the poetry books I’ve done.
Shocklines Press literally saved this book, after it was originally contracted by another publisher who waited a year before dropping out of sight from the world. And the result is fantastic — the book looks really sharp, thanks in no small part to designer David G. Barnett. I’m very happy to have worked with these fine artists and publishers on this special 200 copy run of trade editions and 26 lettered copies in hardcover (which also arrived and look sweet!).
Orders are being taken at shocklines.com. The trade edition is $9.95; the very limited hardcover is $50. Shipping is FREE!
“Michael A. Arnzen, award winning poet and fiction writer, can always be counted on to approach the grotesque and the visceral with wit and, often, compassion
You may have already seen this one, but if not, you’re in for a treat. This collaborative art project is mesmerizing as you fly through a surreal tunnel of cascading bizarre art. For some reason I was reminded of The Phantom Tollbooth as I scrolled through its infinite recesses, but I can’t explain why. (The “flash” version is best…check it out!).
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