Book picks similar to
Squid Pulp Blues by Jordan Krall


bizarro
horror
bizarro-fiction
short-stories

The Glass Gargoyle


Marie Andreas - 2015
    Giles has spent her life mining the ruins of the elves who vanished from the Four Kingdoms a thousand years ago. But when her patrons begin disappearing too—and then turning up dead—she finds herself unemployed, restless, and desperate. So she goes looking for other missing things: as a bounty hunter. Tracking her first fugitive—the distractingly handsome and strangely charming Alric—she unearths a dangerous underworld of warring crime lords, demonic squirrels, and a long-lost elven artifact capable of unleashing a hell on earth.Chased, robbed, kidnapped, and distressingly low on rent money, Taryn just wants one quiet beer and to catch her fugitive. But there’s more to Alric than his wicked grin—is he a wanted man or the city’s only hope? With menacing mages in pursuit and her three alcoholic faery sidekicks always in her hair, Taryn’s curiosity might finally solve the mystery of the elves… or be the death of her and destroy her world.

The Pirate


Harold Schechter - 2018
    Not a soul on board—just blood from cabin to deck. Looted coins led to Bowery thug Albert Hicks, the ax slayer who turned his shipmates into chum.His crimes were absolutely fiendish. His execution was pure ballyhoo. It drew nearly ten thousand bloodthirsty sightseers to the city—including the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum. Refreshments were served as the most notorious and unrepentant mass murderer of the era made history as one of America’s first celebrity killers.The Pirate is part of Bloodlands, a chilling collection of short page-turning historical narratives from bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter. Spanning a century in our nation’s murderous past, Schechter resurrects nearly forgotten tales of madmen and thrill-killers that dominated the most sensational headlines of their day.

The Murders of Molly Southbourne


Tade Thompson - 2017
    Experience the horror of Tade Thompson's The Murders of Molly Southbourne.The rule is simple: don't bleed.For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she's been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she'll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her?

Breach of Peace


Daniel B. Greene - 2021
    Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the very heart of the empire. Inspector Khlid begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible, but when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.

Orgy of Souls


Wrath James White - 2008
    Twenty souls drenched in blood, powdered with cocaine and more than one kind of ecstasy. A fair trade for the life of a brother. A fair trade for the life of a priest. And everyone he meets seems so willing to give theirs away. Samuel's faith often wavers. Diagnosed with HIV and in rapid decline, he hides his disillusionment in the rituals of the priesthood. But when Samson brings him the first blood-signed contract for a young woman's immortal soul, the steamy world of high fashion male models and the quiet decay of a sickly priest begin to writhe against the realities of life, death, and otherworldly power. Brotherly love is a deadly seduction, beauty a dangerous game. Come worship in the brutal temple of Orgy of Souls. Your faith will never be the same again.

New Tales of the Yellow Sign


Robin D. Laws - 2012
    A slim, sinister text called The King in Yellow drove those who read it to madness. Despite suppression by anxious authorities, it spread through global culture, and history itself, like a virus. Now the contagion bears hideous fruit.New Tales of the Yellow Sign expands the classic horror mythos of weird tales pioneer and Lovecraft precursor Robert W. Chambers into new vistas of unease and imagination. Over the course of eight troubling stories, writer and visionary game designer Robin D. Laws lures you into diseased timelines, impossible pasts, and the all-too-terrifying present.Sterilize your suicide chamber, harken to the remorseless clicking of your black box, and whistle for the monstrous creature that lives in your basement. The pallid mask awaits.

A Million Versions of Right


Matthew Revert - 2009
    Step into a world that defies all logic. One of Masturbatory headphones, diabolically toppled comb-jars, moustache-filled ejaculations, malfunctioning bookmarks, bricolage scrotums, wank fairies and a poorly conceived theory regarding wall stability. A world where ball popping is the only solution to the scrotum's poor aesthetic qualities and true love can lead a man to transpose menstruation across gender lines. Not to mention a blink so immensely powerful that mild abrasion can ensue. There s also a lime. Truly some of the strangest stories ever told. In his debut collection Matthew Revert has concocted a bizarre vortex of fiction by turns hilarious, disturbing, thought-provoking and just plain odd. A Million Versions of Right will force you to find logic in the illogic and shun anything resembling common sense. Like the faecal scrawl of a madman without the unpleasant smell

Run, Run, Run


Mark Capell - 2011
    But even that can't protect him and his wife, Sally. Somebody knows their new identity - somebody who shouldn't.Frank Tong is an artist who finds inspiration for his paintings from the violence of his criminal life. When his brother is put away for murder he wants revenge. And Frank has a mole in the Witness Protection Scheme.Dan and the pregnant Sally have no choice. They have to flee. They go on the run from both sides of the law.They must learn to lie, steal, shoot and fight to survive. They can't use their credit cards, cash machines, mobile phones - anything that will give away their location. They must constantly look over their shoulder. It's living life like a criminal - a difficult task for two law abiding people.What will it take to return to a normal life? How far are they prepared to go? What will they sacrifice for their freedom?'Run, Run, Run' is a crime thriller that will have your heart racing and your mind buzzing....Sometimes the best way to get justice is to run away from it...(2014 REVISED EDITION)

Dead Size


Sawney Hatton - 2013
    He doesn’t know how to win the heart of the girl at the coffee shop. And he shares his home with a clan of mischievous tiny people.Yet these all turn out to be the least of his troubles.A secret race of Giants dwelling in the neighboring mountains wants Gulliver to exterminate all the Little People… or else. When folks in his hometown begin brutally dying, Gulliver must make a hard choice. But choices have consequences.And consequences, he’ll learn, come in all terrible sizes.DEAD SIZE is a comical psychological fantasy mystery thriller for fans of Christopher Moore, David Wong, and Terry Gilliam.(Advisory: this book is intended for mature audiences.)

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Volume 1 (The Works of Edgar Allan Poe #1)


Edgar Allan Poe - 1894
    F Collier & Son published a five volume collection of Poe's work in hardback in 1903. This is volume 1, with a frontspiece in color from a painting by Arthur E. Becher.contains:Edgar Allan Poe, An Appreciation, by W.H.R.Life of Poe, by James Russell LowellDeath of Poe, by N. P. WillisThe Unparalled Adventures of One Hans PfallThe Gold BugFour Beasts in OneThe Murders in the Rue Morgue (Audio version)The Mystery of Marie RogêtThe Balloon HoaxMS. Found in a BottleThe Oval Portrait

Woman in the Dark


Dashiell Hammett - 1933
    She is hurt and frightened. The man and woman who live there take her in. But their decency is utterly unequipped to deal with the Woman in the Dark, or with the designs of the men who want her.First published in installments in Liberty magazine [in 1933] and now rediscovered after many years, Woman in the Dark shows Dashiell Hammett at the peak of his narrative powers. With an introduction by Robert B. Parker, the author of the celebrated Spenser novels.A one-time detective and a maser of deft understatement, Dashiell Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel.

L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories


Megan Abbott - 2010
    Noire: The Collected Stories features eight short stories from renowned authors Megan Abbott, Lawrence Block, Joe Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, Jonathan Santlofer, Duane Swierczynski and Andrew Vachss, many of which revisit the characters and cases in the game, providing a new spin to tell the tales of emotionally torn protagonists, depraved schemers and ill-fated victims.

Shoggoth's Old Peculiar


Neil Gaiman - 1998
    The original illustrations combine horror and humour in equal measure.

In the Shadow of Spindrift House


Mira Grant - 2019
    The natural world is a place of curves and softened edges, of gentle mists and welcoming spirals. Nature remembers deviation; nature does not forgive.For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But “teen” is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it’s up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory.Welcome to Spindrift House.The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they’ll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House—and why. The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery.Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go.Nature abhors a straight line.Here’s where the story bends.

Aberrations


Jeremy C. ShippElizabeth Massie - 2011
    Shipp has brought together ten monster tales from today's masters of horror and supernatural suspense.Stories by:Scott NicholsonLisa TuttleNate KenyonLisa MortonKealan Patrick BurkeSimon WoodJeremy C. ShippElizabeth MassieJoe McKinneyJoseph NassisePraise for Jeremy C. Shipp:“Jeremy C. Shipp’s boldness, daring, originality, and sheer smarts make him one of the most vital younger writers who have colonized horror literature in the past decade. Shipp’s modernist clarity, plus his willingness to risk damn near everything, put him up at the head of the pack with the very best.”–Peter Straub, author of Ghost Story"Shipp's clear, insistent voice pulls you down into the rabbit hole and doesn't let go." --Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door