Spider Pie
- $10.95 PaperbackISBN: 1-933293-05-5
US only, email
for international rates
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 complaining 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, fairy tale beginnings and hideous endings.
What They’re Saying About Spider Pie
“I highly recommend Spider Pie to anyone who enjoys the bizarre and surreal. This book was a pure joy to read and I won’t 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 can’t 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.”
—Horror World
“After reading through Spider Pie, I find that it is an enjoyable collection of stories, but requires an open mind and active imaginations, as well as multiple readings.”
—Monster Librarian
“I’m not entirely sure what to make of Spider Pie as it is rather difficult to classify. I do know one thing; I liked it…a lot! These two dozen short tales from the mind of Alyssa Sturgill are like Grimm’s Fairy tales on acid with a steroid chaser. They are insanity-filled whimsy that range from the truly horrific to the outrageously humorous and just about everything in between.”
—The Horror Review
“By turns twisted, horrific, touching, erotic, humorous, and absurd-sometimes all in the same story!…Definitely a nice start for Sturgill and I will be looking forward to seeing more from her.”
—Dark Discoveries
“Spider Pie delivers the goods that we love. Our tastes run towards the macabre and gore of course, so if you are into that—Spider Pie is your dish. HIGHLY recommended to those who are craving something new. Alyssa Sturgill is on our favorite authors list and we are hungrily awaiting more goodies.”
—AlterPraxis
“Alyssa Sturgill is a master culinarian of the deliciously surreal, and Spider Pie is her chef-d’oeuvre. Read just a single story and you’ll see why she’s considered one of the most imaginative new talents in recent years.”
—Carlton Mellick III, author of Razor Wire Pubic Hair
“Twenty-four warped recipes make up one delectable Spider Pie. Alyssa Sturgill has an astounding talent for concocting imaginative, irreal stories with characters you want to know, and in a freakish way, become…. I highly recommend consuming Spider Pie before bed, so that afterwards you can slip into a creamy dreamlike state, and get lost in a web of sweet distortion.”
—Gothic Review
“These stories will bitchslap your sensibilities and molest your pets. Each macabre absurdity is better than the last. I laughed, I winced, I bled spontaneously from every orifice. With Spider Pie, Alyssa Sturgill firmly establishes herself as the new deviant demoness on the block.”
—Craig Sernotti, editor of Crown of Bones
Table of contents:
Leviathan
Beware of Kitten
A Bag of Hair
We Twins
The Contortionist
Born, Not Made
The Bunny Threat
FADE IN
I Wear Black to Mourn Myself
Death of a UPS Man
Spider Pie
The Secret Ingredient
No. 5 Simian Place
Scarytale
Mr. Dan the Ice Cream Man
Used
Eat Me, Drink Me
Being John Lovitz
Honest Abe
What Little Girls are Made Of
Athenaeum
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Love Samurai
The Church of the Lamb
About the Cover Artist, Kris Kuksi
As one of the emerging artists in the movement of Fantastic Realism, Kris Kuksi has become a profound messenger of the subversive and illusionistic ambiguities deep within the human psyche. His sophisticated and enchanting paintings suggest both outrageous and perplexing juxtapositions that serve to invoke wonder and mystery. From an obscure location of rural America, Kris Kuksi is amused by the macabre and enigmatic as his images are enmeshed in successive layers of incongruous and bizarre subjects.
Producing in a world ruled by hackneyed and intrusive contemporary art, Kris Kuksi has continued in the old masters tradition of finely crafted techniques and disciplined anatomical study. He borrows from the inspiration of hallucinatory patterns and shapes deep within the delirium of paranoia and obsessive behaviors for a means to create. His beautiful yet peculiar compositions stand to last as the work of a keen observer fascinated with the inexplicable circumstances of the human experience. His work has been included in exhibitions throughout Europe, The United States, and Australia and is a part of many private and public collections. He has also been featured in international art magazines and has sold works through Sotheby’s art auctions.
See more of his work at his innovative website www.kuksi.com
Tempting Disaster