It is not much like the bizarro western entitled A Fistful of Feet I previously read by Krall. There’s definitely a Burroughs and Ballard influence on this work and even a bit of Joyce during one chapter of clashing speech and thoughts. Sentient beings are buildings in this false magic kingdom being typewritten alongside b-movies requiring tracking adjustments to alter and skewer the clarity of their plot lines. She mouths words she wishes were bombs as she watches the brains and machines from above.Īll the fingernails in the kingdom throw tantrums.īland interviews at work with ominous undercurrents.Ī theater made of drugged diamond planes. Sheer majesty pollutes the sky and harms Jessica. The rumblings of secret slaughters heard inside a pillow. The details are mundane yet the feeling of work’s numbing effects ring universal. If you know your party’s extension then listen to the sound of a malevolent voice repeating “gin, gin, gin, gin, gin.” If you know your party’s extension, please. Ordinary events like checking into a hotel are altered due to the estrangement of our narrator and then sparkle with alien sheen of newness. Tags: carlton mellick III, Eraserhead Press, kill ball, Nicholaus Patnaude, Review Kill Ball also contains its fair share of horror movie imagery, yet also resembles a comedy in which one cares about the characters (something like Superbad or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles). It definitely has its share of comedic moments, particularly early on where I chuckled at least a few times (people making fun of each other for how they chose to dress their balls). He states in his introduction to this book that he considers it to be a satire of the giallo genre. The imagery of the narrator and Siren’s evolved bodies was also original.Ĭarlton Mellick III certainly has a knack for balancing conventional structures with bizzare and outlandish ideas. The explanation and inner-workings of the devious Kill Ball are unexpected and imaginative. The book functions like a fast-paced thriller, although I do wish certain giallo elements had been played up more, particularly the elaborate death scenes of Argento–although I’m not sure if this would’ve worked on the page. The darkness of the tropes in the giallo genre also keep things from getting too cartoony. Fusing giallo with a children’s film concept (people must stay in hamster-ball-like bubbles because of a disease) is an unexpected and brilliant idea.

Hung Hounds by Donald Armfield