A sea voyage, a desert island story, and a Dantesque, existential allegory all rolled into one surreal masterpiece.
Tag: literature
Weird #44: “The Colomber” by Dino Buzzati (1966)
Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
Weird #43: “Same Time, Same Place” by Mervyn Peake (1963)
The perfect date keeps her biggest secret until just before marriage
Weird #42: “The Howling Man” by Charles Beaumont (1959)
A chilling tale in which monks gaslight the protagonist about the existence of a suffering man
Weird #41: “A Woman Seldom Found” by William Sansom (1959)
Man meets woman--but this tryst's got a twist
Weird #40: “Axolotl” by Julio Cortázar (1956)
“In no animal had I ever found such a profound connection to myself.”
Weird #37: “The Complete Gentleman” by Amos Tutuola (1952)
Photo by Kaysha on Unsplash Amos Tutuola’s “The Complete Gentleman” borrows from the tradition of Yoruba folktales to tell the story of a “beautiful” man who borrows his ‘complete’ body—feet, neck, skin, and all—from their owners. Surreal like the best folktales, it made me think of some of Italo Calvino’s more grotesque Italian fairy tales, …
Continue reading Weird #37: “The Complete Gentleman” by Amos Tutuola (1952)
World Fantasy Convention, Montreal 2021
Last October, I had the great privilege to attend the World Fantasy Convention in my home city of Montreal at the Hôtel Bonaventure. It was a relief to be able to meet writers from the United States and across Canada after nearly two years of pandemic shut-down. If it had been held in another city, I probably would not have risked travel or asked for the time off work to attend.
Weird #25: “Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass'” by Bruno Schulz (1937)
A Sanatorium where time is not what it seems.
Weird #24: “The Tarn” by Hugh Walpole (1936)
A Cask of Amontillado-style literary revenge tale starring a very, very deep lake.
Matthew Rettino 