A sea voyage, a desert island story, and a Dantesque, existential allegory all rolled into one surreal masterpiece.

A sea voyage, a desert island story, and a Dantesque, existential allegory all rolled into one surreal masterpiece.
Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
The perfect date keeps her biggest secret until just before marriage
A chilling tale in which monks gaslight the protagonist about the existence of a suffering man
Man meets woman--but this tryst's got a twist
“In no animal had I ever found such a profound connection to myself.”
In which the sale of shrunken heads drives a South American country into chaos
In which a creepy child sits on a flickering TV set and everyone pretends it's fine
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)
Probably the best haunted house story about the alienating effect of mirrors that you will ever read.