Readers of Jeremy C. Shipp's fiction will be familiar with his minimalist, breakneck pacing, his surreal forays into political satire, and his seamless blending of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Now, in his fourth book, the Bram Stoker Award finalist expands on what many critics and fans alike have long considered the most compelling aspect of his work-relationships. This story collection explores how a person's desire can infect their every action and interaction with others. The desire to protect. The desire to hurt. The desire to be desired. Fungus of the Heart explores what happens between people when society breaks down and the rules go out the window. Haunting and heartbreaking, pithy and potent, the quirky inhabitants of Shipp's bizarro world will carve an indelible line from your funnybone to your spleen to your emotional core.
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More About the Author
Jeremy C. Shipp is a weird author of Bizarro, horror, dark fantasy, and magic realism. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in over 50 publications, the likes of Cemetery Dance, ChiZine, Harlan County Horrors, Apex Magazine, Pseudopod, and The Bizarro Starter Kit (blue). While preparing for the forthcoming collapse of civilization, Jeremy enjoys living in Southern California in a moderately haunted Victorian farmhouse with his wife, Lisa, and their legion of yard gnomes. He's currently working on many stories and novels and is losing his hair, though not because of the ghosts. His books include Vacation, Sheep and Wolves, and Cursed. And thankfully, only one mime was killed during the making of his first short film, Egg.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fungus of the Heart is a collection of stories by Bram Stoker Award nominee, Jeremy C. Shipp. The tales take place in worlds similar to our own, but offer a twisted reflection of the reality we live in.
Undead ambassadors lurk just outside the suburbs. A powerful protector will kill anyone he has to kill to see his lost love, or will he? A ghost works as a human whisperer. An anthropomorphic walrus and a dead bear mend the hearts of the world one poacher at a time.
Each of the thirteen tales is unified by the theme of heart.
Fire, water, wind, and earth are thankfully absent.
Maybe the author had a definite meaning for these stories. Maybe he didn't. It doesn't matter.
This is the world of Bizarro fiction.
When reading this book, you will see what you want to see: yourself, your neighbor, your dog. Reading the same story twice will produce two distinct experiences and emotions. No one will have the exact same journey as anyone else.
If fiction that follows the conventions of "normal" stories is the only thing you want to read, then stay away from this book. If you read it, you will be confused, challenged, and possibly even entertained.
The author has a website with a link to several of his short stories free online. Go there. Test the waters. If you don't run away screaming or stamp away in disgust, then you probably want to read more. Fungus of the Heart is a great place to start.
Undead ambassadors lurk just outside the suburbs. A powerful protector will kill anyone he has to kill to see his lost love, or will he? A ghost works as a human whisperer. An anthropomorphic walrus and a dead bear mend the hearts of the world one poacher at a time.
Each of the thirteen tales is unified by the theme of heart.
Fire, water, wind, and earth are thankfully absent.
Maybe the author had a definite meaning for these stories. Maybe he didn't. It doesn't matter.
This is the world of Bizarro fiction.
When reading this book, you will see what you want to see: yourself, your neighbor, your dog. Reading the same story twice will produce two distinct experiences and emotions. No one will have the exact same journey as anyone else.
If fiction that follows the conventions of "normal" stories is the only thing you want to read, then stay away from this book. If you read it, you will be confused, challenged, and possibly even entertained.
The author has a website with a link to several of his short stories free online. Go there. Test the waters. If you don't run away screaming or stamp away in disgust, then you probably want to read more. Fungus of the Heart is a great place to start.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ideals are ever-changing, often unattainable, pipe-dreams. Love does not always conquer all. Fulfilling the role of "knight-in-shining-armor," protecting everyone and everything he loves, is not always possible for the innocent and idealistic young man. Some failure awakens him from the sweet dream and a type of erosion of the spirit begins to take hold. As one matures, a fungus of sorts takes root in the depths of one's heart. This insidious growth gradually spreads, forcing one to alter the ideals formed during the innocence of youth. Jeremy C. Shipp's Fungus of the Heart, through its thirteen provocative tales, shows us the author's own growth as a writer. The more light-hearted tales in his Sheep & Wolves collection, and even in his novels Vacation and the Bram Stoker Award nominated Cursed, have given way to more troubling and complicated stories, challenging the reader to ponder this Fungus of the Heart.
The book opens with a story called "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City," a Blade Runner-esque story of class stratification and quite possibly a forbidden boundary-crossing love. The main character, Frank, is a human private eye, who "owns" a "rag" who goes by the name of Adelaide. She seems to distract him from both his wife and his job until she's killed while accompanying him on a stake-out. It's a solid story with a noir feel that leaves the reader to fill in the blanks regarding who these "rags," and some Nymph creatures, really are, and what their place in society may be. The story conveys a message of love and life being both precious and expendable.
Another theme that threads through the book is one of vulnerability and one's ability or inability to change a life situation. "Just Another Vampire Story" deals with a woman's novel method of escaping a ruined marriage after learning of her spouse's infidelity. While she is able to act and bring change to her life, we find "The Boy in the Cabinet" a bit less able to change his own living conditions until forced by the man who would ruin his best friend.
Fungus of the Heart is full of stories of failed chivalry, shifting self-awareness, and the search for inner truth (even if that truth is not what we want to know). Jeremy C. Shipp, as always, does a beautiful job spinning these subtle yarns into stories of gold.
Thanks, Jeremy, for another great read.
The book opens with a story called "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City," a Blade Runner-esque story of class stratification and quite possibly a forbidden boundary-crossing love. The main character, Frank, is a human private eye, who "owns" a "rag" who goes by the name of Adelaide. She seems to distract him from both his wife and his job until she's killed while accompanying him on a stake-out. It's a solid story with a noir feel that leaves the reader to fill in the blanks regarding who these "rags," and some Nymph creatures, really are, and what their place in society may be. The story conveys a message of love and life being both precious and expendable.
Another theme that threads through the book is one of vulnerability and one's ability or inability to change a life situation. "Just Another Vampire Story" deals with a woman's novel method of escaping a ruined marriage after learning of her spouse's infidelity. While she is able to act and bring change to her life, we find "The Boy in the Cabinet" a bit less able to change his own living conditions until forced by the man who would ruin his best friend.
Fungus of the Heart is full of stories of failed chivalry, shifting self-awareness, and the search for inner truth (even if that truth is not what we want to know). Jeremy C. Shipp, as always, does a beautiful job spinning these subtle yarns into stories of gold.
Thanks, Jeremy, for another great read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Jeremy C. Shipp's new collection of bizarro short stories Fungus of the Heart contains elements of horror, crime noir, and quite often dark fantasy. Mr. Shipp has a very distinguishable style even amongst the growing number of authors writing bizarro fiction. He manages to be descriptive and concise at the same time all while spinning quick moving and engrossing stories. Fungus of the Heart is not near as dark or horror heavy as Shipp's previous collection, Sheep and Wolves, relying more on emotional wallop than out and out scares. The thirteen fantastic stories in Fungus of the Heart all share the common theme of relationships. Shipp takes looks at desire and love in always entertaining and unique ways. Each story is unusual and each packs a different feel but the collection as a whole has a personal feel that pulls you in even deeper.
The stories are as follows.
`The Sun Never Rises in the Big City' opens the collection with a pulpy noir story complete with a hard edged detective. The main character is working on the death of a `rag' and the story gets weird as it twists towards a crescendo.
The simple title of The Haunted House betrays the complexity of the actual story about a ghost that helps the living deal with traumatic events. Ash is a ghost that possesses the body of his `clients' and on this particular case everyone involved grows in unexpected ways.
Fungus of the Heart is the story of a man struggling to gain the power to free his kidnapped love from the mysterious `fortress'. Our hero is a Sentential (body guard) for Protectors (or powerful beings that watch over and keep villages safe). The catch, in order to gain the power he needs he must eat the heart mushroom of a number of noble Protectors.
The Boy in the Cabinet has only a paper cup and Death Cat for friends but he still has a twisted journey of self discovery waiting for him.
One of my personal favorites, Just Another Vampire Story, is anything but common blood sucker lore rehashed and covered with glitter. The story grabs a hold of your heart right away and drags you to a distant cave inhabited by vampires every bit as unique as you would expect from Jeremy C. Shipp. Strong horror with a heart.
Ticketyboo is a place Jeff and Jill go to recover from the trauma caused by a mysterious accident with their parents. This story is a dark genre blurring visit to a surreal world of healing.
The Escapist is the dark fantasy tale of a gnome who escapes from the enemy goblins' Farm and befriends a gnome general who will stop at nothing to destroy the goblins.
Ula Morales is the story of an antlered daughter of a magic tree who lives in a surreal forest.
Spider House is a quick weird story that deals with war and the trauma it predicates.
Monkey Boy and The Monsters is the fun story of Monkey Boy the monster slayer and it follows him as he battles his foul enemies and learns about family life.
Kevin Donihe, Agape Walrus is the wacky story of an all loving walrus that lives with a zombie polar bear in the hills of east Tennessee. Classic bizarro.
In Kingdom Come a man searches for his missing boy in a world that is haunting, dark, and futuristic.
How to Make A Clown closes this great bizarro collection with the story of a man with a clown in his attic.
I enjoyed some stories more than others but I'm a gore loving horror hound that doesn't always go for the emotional rollercoaster that a collection like Fungus of the Heart offers. Though not as terrifying as I typically prefer, Mr. Shipp has put together a highly accessible work of bizarro that could gain him fans from all corners of the reading world. I enjoyed this collection and will seek out more of Shipp's work. His ability to go from whimsical to heart wrenching in only a few short words makes him a talent to watch in my eyes.
The stories are as follows.
`The Sun Never Rises in the Big City' opens the collection with a pulpy noir story complete with a hard edged detective. The main character is working on the death of a `rag' and the story gets weird as it twists towards a crescendo.
The simple title of The Haunted House betrays the complexity of the actual story about a ghost that helps the living deal with traumatic events. Ash is a ghost that possesses the body of his `clients' and on this particular case everyone involved grows in unexpected ways.
Fungus of the Heart is the story of a man struggling to gain the power to free his kidnapped love from the mysterious `fortress'. Our hero is a Sentential (body guard) for Protectors (or powerful beings that watch over and keep villages safe). The catch, in order to gain the power he needs he must eat the heart mushroom of a number of noble Protectors.
The Boy in the Cabinet has only a paper cup and Death Cat for friends but he still has a twisted journey of self discovery waiting for him.
One of my personal favorites, Just Another Vampire Story, is anything but common blood sucker lore rehashed and covered with glitter. The story grabs a hold of your heart right away and drags you to a distant cave inhabited by vampires every bit as unique as you would expect from Jeremy C. Shipp. Strong horror with a heart.
Ticketyboo is a place Jeff and Jill go to recover from the trauma caused by a mysterious accident with their parents. This story is a dark genre blurring visit to a surreal world of healing.
The Escapist is the dark fantasy tale of a gnome who escapes from the enemy goblins' Farm and befriends a gnome general who will stop at nothing to destroy the goblins.
Ula Morales is the story of an antlered daughter of a magic tree who lives in a surreal forest.
Spider House is a quick weird story that deals with war and the trauma it predicates.
Monkey Boy and The Monsters is the fun story of Monkey Boy the monster slayer and it follows him as he battles his foul enemies and learns about family life.
Kevin Donihe, Agape Walrus is the wacky story of an all loving walrus that lives with a zombie polar bear in the hills of east Tennessee. Classic bizarro.
In Kingdom Come a man searches for his missing boy in a world that is haunting, dark, and futuristic.
How to Make A Clown closes this great bizarro collection with the story of a man with a clown in his attic.
I enjoyed some stories more than others but I'm a gore loving horror hound that doesn't always go for the emotional rollercoaster that a collection like Fungus of the Heart offers. Though not as terrifying as I typically prefer, Mr. Shipp has put together a highly accessible work of bizarro that could gain him fans from all corners of the reading world. I enjoyed this collection and will seek out more of Shipp's work. His ability to go from whimsical to heart wrenching in only a few short words makes him a talent to watch in my eyes.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bizarro collection
Another great collection of short stories by the author Jeremy Shipp. If you are a fan of the bizarro genre be sure to pick up this and all his other books.
Published 17 months ago by Michael C Cameron
Get Sheep and Wolves instead
I'd like to start by making it clear that my three star rating does not come from any lack of quality in the work. I do not believe there are inferior stories in this book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Garrett Cook
A Unique Collection
FUNGUS OF THE HEART is an intriguing collection of stories. It's hard to classify the collection with one category. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Neal Hock "bookhound78"
Don't Miss It!
You and I, we exist in a somewhat different plane than the rest of them. We know this. It mostly goes unspoken because that's not why we're here (just to be different), no, we're... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Justin Day
Fungus of the Heart
Ideals are ever-changing, often unattainable, pipe-dreams. Love does not always conquer all. Fulfilling the role of "knight-in-shining-armor," protecting everyone and everything he... Read more
Published 18 months ago by s. s. michaels
Beautifully Bizarro
In this latest short story collection Jeremy Shipp explores what happens to relationships when the rules of society go out the window. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Colleen Wanglund
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