Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine "Morbid Curiosity" [Paperback]

Loren Rhoads (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

For ten years, Morbid Curiosity was a one-of-a-kind underground magazine that gained a devoted following for its celebration of absurd, grotesque, and unusual tales -- all true -- submitted from contributors around the country and across the world. Loren Rhoads, creator and editor of the magazine, has compiled some of her favorite stories from all ten issues in this sometimes shocking, occasionally gruesome, always fascinating anthology.

This quirky book is filled with tales from ordinary people -- who just happen to have eccentric, peculiar interests. Ranging from the outrageous (attending a Black Mass, fishing bodies out of San Francisco Bay, making fake snuff films) to the more "mundane" (visiting a torture museum, tracking real vampires through San Francisco), this curiously enjoyable collection of stories, complete with illustrations and informative asides, will entertain and haunt readers long after the final page is turned.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in the San Francisco-based magazine Morbid Curiosity, edited by founder and multivariate writer Rhoads from 1997 to 2006, this anthology tackles a range of topics falling under the rubric of "all the dark adventures that make life worth living." Beginning appropriately enough with "Why," artist explains her fascination with gross objects: "What could possibly inspire me to make art from hundreds of photos of dog crap... or a collage from bloody squares of gauze?" Elsewhere, Michael Hemmingson recalls playing doctor with his cousin Veronique when they were barely into double digits; Simon Wood chronicles the time he hit a bicyclist with his car; Dana Fredsti writes about a desperate job she took in an L.A. strip club; and George V. Neville-Neil recounts his landlord's suicide. For all the dramatic goings on, however, none prove particularly memorable and most feel detached, lacking in empathy and emotional depth. Though that might be (part of) the point, conflating the tragic and the everyday, this disturbing volume ultimately disappoints.
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Review

"A fun if disturbing read for lovers of great nonfiction and the macabre. As promised, the tales will cure your blues." --Library Journal

"It's like a Reader's Digest of the dark side." -- San Francisco Weekly

"An enjoyable, vaguely voyeuristic read you won't be able to put down until you've finished every page...content that will haunt you for days (and nights)." -- San Francisco Bay Guardian

"A confessional where Americans revealed their deepest, darkest secrets...It was also frequently gross, disgusting, perverse -- and very funny if you prefer your humor to come in a decidedly dark hue." -- The Washington Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Original edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439124663
• ISBN-13: 978-1439124666
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For ten years, Loren Rhoads edited the cult nonfiction magazine Morbid Curiosity. MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES, a collection drawn from the magazine, was published by Scribner in 2009.

Loren's new project is CemeteryTravel.com, where she blogs about graveyards as tourist destinations. She's written gloomy travel articles for Traveler's Tales and was the cemetery columnist at Gothic.Net. Now she's studying the pioneer graveyards of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her fiction has darkened Cemetery Dance, City Slab, Not One of Us, and the chapbooks Ashes & Rust and The Paramental Appreciation Society. Her stories also feature in the four-woman anthology Sins of the Sirens.

She likes long walks in the moonlight and old graveyards.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It helps to be MORBID to get into the spirit of this book, October 20, 2009

By 

Gail K. Powers "Abra" (Harbor Country, Mi,N. Naples, FL, Chicago area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine "Morbid Curiosity" (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I had never heard of the magazine Morbid Curiousity prior to seeing this book as an offering through the Vine program at Amazon. As I consider myself both morbid as well as extremely curious, it seemed like a good fit based on the brief synopsis I read.
This is one of those instances where my instincts were spot on. By page 2 of the editor`s preface titled "Morbid Curiousity Changed My Life" I was hooked and ready to explore the world of morbid.
While there were truly many stories that were minimally gross and revolting, predictably enough the stories that affected me the most were the ones that echoed my own experiences such as having surgery and experiencing sensation, mourning a loved one, enjoying a good day at a creepy cemetery or encounters with the spirit world. This collection ran the gamut. While there were plenty of creepy stories, there were stories that were funny or sad also.
As this book was a composite of many persons experiences with the morbid/dark side, it presented a unique perspective to what individuals perceive as perverse.
It is a good read and should keep the reader involved.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, unusual voyeuristic sideshow, December 24, 2009

By 

A. Whitney (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine "Morbid Curiosity" (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I never read the magazine, but I found this collection to be very interesting. Each story chronicles an unlikely (hopefully) or unusual event in someone's life. Apparently these things happen, just not to the majority of us. On events, happenings and circumstances that we could only imagine, these people write. What was it like to hit & likely kill someone? What is a satanic ritual service like? How does one go about killing a good friend? From modern day vampires to life as a medical human guinea pig, this collection allows you to peer into the strange events that you think would only exist in fiction.

Note: I skipped two stories that had to do with animals. I'm sensitive that way...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Deranged and Mouthwateringly Morbid, December 14, 2009

By 

Michael R Gates (Nampa, ID United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine "Morbid Curiosity" (Paperback)

(What's this?)

Featuring first-person nonfiction essays that celebrated the absurd, the unusual, the morbid, and the grotesque, MORBID CURIOSITY was a magazine that was published once a year from 1997 to 2007. MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES is a collection of forty essays, handpicked by editor and publisher Loren Rhodes, from the magazine's ten-year run. The essays are arranged in five categories--childhood, travel, money and employment, death and the afterlife, and a catchall category--and range in tone from the gruesomely humorous to the truly horrific.

As a lover of things that are morbid, bizarre, or horrifying, I found it nearly impossible to put down this book before I'd read it from cover to cover. As with any anthology, there are a few stories that don't quite hit the mark, but the bulk of them are sure to entertain and engage anybody who is interested in real-life tales of the unusual and the bizarre. Among my favorite of the essays contained within are "The Barbie Wrecking Yard," a man's recollection of how his female cousin used Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls to both awaken his sexuality and haunt his dreams; "Souvenir of Hell," the story of a disturbing tour through what remains of Auschwitz; and "Blood Gags," one man's memoir about faking "bloody" hardcore S&M videos in the 1980s.

If you like true stories about truly unusual people or the genuinely bizarre side of modern life--or even if you just have a morbid curiosity about such things--you'll enjoy MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES. And if you're like me, you'll wish you'd known about MORBID CURIOSITY magazine when it was still in print...and you'll start hunting down the back issues.