D. Harlan Wilson Libri

Set in a future dominated by cinema, an aging movie star undergoes a radical transformation by growing the flesh of a kaiju onto his body. As he grapples with this physical change, he is also haunted by the characters he has portrayed, which clash for dominance over his identity. Amidst this turmoil, he faces the destructive forces of alcoholism, ultraviolence, and psychosis, all while being targeted by media agents. The narrative explores themes of identity, reality versus illusion, and the dark side of fame, culminating in the tantalizing promise of eternal life.

Rutger Van Trout has worse problems than his mundane existence in the all-consuming, all-suppressing Vulgaria of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's not that his son might be turning into a werewolf, or that his daughter might be a nymphomaniac. The problem does not lie in his obsession with transforming his middle-class estate into a three-ring barnyard. He doesn't even mind his wife's (possibly) haunted skeleton or the freak-of-the-week superheroes and window-jumpers populating his neighborhood. The complication has invaded his community in the form of a new breed of serial killer named Mr. Blankety Blank, who stalks from house to house throughout the Vulgaria leaving a bloodbath that would make Jack the Ripper himself blush.

Exploring the absurdities of urban and suburban life, this collection delves into the impact of contemporary image-culture on humanity. With a unique blend of surrealism and dark humor, the stories feature bizarre scenarios, such as parrots teaching classes and bodybuilders posing in strangers' homes. Characters like passive-aggressive glaciers and reincarnated figures challenge the boundaries of reality, creating a narrative that defies causality. D. Harlan Wilson's imaginative storytelling transforms mundane settings into a vivid, otherworldly landscape.

In his study of "The Stars My Destination," D. Harlan Wilson argues for the enduring relevance of Alfred Bester’s work, analyzing its style, influences, and metafictional elements. He portrays Bester as both a product and innovator of the genre, emphasizing psychological depth and literary experimentation. Wilson links Bester's vision to contemporary issues in science fiction.

Prophetic short stories and apocalyptic novels like The Crystal World made J. G. Ballard a foundational figure in the British New Wave. Rejecting the science fiction of rockets and aliens, he explored an inner space of humanity informed by psychiatry and biology and shaped by Surrealism. Later in his career, Ballard's combustible plots and violent imagery spurred controversy--even legal action--while his autobiographical 1984 war novel Empire of the Sun brought him fame. D. Harlan Wilson offers the first career-spanning analysis of an author who helped steer SF in new, if startling, directions. Here was a writer committed to moral ambiguity, one who drowned the world and erected a London high-rise doomed to descend into savagery--and coolly picked apart the characters trapped within each story. Wilson also examines Ballard's methods, his influence on cyberpunk, and the ways his fiction operates within the sphere of our larger culture and within SF itself.

Set in the quirky town of Dreamfield, Indiana, the story unfolds amidst a backdrop of rural monotony disrupted by a violent gang led by the ruthless Samson Thataway. The locals, accustomed to their mundane lives, are thrown into chaos when a family is brutally murdered. Felix Soandso emerges as an unlikely hero, determined to avenge the tragedy and restore the town's bizarre normalcy. This darkly comedic tale explores themes of absurdity, vengeance, and the clash between ordinary life and unexpected violence.

In the wake of the Stick Figure War, civilization lapsed into obscurity. Fallout ravaged the fabric of space and time. History digested reality and reality exhumed the future as survivors tried and failed to create a new beginning ... Amid the chaos, one man experiences a terminal affliction, a revolution of the self: the chronic transformation into the city of Kyoto, Japan. Each transformation further plunges the world into darkness, but he's helpless against the lethal clockwork of his body, his psyche, his mindscreens-and nothing, not even Fate itself, can stop him from becoming God ... In the third and final installment of the Scikungfi trilogy after Dr. Identity and Codename Prague, acclaimed author D. Harlan Wilson composes a narrative grindhouse that combines elements of science fiction and horror with pop culture and literary theory. Erudite, ultraviolent, and riotously satirical, THE KYOTO MAN reminds us how, at every turn, reality is shaped by the forces that destroy it.

D. Harlan Wilson's debut book is a collection of 44 stories that was among the original enclave of fiction spurring the Bizarro movement in literature at the turn of the twenty-first century. According to the U.K. magazine Dazed & Confused, Bizarro authors are "the bastard sons of William Burroughs and Dr. Seuss, picking up where the cyberpunks left off," and The Kafka Effekt is a hallmark of this formation, which continues to grow and generate interest from authors and readers. Irreal, intelligent, funny and scatological, these stories turn reality inside out and expose it as a grotesque, nightmarish machine.The Kafka Effekt includes the story "The Cocktail Party," which was adapted into a short, rotoscoped film. Directed by Brandon Duncan, the film won multiple awards and was an Official Selection at Comic-Con in 2007.

The setting of Pseudofoliculitis City presents a bizarre and surreal landscape where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Through a mix of absurdity and darkness, the narrative explores themes of confrontation and societal norms, revealing hidden truths lurking in everyday places like bathroom stalls and corporate boardrooms. The unique blend of humor and challenge invites readers to question reality in a mind-boggling manner, making for an engaging and thought-provoking experience.

Haunted by his past assassination of the Nowhere Man, Vincent Prague grapples with his newfound celebrity as he takes on the role of Anvil-in-Chief for the MAP. Tasked with solving a case in a chaotic, android-infested Prague, he encounters femme fatales and a mad chef who has created a monstrous hybrid. In this overtechnologized world, Vincent must rely on his wits, weapons, and a briefcase of spare limbs to decode a mystery that ultimately lies within him.