Marvick, Louis - Maculate Vision And Other Stories
Vision stained, vision polluted. A thick half dozen stories, many that earlier appeared in an Side Real Press collection, now OP.
The title piece is a dark amusement. An inheritance with a blasted provision. Yet, Eddie so needed the money, he accepted the uncanny painting. He knew his uncle was up to something.
“Is For Ilinx” wears better a second read around. The Texas caricature still rings off-key, but heightens the disparity between boorish wealth and jaded experience. Conte cruel, this one.
“Of Interactive Surveillance And The Circular Firing Squad” draws us into the rarefied world of Classical music prodigies, tasked with tutoring untrained children, damaged in various ways. The tone is one of anxiety and confusion, building to a grotesque finale.
Zagava has published several Louis Marvick books, and appears to be championing his works. He is well worth investigation by fans of Weird Lit with a taste for extended style over gore and fluids.