A chapter from Th. Metzger’s novel Shock Totem, to order from Amazon click here. Brian was on his bed, doing the Prong and listening to the invisible Negroes inside his…

My wife gave birth to a giant spider. It crawled out of her vagina, legs first, its body about the size and shape of a baby except for the legs,…

I found a gold watch in my Toilet one day. An elegant, minimalistic thing. It rested, without emphasis, on the bottom of the bowl, and I could see through the…

 Scene One At the side show. It’s still early, there are no spectators yet. Charlie is helping Zip into his outfit. Zip: Can it really be? Has Menachem’s gang really…

As someone raised in an apartment building in New York City, I’ve always had a fascination with the suburbs. As I got older, that fascination only intensified. Even actually moving…

There exists an oddly prevalent nightmare in which a person’s teeth are broken or knocked out. Although I am glad to report that I’ve never experienced it, I have suffered…

Part II Part one of this story may be found here Oct. 10 Twenty-one days later—starting a new letter to bring you up to date. First of all, I should…

Prologue I will tell you the secret of human happiness . . . Once upon a time there was a king who had one son, and he wanted to hand…

Some people can shout without raising the volume of their voice.  Kathryn Thoms had that ability.  The target of her Thursday afternoon ire was Ronald, who’d managed his local Kroger…

When Greg’s penis fell off he did not feel any pain. Indeed, he might not have noticed it had happened until he got to the office, if it weren’t for…

(Excerpts from the Personal Diary of Janna Peruda, Independent Computer Consultant and Single Woman)  Monday, March 24  As I sat in the lavatory at the Devane Co. plant having a…

Nightmare You’re attending a reunion of all the people you’ve slept with in your life— it isn’t a large number, less than legion, more than minyan, a number divisible only…

Thom Metzger, Shock Totem; independent 2022. Evil bureaucrats sterilized by dreams of power, corporate conspiracy, cops and mental institution staff, populate Shock Totem’s fallen world oozing chemical waste and humming…

KEEPING THE WINDOW CLOSED The last time I opened the window the moon got in, streaked through between the sill and sash and plunged into the mirror. It stuck there.…