Download or read book Dickens s Clowns written by Buckmaster Jonathan Buckmaster and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-14 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Establishes the importance of the popular radical figure of the pantomime clown in the work of Charles DickensThis book reappraises Dickens's Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi and his imaginative engagement with its principal protagonist. Arguing that the Memoirs should be read as integral to Dickens's wider creative project on the theatricality of everyday existence, Jonathan Buckmaster analyses how Grimaldi's clown stepped into many of Dickens's novels. Dickens's Clowns presents new readings of Dickens's treatment of topics such as identity, the grotesque and violence within the context of the tropes of the Regency pantomime. This is the first study to identify the Dickensian clown as a unifying force for several Dickensian themes, overturning traditional views of Dickens's clowns as peripheral figures.Key FeaturesProvides a new reading of one of Dickens's most neglected texts, and firmly re-establishes it within the Dickens canon as both part of a wider project alongside his other major works of the period and an important influence on later work Identifies the pantomime routines of the Regency clown as a key cultural influence on Dickens's work, tracing significant new sources for his comical treatment of violence and his comedy more generallyOffers important new perspectives on two other key themes in Dickens's work - the use of food and drink within Dickens's articulation of the bodily grotesque and Dickens's use of clothing as a radical signifier of individual liberty

Download or read book Only Joking written by Jimmy Carr and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-09-21 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain’s hottest young comedian presents a seriously funny, up-close look at joking matters—from the social origins of laughter, to the art and craft of humor, to why we can never remember the punch line—featuring over 300 jokes. As the host of the hit game show Distraction (now in its third season on Comedy Central) and one of the premier stand-up acts working today, award-winning comedian Jimmy Carr has won over millions of fans around the world with his trademark rapier wit, laced with "exquisitely economical and perfectly timed one-liners" (The Guardian). For this book he teams up with friend and fellow comedy writer Lucy Greeves to take an in-depth look at where humor comes from and how it works, through exploring its purest form: the joke. Only Joking begins with the mechanism of laughter—how it happens and why even infants do it—then delves into the power of the punch line, exploring the basics of all jokes, from the use of shock and surprise to advanced stand-up techniques such as the "pull-back/reveal." Carr and Greeves go on to explore taboo humor, jokes that bomb, and the psychology of finding something funny. They look into the long-standing connection between politics and humor, and discuss the survival prospects for contentious jokes in the current political climate. Throughout the book they conjure up a supporting cast of colorful joke enthusiasts, from Sigmund Freud to Lenny Bruce, and discuss their influence on the jokes we tell today. Surveying across national, ethnic, and gender divides, this rollicking analysis of why joking will always be close to the human heart is an irresistible exploration of humor that makes clear why we need a good laugh now more than ever.

Download or read book Dark Ride Dogs written by Keith Melton and published by Etopia Press. This book was released on 2014-05-02 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Death prophecies, ghost clowns, homicidal redcaps…this town has really gone to the dogs. Zero Dog mercenary Andrea Walker used to love fortune cookies—until the day she cracked one open to find a death prophecy. Of course, believing a fortune from a mass-produced baked good would be insane—until a berserker shows up on her doorstep claiming he’s been sent by an oracle to save her life. She must hire him or die. But hell really breaks loose when the Zero Dogs are contracted to stop a ghost-summoning goblin’s plan to bring his Eternal Malevolence Carnival and Incredible Show of Evil to Portland, starring a company of ghost performers—clowns, acrobats, and nefarious balloon-twisting mimes. Meanwhile, Andrea’s abnormally shy succubus friend Tiffany seems to be falling for the mysterious berserker. Too bad a malfunctioning charm spell has the redcap goblin yearning for her as well. Now Andrea must elude a death prophecy, discover if her new-hire berserker can be trusted, and avert the looming ghost clown apocalypse. Just another day at the office for the Zero Dogs. Reader note: contains clowns and other shenanigans. May not be suitable for some circuses.

Download or read book ClownFellas written by Carlton Mellick, III and published by Hydra. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Carlton Mellick III goes past silly, through weird, detours around dumb, blasts through bizarre, and gets to a place where the normal physics of narrative no longer apply. You will never be the same.”—Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother and Homeland In a topsy-turvy world where clowns are killers and crooks, Little Bigtop is a three-ring circus of crime, and no syndicate is more dangerous than the Binzo family. From the wildly original mind of Carlton Mellick III comes the short-story collection ClownFellas—an epic mob saga where life is cheap and the gags will slay you. For years, the hard-boiled capos of the Binzo family have run all of the funny business in Little Bigtop, from the clown brothels to the illegal comedy trade. But hard times have befallen the Binzos now that Le Mystère, the French clown Mafia, has started moving in and trying to take over the city. If that weren’t enough, they’ve got to deal with the cops, the Feds, the snitches, the carnies, the mysterious hit man Mr. Pogo, and the mutant clowns over in the Sideshow district. With the odds stacked against them, the Binzos must fight to survive . . . or die laughing. Praise for ClownFellas “Mario Puzo meets Barnum & Bailey . . . You just can’t look away as the ridiculousness escalates.”—Publishers Weekly “The most original novelist working today? The most outrageous? The most unpredictable? These aren’t easy superlatives to make; however, Carlton Mellick may well be all of those things, behind a canon of books that all irreverently depart from the form and concepts of traditional novels, and adventure the reader into a howling, dark fantasyland of the most bizarre, over-the-top, and mind-warping inventiveness. In my opinion, ClownFellas is his best work to date.”—Edward Lee, author of City Infernal and Header “I rarely enjoy clowns—which is ironic since I’ve been one for over four decades—but ClownFellas is great on so many levels, irony being one of them. What can I say besides I love it! Great read, and funny as hell . . . I have been accused of being unfunny before, and after the trial I had to enter the Witless Protection Program. This is funny!”—Barry Lubin, aka Grandma, longtime Big Apple Circus clown “If Martin Scorsese and Ronald McDonald had a baby, this would be it. . . . Each story is clever, multi-layered, and filled with witty dialogue. . . . A must-read.”—This Is Horror “Mellick’s writing is wonderfully descriptive and wildly imaginative. . . . I was utterly delighted, amused, and engrossed. . . . ClownFellas is a gem!”—The Qwillery “A rollercoaster ride through a strange world that borders on our own reality . . . a story that is just as difficult to define as it is to put down.”—Examiner.com “Mellick has created another amazing read. . . . Highly recommended.”—Kitty Horror

Download or read book Death Classroom written by Ye MuAnXiang and published by Funstory. This book was released on 2020-06-26 with total page 569 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten years ago, a few friends and I played a soul-stirring game in the classroom, but I accidentally alarmed the hundred years old evil spirits that were lurking within the school. After escaping from death, I lost my true love. Nine years later, after I successfully cultivated and came back for revenge, I fell into a whirlpool of love and a life and death crisis on the first day that I fought with the evil ghost ...

Download or read book Just Curious Jeeves written by Jack Mingo and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every day, Jeeves receives millions of questions at Ask.com. From this incredible storehouse of inquiries, authors Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett have selected the most intriguing to answer in a book that is as witty and informative as the Internet butler himself.

Download or read book Sin du Jour The First Course written by Matt Wallace and published by Tordotcom. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Sin du Jour omnibus collects in a single edition the first three books in the series from Hugo award-winning author Matt Wallace: Envy of Angels, Lustlocked, Pride's Spell, and the bonus short story “Small Wars”. Everyone loves a well-catered event, and the supernatural community is no exception. Enter Sin du Jour, the expert caterers to demons, goblins, faeries, and everything in between. In their first month on the job Lena Tarr and Darren Vargas, the newest line chefs at the supernatural catering agency, have had to approximate angel meat, evade amorous lizards, and provide craft sacrifices for a Hollywood debut. Their coworkers have contended with zombified clowns, fought off the Easter Bunny's hit squad, and captured a golden fish for a goblin royal wedding. And as if their new jobs weren't weird enough, now they have to deal with a very personal transformation on the behalf of their mysterious employer. As if surviving as a New York City chef weren't hard enough. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Envy of Angels written by Matt Wallace and published by Tordotcom. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In New York, eating out can be hell. Everyone loves a well-catered event, and the supernatural community is no different, but where do demons go to satisfy their culinary cravings? Welcome to Sin du Jour - where devils on horseback are the clients, not the dish. Sin du Jour Book 1: Envy of Angels Book 2: Lustlocked Book 3: Pride's Spell Book 4: Idle Ingredients Book 5: Greedy Pigs Book 6: Gluttony Bay Book 7: Taste of Wrath PRAISE FOR ENVY OF ANGELS: "Matt Wallace tells a raucous, riotous tale of culinary madness - a jaw-dropping horror-fantasy restaurateur Thunderdome that makes the 'monkey brain' scene in Temple of Doom look like something you'd see on Nickelodeon. It's like I dropped a heroic dose of acid and turned on the Food Network for eight hours. It's funny and demented and sticks in you like a pinbone. Matt Wallace writes like someone just jammed a needle full of adrenaline in his heart - and then, in yours. From this point forward, I'll read anything this guy writes." — Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds and Zer0es "No one makes me think, 'Dammit, I should have thought of that!' like Matt Wallace. The Sin du Jour series is something I read with equal amounts of envy and delight." — Mur Lafferty, Campbell Award winning author of The Shambling Guide to New York City "Envy of Angels is one of the most original urban fantasies I've read in a damn long time. Angels, demons and the New York restaurant scene. It doesn't get any weirder than this. Matt Wallace is an author to watch." — Stephen Blackmoore, author of Dead Things and Broken Souls "Envy of Angels is exactly the breath of fresh air I didn't know I needed: darkly funny, sweepingly inventive, and just plain fun to read. Every time I thought I got the hang of this book, the next turn took me someplace even more breathtakingly weird and wonderful. Buy it. DO IT NOW. It's the only way we can force him to write a dozen more of these!" — Andrea Phillips, author of Revision At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Clownflesh written by Tim Curran and published by . This book was released on 2019-05-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Craw Falls, South Dakota has become a cage. The mother of all blizzards has locked it down. The roads are impassable. Nobody gets in. Nobody gets out. Along with the freezing winds and blowing snow has come an apex race of ravenous predators. They hide in the shadows. They crawl from the drifts. They use the storm as camouflage to hunt their unsuspecting human prey.By morning, the town will be a morgue. Unless one motley group of survivors can destroy the monsters in their midst.Horrors beyond imagining...CLOWNS.

Download or read book Tor com Bundle 2 October 2015 written by K. J. Parker and published by Tor.com. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tor.com Publishing's second ebook bundle contains all of our novellas published in October 2015: The Last Witness by K. J. Parker, Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter, and Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Camp Slasher written by Dan Padavona and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-10-19 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lost in the dark woods. Stalked and butchered. Head severed and tossed into the bushes. She is the first to die. The body count will grow.Slasher horror in the vein of Friday the 13th, Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.A group of young counselors set out to rebuild Camp Black Bear. But a bloodthirsty killer stalks the woods. Now two counselors must survive the night in the forest. The killer is hunting them. He won't stop until they are dead.And the nearest town is ten miles away.Where is the sheriff who promised to keep them safe? Can the counselors evade the killer until help arrives?More victims are found murdered in the woods. The vehicles are destroyed and the radio disabled. No escape.Footsteps in the dark. The killer is coming.Classic slasher horror that will leave fans of Stephen King, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre breathless. Fans of true slasher horror should get to know Camp Slasher. Start reading now!Praise for Dan Padavona: "One of the most exciting writers to burst upon the scene in quite some time." - Brian Keene, Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author"Dan Padavona is at the top of my short list of must-read authors, and he's just getting started." - Thomas T"Padavona cements his own as a powerful voice in modern horror." - Michael W"Dan Padavona is a rare find. This author makes you FEEL like you are IN the story which is very rare!" - Annamaria B"Padavona filled my mind with visions that made my skin crawl and my heart race." - Ima Kitten"Stunning prose." - Ginger Nuts of Horror"Dan Padavona can flat out write." - Alan N"He is becoming one of my favorite authors." - Ron B"Another thrilling read by the master." - Review"Page turning, pulse-pounding entertainment." - Richard"A foray into the believably creepy. Recommended." - Xtina"It takes a lot to make me squirm, but Padavona does it here." - Russell C

Download or read book 100 Videogames written by James Newman and published by . This book was released on 2007-02-14 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Videogames are one of the most culturally, socially and economically significant, not to mention pervasive, media forms. The global videogames industry is worth billions of dollars and growing year on year as it releases yet more innovative products that synthesize cutting edge technology, ease of use, accessibility and, most importantly, fun. It is hardly surprising then that every day, millions of adults and children around the globe dedicate countless hours to exploring virtual worlds, assuming alternative identities and engaging in digital play. Yet for all this, there is relatively little critical discussion of videogames and they remain the poor relation of contemporary media criticism, leaving those new to videogames struggling to find information about key titles and the cognoscenti hungry for insight into their favourite titles. James Newman and Iain Simons' guide provides a map of the most important games from the 1960s to the present day that will satisfy both novices and acolytes alike as it journeys through the most interesting, innovative and entertaining titles of the first forty years of videogames.

Download or read book The Underdwelling written by Tim Curran and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a kid on the way, Boyd needed the job bad. But the idea of going underground at the Hobart Mine, down into the dark labyrinth of tunnels to get at the raw ore, left him with a brooding sense of unease. Maybe it was the fact that his father had died down in the mines or maybe it was something much worse. Digging a new drift down in Level #8, the lowest level of the mine, an immense shaft opens up. Boyd and a few others volunteer to explore it. Some 400 feet down, they find a passage that leads to an immense cavern from prehistory. A petrified world. A prehistoric graveyard. Then a cave-in traps them down there. In the darkness and dank shadows of a fossilized world, they realize they are not alone. Something has woken in the stone. Something ancient and terrible and coldly intelligent. And it is lonely.

Download or read book Bad Girl in the Box written by Tim Curran and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2022-12-05 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Birch Street. A beautiful neighborhood on a beautiful summer day. Then raw meat falls from the sky. People are at first offended, then intrigued. Once tasting it, they can eat nothing else. It becomes an addiction that owns them body and soul, releasing pent-up frustrations, secret desires, and nameless horror. And when the meat runs out,the monsters are loose on Birch Street. Into this hell zone of starvation, rot, and worms comes a conflicted, traumatized young woman. She’s returning home after a long, painful absence. She alone broods over the secret of the meat. Through her is deliverance from starvation. But only at the most horrific price.

Download or read book The Grin of the Dark written by Ramsey Campbell and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2008-07-08 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former professor offers film critic Simon the chance of a lifetime—to write a book on one of the greatest long-lost comedians of the silent-film era, Tubby Thackeray. Simon is determined to find out the truth behind the jolly fat man's disappearance from film—and from the world. Tubby's work carries the unmistakable stamp of the macabre. People literally laughed themselves to death during his performances. Soon, wherever Simon goes, laughter—and a clown's wide, threatening grin—follow. Is Simon losing his mind? Or is Tubby Thackeray waiting for him to open the door back to the world? Ramsey Campbell has won a dozen British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards and three Bram Stoker Awards. A new Campbell novel is an opportunity to delight in the craftsmanship of an extraordinary writer. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book The Bookkeeper s Skull written by Justin D Hill and published by Warhammer Horror. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spine-chilling tales set in the Worlds of Warhammer. On the capital world of Potence, young enforcer cadet Rudgard Howe is caught up in a bitter internecine feud to inherit his father’s position of Chief Enforcer. As the tithe fleets approach, he is sent on his first mission to ensure that the planet’s distant agri-facilities fulfil their quotas to the God-Emperor. Farmed with serfs and managed by ex-Militarum soldiers, the agri-facilities are places of shocking brutality and hopelessness. But when he is sent to the outlying farmstead of Thorsarbour, Rudgard discovers a community where the crops are left to rot as the inhabitants indulge in the bloody ecstasy of a sanguinary cult. As Rudgard imposes the strict Lex Imperialis upon the farmstead, he begins to uncover a place where sanity is rapidly slipping. But he is just one step along this nightmarish mission when a series of cruel deaths threatens to dismantle everything he has ever known about the Imperium, his faith in the Emperor, and the strength of his very soul.

Download or read book Deadlock written by Tim Curran and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charlie Petty is a man known for having ice water in this veins. He never backs down and is never shaken but unfortunately stirred up into the wrong crowd. As a degenerate gambler, his luck has run out and his debt has now come due. Charlie is offered a chance to clear his tab: simply stay alone on a ship overnight to prove to its owner and potential crew that it’s not cursed nor haunted. Never mind the ship’s history of suicide, violence, mutiny and murder. Or how the ship’s past crews have gone missing or insane. The fact that no one has set foot on deck in darkness for years doesn’t phase Charlie one bit. It sounds like easy money to bust up a superstition or two. Charlie thinks his luck is returning. Little does he know it’s about to run out completely.