New Review at Substack

Over at my Substack, I have a new review of the latest novel from Bob Freville. 

Read it here, and please consider subscribing if you haven't.

A Door is a Door is a Door is a Jar

I've had three poems in the latest, winter 2022, edition of Door is a Jar magazine. 

You can either get it from the website or pick it up at the nearest Barnes and Noble.

Two Halloween Poems + Ebook Sale

Over at the Malarkey Books website, I have two gloomy poems for Halloween. 

Also, for the remainder of Halloween today, my book of plays is only $0.99 at Godless.com.

Corpses on the Vine at Substack

Over at my Substack, I posted a surrealist piece that used AI to assist in its creation. 

Read it here.  

New Story at Expat Press

My short story, "Messages from Paradise," has been published over at Expat Press. It's a surreal horror piece written as a series of text messages. Thank you very much to the kind folks at the press for publishing this on their site. 

Read it here. 

Out Now: PLAYS/hauntologies

PLAYS/hauntologies is out now from Madness Heart Press. You can get the ebook directly from the Madness Heart website, or from Godless. Physical copies are available from the Madness Heart website and Amazon. You can also get the ebook on Kindle. 

You can watch the book trailer for it here on YouTube. 

Christina Pfeiffer of the Mothers of Mayhem podcast had this to say about the book: ""Every play is stunning, beautiful, and forces the reader to question things. But 'An American Demon' is, by far, one of the most beautiful works I have read this year. Just... this is going to live rent free in my head until I die."

If you enjoy the book, please consider giving it a review on Goodreads. 

Thank you everyone for your support. 

Coming Soon: PLAYS/hauntologies

Coming September 18th from Madness Heart Press 

"Having dabbled in texts for performances in his prior books, PLAYS/hauntologies sees Ben Arzate’s first full-length foray into works for the stage. Combining the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, the cruelty of Antonin Artaud, the postdramatic vision of Heiner Muller, and a wide mix of inspirations from genre fiction, these pieces are a deeply eclectic mix.

From the surreal science fiction of “The Doomed Flight of the Taurus-19” to the pitch-black humor of “The Confessor” to the searing anti-war monologue “An American Demon,” these plays are guaranteed to entertain, horrify, and bring the minds of readers to new and strange places."

Pre-order the book here.

New Interviews Plus A Review

I recently had an interview go up at A Good Book to End the Day. That can be read here.

I also had a great interview with Jordan Rothacker go up at StatORec. That can be read here.

My newest review at Cultured Vultures is of Gabino Iglesias's first novel from a major publisher, The Devil Takes You Home. That can be read here. 

Read, read, read.

New Story at Godless: Baby, You'll Be Famous

 

Over at Godless.com, I have a new exclusive story. This is part horror, part satire about a sleazy entertainment journalist trying to break a scandal story about a pop singer. 

"Shawn Baker is a writer for a sleazy tabloid, trying to earn a living while chasing his rock star dreams. One day, while going through the garbage of famous pop singer Penni P, he discovers a scandal that just might make his career if he can break the story. However, what's going on with Penni P might be far worse than Shawn realizes."

Pick it up here.

Nafallen University 2022-2023 Course Catalog

 

The Nafallen University Course Catalog is live now! I have a few entries in this. Thank you to Madness Heart Press for having me in this interesting anthology. 

Pick it up here.

The Return of The Unreprinted

The Unreprinted returns over at my Substack. First up, an early novel by Carlton Mellick III, Electric Jesus Corpse. 

Read it here. 

the feel bad dispatch

I decided to start a Substack. 

Subscribe to it here. 

My first post will be the return of my The Unreprinted column. Coming soon. 

Review of Music is Over! in Heavy Feather Review

 Carl Fuerst wrote an amazing review of Music is Over! over at Heavy Feather Review. 

"A lot of Music Is Over! invites comparisons to Murakami: the Japanese cultural elements, the dream-like setting, the juxtaposition of the surreal and the mundane, the terse narration, and the laconic dialogue. But I feel like what distinguishes this novella is how Arzate blends these ingredients with elements from folklore, science fiction, horror, absurdism, pornography, and, most extensively, bizarro. In many ways, Music Is Over! is a compact ecosystem of literary forms typically labeled as experimental or fringe."

Read the full review here. 

Music is Over! Update: Signed Copies and Ebooks Now Available

The ebook for Music is Over! is now available as both on the Malarkey Books website and on Godless.com.

Get it from Malarkey Books     
Get it from Godless

I also have signed copies available directly from me. Email me at benarz13(at)gmail(dot)com to get one.

Release Day: Music is Over!

 

Music is Over! is out from Malarkey Books today. You can order it directly from Malarkey Books, from major online retailers, or you can special order it from your local bookstore. Take a look at what others are saying about it. 

"A cross-dressing noise musician and a young woman with facial scars walk into a bar. This isn't a joke. It's Ben Arzate's new book "Music Is Over," a transgressive subway ride through a soot-blasted, violent, sexually deviant, urban, nightmare. Everything down this rabbit hole is dilapidated, bruised, rusted and torn, from the trains and buildings, to the hearts and souls of its inhabitants. Like a reverse Alice in Wonderland, where instead of finding a land of wonders, our heroes fall into a grimy, post-industrial world of brutality and late-stage capitalism gone awry. Toto, we're not in Tokyo anymore, and the way back definitely isn't clear. Arzate is going to make his readers feel filthy, and it's going to be real hard to get the blood and dirt out from under their fingernails."

- Michael Allen Rose, author of Jurassichrist and Rock And Roll Death Patrol

"If I could describe this here’s how I would: imagine Arzate has a painters palate with all different, vibrant colors. But those colors are literary genres. He uses absurdism, bizarro, just the smalllllest hint of splatterpunk, a lot of suspense, some Japanese folklore, a little play on The Wizard of Oz, and a whole lot of literary fiction. It’s the most beautifully refreshing book I have read in years. It’s dark and depressing, but has that glimmer of hope, dangled like a carrot at the end of the string."

- Christina Pfeiffer, Mothers of Mayhem: An Extreme Horror Podcast

"Every book is an invitation. Music is Over! is no different. It is a delicate, meticulously curated and balanced mixture of the banal as well as the fantastical… in an almost blink-and-you-might-miss-it sort of way. The Japan you didn’t know existed, as imagined by Arzate! You quickly become ensorcelled, without even realizing that what is happening is actually happening. This is a world in flux, forever transmogrifying… like a cult film you accidentally stumble upon, late at night, long after the final sign-off. There is an obvious mastery of the craft. An invisible and very intense layer of magic. A world-building that makes the illusion that much more grandiose. Once more, every book is an invitation. Make sure to not miss this one!"

- Mike Kleine, author of Third World Magicks and Lonely Men Club

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