What is Bizarro fiction? Well, there are two ways to explain it: the long way and the short way.

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[[folder: The Short Answer ]]


You ever wake up from a dream that made perfect sense at the time; but now that you're awake, you're left thinking, "''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis What! Was! That!?]]''" Bizarro Fiction is like that.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Long Answer ]]


Bizarro Fiction is a contemporary literary genre known for high weirdness. As the print media equivalent of the cult film, bizarro fiction strives to be not only strange but also thought-provoking and fun to read. Bizarro fiction takes place in a dreamlike alternate reality where the unexpected, unpredictable, unfathomable, or plain horrifying is commonplace. Think MagicRealism [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on...]] oh never mind... It's [[SanitySlippage it is it is it is]] [[YourHeadASplode AAAAAARRRRRRGGHH*splot*]]

Traits of Bizarro Fiction:
# Bizarro, simply put, is the genre of the weird.
# Bizarro is literature's equivalent to the cult section at the video store.
# Like cult movies, Bizarro is sometimes surreal, sometimes avant-garde, sometimes goofy, sometimes bloody, sometimes borderline pornographic, and almost always completely out there.
# Bizarro strives not only to be strange, but fascinating, thought-provoking, and, above all, fun to read.
# Bizarro often contains a certain cartoon logic that, when applied to the real world, creates an unstable universe where the bizarre becomes the norm and absurdities are made flesh.
# Bizarro was created by a group of small press publishers in response to the increasing demand for (good) weird fiction and the increasing number of authors who specialize in it.

Frequently overlaps with {{Horror}}, BlackComedy, and ScienceFiction. Overlaps, but is distinct from NewWeird. May contain an affinity for the [[PunkPunk Punk genres]]. See also GenreBusting. When it comes to fan fiction tropes, compare CrackFic.

Here's [[http://bizarrocentral.com/2011/06/19/common-bizarro-components/ this article]] that lists five common components of the genre, and [[http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/non-fiction/bizarro-fiction-101-not-just-weird-for-weirds-sake/ this interview]] on Rose O'keefe about what bizarro is and isn't, and now [[http://www.bookedpodcast.com/2012/01/28/episode-61-intro-to-bizarro/ a Booked Podcast episode!]]

!!Bizarro Publishers:

* Afterbirth Books
* Burning Bulb Publishing
* Eraserhead Press and its many imprints:
** Deadite Press
** Lazy Fascist Press
** Raw Dog Screaming Press
** Swallowdown Press
* Grindhouse Press
* Library of Bizarro Horror Press
* Legume Man Books

!!Novels, Novellas, Collections and Anthologies
[[index]]
* ''Literature/AllEncompassingTrip''
* ''Literature/AntipaladinBlues''
* ''Literature/{{Apeshit}}''
* ''Literature/ArmadilloFists''
* ''Literature/TheAssGoblinsOfAuschwitz''
* ''Literature/TheBadBox''
* ''Literature/ABootStompingAHumanFaceForever''
* ''Literature/BigGurl''
* ''Literature/TheBoyWithTheChainsawHeart''
* ''Literature/TheBrothersCrunk''
* ''Literature/TheBumTrilogy''
* ''Literature/TheCannibalsOfCandyland''
* ''Literature/{{Clusterfuck}}''
* ''Literature/CrabTown''
* ''Literature/{{Cybernetrix}}''
* ''Literature/Damnation101''
* ''Literature/TheEggMan''
* ''Literature/ExtinctionJournals''
* ''Literature/TheGreatestFuckingMomentInSports''
* ''Literature/TheHandsomeSquirm''
* ''Literature/HoleyMatrimony''
* ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves''
* ''Literature/IKnockedUpSatansDaughter''
* ''Literature/KillBall''
* ''Literature/LakehouseInfernal''
* ''Literature/LittlePeopleBigGuns''
* ''Literature/MarabouStorkNightmares''
* ''Literature/MonsterCocks''
* ''Literature/TheMorbidlyObeseNinja''
* ''Literature/NakedLunch''
* ''Literature/NightOfTheAssholes''
* ''Literature/PseudoCity''
* ''Literature/QuicksandHouse''
* ''Literature/SausageySanta''
* ''Literature/SeaOfThePatchworkCats''
* ''Literature/{{Shatnerquake}}''
* ''Literature/ShockTotem''
* ''Literature/SnuggleClub''
* ''Literature/SomewhereBeneathThoseWaves''
* ''Literature/SpiderBunny''
* ''Literature/TheSubjectSteve''
* ''Literature/SweetStory''
* ''Literature/ASymphonyOfEternity''
* ''Literature/TalesOfTheSpaceSouth''
* ''Literature/ThisIsYourFinalWarning''
* ''Literature/TheTickPeople''
* ''Literature/TumorFruit''
* ''Literature/Twisted2010''
* ''Literature/UglyHeaven''
* ''Literature/UltraFuckers''
* ''Literature/TheVaginaAssOfLuciferNiggerbastard''
* ''Literature/VillageOfTheMermaids''
* ''Literature/WarriorWolfWomenOfTheWasteland''
* ''Literature/ZombiesAndShit''
!!Web sites featuring Bizarro Fiction
* ''Website/RPCAuthority''
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
** ''Website/TheWanderersLibrary''
** ''Website/ChaosInsurgency''
[[/index]]

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!! Tropes often found in Bizarro fiction:

* BodyHorror
* BizarroApocalypse
* {{Gorn}}
* AGoodNameForARockBand: A common trait of the titles.
* FromBadToWorse
* ItMakesSenseInContext: For certain values of "context", and even then, not always.
* MindScrew
* NauseaFuel
* RandomEventsPlot: ... to go with the often dreamlike quality of the genre.
* RefugeInAudacity
* {{Rule 34}}
* {{Squick}}
* SurrealHorror
* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible
* VulgarHumor
* {{Wackyland}}
* WordSaladTitle
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