Description: Inspired by the author's wife and her struggle to overcome cancer, Slippery When Metastasized is a collection of absurdist, cross-genre, darkly comic fiction that explores the fears, sorrows, joys, and wonders of living in a universe that has shattered every human illusion.
Brief description: Charles Austin Muir is the Splatterpunk Award-nominated author of the comedic horror collection, This Is a Horror Book, and the bizarro collection, Bodybuilding Spider Rangers and Other Stories. His fiction is a blend of absurdism, dark comedy, weird horror, heartfelt literary, and nostalgia with influences ranging from Franz Kafka to Ray Bradbury to '80s action movies. His stories have appeared in many horror and bizarro anthologies, including Peel Back the Skin, 18 Wheels of Horror, Year's Best Hardcore Horror, This Book Ain't Nuttin to F*** With, and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Dark Visions and Hell Comes to Hollywood. A former journalist and ex-powerlifter, Muir was an obituary writer, humor writer, and fitness columnist before he became a personal trainer. His experiences with grief, professional and personal, and his passion for healthy movement also influence his bizarre, darkly humorous, sometimes surreal writings. After the release of This Is a Horror Book, Silent Motorist Media named him one of "Ten Weird Writers to Save Us All in 2019." He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, pugs, and pit lab.
Review Quotes:
"Charles Austin Muir is a genre unto himself. Slippery When Metastasized is an unrivaled blend of absurdist humor, slapstick horror, bizarro, '80s pop culture, social satire, and bittersweet literary flights of fancy laced with so much truth and untruth you won't know what you've swallowed until you're drunk to the gills with emotion... If you're looking for a collection bursting with soul and mischief, look no further. Sit back and enjoy the insanity. You'll laugh your way into the abyss and maybe cry a little, too."
--Brendan Vidito, Wonderland Award-winning author of Nightmares in Ecstasy
"One of the hardest tasks an author has is finding a voice that's distinctly their own... Charles Austin Muir has found his, and it's deceptive. Funny and self-mocking, his tales unwind like a story tossed at you from the guy at the next bar stool. You listen, nod, not paying much attention and then--wham! You get hit with the punch line, or more importantly--the truth."
--C. Courtney Joyner, author of Nemo Rising and screenwriter/director with credits including Prison, Class of 1999 and Trancers 3
"Charles Austin Muir has a gift with words that suckers you into his stories on one level, then punches you in the gut with subtle but profound revelations about the human condition."
--Eric Miller, Bram Stoker Award-nominated editor, Big Time Books