To be published in a limited edition of 150 paperback copies by Novello Publishers, LICKER is a new comedic horror novelette about a boy with a hallucinogenic tongue…and the strange people who want a taste of the action.
In an early review, Horror World’s Nate Kenyon calls it an “over-the-top, gross-out laugh riot….Arnzen clearly had a lot of fun in trying to outdo himself, from the very first paragraph all the way to the last.” Peter Straub says it’s “beyond over the top…Licker violates every possible notion of good taste, gleefully, and the result is an optimistic graveyard fandango.” And D. Harlan Wilson writes, “Mike Arnzen is the chicest, craftiest horror writer in the Biz, and Licker is among the best in his library. Devilish, bizarre and irreverent, this book has everything: an insatiable plot, fingerlicking prose, and characters who will eat your heart out with a wooden spoon! Arnzen has imagination pouring out of every orifice.”
This is, bar none, the WEIRDEST thing I’ve ever written, and I blush to admit I laughed out loud even when I proofread the thing. The cover art alone will disturb you. Definitely not for the squeamish. Definitely freaky.
The book includes a bonus flash fiction story, an introduction by Jeff Strand, and more. Want a lick? Licker will be shipping on Halloween. But it is now available for preorder from Shocklines.com — the only place selling signed copies — for just $10. (In fact, I’m happy to report the book was a Shocklines bestseller when it was first announced!)
To wet your whistle, the Lost and Damned messageboards is hosting the LICKER LAUNCH PARTY in an online chat with me on Thursday, OCTOBER 19th at 10PM eastern time. We’ll talk about anything. A few various books will be given away free in a random draw to those who are in the chatroom, so come drop by and say hello!