Title: Abortion Arcade
Written By: Cameron Pierce
Published by: Eraserhead Press
157 pages, Copyright 2011.
ISBN 978-1936383535 (US – $10.95)

‘Abortion Arcade’ is the latest collection of Bizzaro tales from author Cameron Pierce, who’s other notable works include the novella ‘Ass Goblins of Auschwitz’. This collection of tales is comprised of three stories.
 
The first tale is titled ‘No Children’ and it revolves around two star crossed lovers, their love nearly extinguished when they are forced to follow through on prearranged marriages. Only these are not your typical marriages, as the grooms are beheaded after impregnating their wives.  Escape from this preordained fate is futile since zombie guards maintain law and order.  At least when they’re not feeding on the corpses of the recently departed.
 
The second tale is ‘The Roadkill Quarterback of Heavy Metal High’ and this one revolves around a werewolf outcast named Danny who one day is thrust into the spotlight.  The hero of his high school football team dies with the big game just around the corner.  Danny is chosen as the school’s new first string quarterback, but starting in the big game is the least of his troubles – he has yet to stage his first horrific accident to impress the most popular girl in school.  This is not your normal high school and the curriculum centers around heavy metal music.
 
The third tale, ‘The Destroyed Room’, centers around a man who is forced to come to terms with the recent death of his wife. Like the two other tales, the world which this character populates lies within a distorted dimension that turns any semblance of reality on its head. Due to pollution, cars are no longer allowed on land and can only be driven under the sea. The denizens who inhabit this world include creatures referred to as sloths and tiny white elephants. The husband and wife at the center of the tale have strings growing out of their bodies.
 
Though ‘No Children’ most resembles the aforementioned ‘Ass Goblins of Auschwitz’ narrative wise, all these tales are in line with Cameron Pierce’s other writings. The most entertaining of the three is ‘The Roadkill Quarterback of Heavy Metal High’. If you are a fan of 1980′s heavy metal, there is an abundance of nods to this genre of music throughout this tale. With that being said, one should not overlook the other two stories, as the author’s limitless imagination kicks into overdrive in ‘No Children’ and he gives the collection a poignant coda with ‘The Destroyed Room’. Uninitiated readers who have yet to experience this author’s distinctive verbal prose should get ready for the mind fuck of their life, and even die-hard fans of  Cameron Pierce’s weird tales will be blown away by these latest writings.