Never Mind the Beasts

Website of surreal-absurd writer Marcus Silcock

about

Born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, Marcus Silcock has made his home in such places as Turkey, Poland, Italy, South Korea, the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom – experiences that inform his surreal-absurd stories.

Category: Microfiction

  • PUPPY LAUNCH!

    Jolly good journeys with trio of surreal-absurd readings last night with launch of my book Puppy. Also Rhubarb by Tom Jenks and Vik Shirley’s Grotesquerie for the Apocalypse. Thank you to Michelle Moloney King and Beir Bua Press for organising.

  • Mr Peabody

    Here is Thursday’s microfiction. A little romantic story. It’s called “Mr Peabody.” From Hermit Kingdom. My book in progress.

  • HOME STAGE LIVE READING

    On Wednesday June 9th, I am reading with the fabulous Colin Herd for Home Stage in the U.K. The event will be streamed live via Youtube. I’ll be reading animal prose poems from my book The Green Monk, as well as some new work from my manuscript in progress: Hermit Kingdom. Surrealistic, minimalist, and sometimes…

  • Stay at Home Glasgow Fringe Festival

    A week from today, on May 8th, 6PM UK time, I am reading from my first novel, Never Mind the Beasts, coming this month from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Along with some other fab writers from Dostoyevsky Wannabe: Colin Herd, Maria Rose Sledmere Ruthie Kennedy, and Rhian Williams. It’s part of this virtual fringe festival, out of…

  • Bath Magg

    I am super happy to a travelogue from the third novel of my trilogy in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey, in the new issue of Bath Magg.

  • Zion

    In my final year of high school, I moved to a small town in Utah, it was much different than Vegas. Here is a microfiction about small town America, in the early 90s, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May 2020. It is called “Zion.”

  • A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

    Battlestar Galactica is partly Mormon. Sci-fi is a big part of Mormon. Do you know the planet Kolob? When we immigrated to America, and my family converted to Mormonism, I had a hankering for sci-fi.

  • Fruit Flies

    What did you do in biology? Frogs? Baby pigs? Did you colour the muscles. Identify bones? We had a special project with fruit flies. We had to make them mate. Here is a microfiction about fruit flies in high school, in the early 90s, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May 2020.…

  • Lockdown in Spain: Days 10 through 15 – life in quarantine in a foreign country

    My microfictions, a daily record of the lockdown in Spain, days 10-15, just published on The Growler.

  • WHAT IS A BATHTUB?

    When I lived in Milton Keynes, before immigrating to the States, I wanted to take a bath with my 8 year old girlfriend. It was very exciting: the bathtub. What is your memory of bathtub? A lot can happen in a bathtub. Here is a microfiction about bathtubs, in the 1980s, from my novel Never…

  • LOCKDOWN IN SPAIN (DAYS 1-9)

    What is lockdown like where you are? I am writing a third person autofiction of my experiences under lockdown down here in Spain. Days one through nine are published over at Bear Review / The Growler. There are two more installments in the future.

  • DESTROYER AND PRESERVER

    John Prine died yesterday, and I keep listening to “Hello in There.” I’ve been thinking also of a microfiction, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe next month, entitled “Destroyer and Preserver.” “Destroyer and Preserver” was written in Madrid in 2016, near La Elipa metro stop. It was my first year in…

  • WET N’WILD

    In Vegas there was a water park. An exciting adventure, for the whole family. I was hitting puberty and my accent had changed, from Northern Irish to working class British to western American. I wanted to become hairy, it was the 1980s, Tom Selleck was a stud muffin. Here is a microfiction about Vegas, in…

  • The Strip

    When we immigrated to America, first it was Vallejo, a trailer park, and then later Las Vegas, where I attended middle school and high school. My mum kept saying the strip. What is the strip? It was something exciting!

  • SKULL

    When the virus came to Spain, it gathered momentum quickly. The fear. Death is hanging over us, always, but it is here even closer, disrupting our usual distractions. Fear and more fear. Did you touch it? Do I bleach it? How do we boost our immune systems when we are not allowed out for a…

  • SQUIRRELS

    Spain is in strict lock down, stricter than Italy, no exercise outside, only outside for groceries, pharmacy. But still the numbers are spiking. Following the trend of Italy, soon the health services will be overrun. The whole world is moving into some form of confinement. Hoarding/not hoarding. It is good to keep up our spirits.…

  • ONE SENTENCE STORIES

    Nice mix of one sentence stories over at Monkeybicycle. Happy to have my microfiction, “Merry-go-round,” in the mix. It is from my novel in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey. The Dreamlife of Honey is part of my nomadic surrealist trilogy. The first novel in the trilogy, Never Mind the Beasts, is forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May…

  • ROME

    Here is microfiction, a kind of postcard, or vignette, from Rome, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May 2020.

  • COLONY

    You need the good ones, and not too much of the bad ones, but sometimes in killing the bad ones, you also kill the good ones. You need enough of the good ones, to kill the bad ones. How do you kill the bad ones, without killing the good ones? Here is a microfiction from…

  • 920

    Shame. Too much or too little. I have it too much. Before leaving London for Madrid, I was gifted a free massage, via Groupon, in the fancy part of London, near South Kensington. Here is a microfiction from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May 2020. It is called “920.”

  • A BUG IN THE HOUSE

    When I moved to Madrid, in the summer of 2016, I learned Spanish expressions. One of them was “a bug in the house.” It was also my first year with the famous Spanish lottery. Lower middle class living per always, the lottery was tempting. & we played, like so many millions (or is billions) of…

  • AMERICAN HORROR STORY

    American Horror Story broke new ground. It is horror, with a timely message. It also plays with genre. Interesting television. When I was living in Madrid, we streamed it on the computer. Sat down with it in the evenings. A kind of purge. One of the seasons has a red moon and people playing the…

  • HOWLING DOGS & CRINKLED WHISPERS

    The first place we landed, upon immigrating to America, was Vallejo California, a trailer park. I had a funny accent. Part working class British and part Northern Irish. No one can understand me. We ate something Hamburger Helper every evening. And NBC movies, with so many adverts, with Clint Eastwood and monkeys, and also Lee…

  • Blackbox Manifold 23

    Happy to have some of my nomadic surrealist prose poems in issue 23 of Blackbox Manifold. These prose poems/microfictions are from The Dreamlife of Honey, the third book of my nomadic surrealist trilogy, still in progress. Thank you to the editors, Alex Houen and Adam Piette! Issue 23 of Blackbox Manifold features work by Josh…