I have a pretty odd sense of humor that covers a lot of different bases. Having a previous career in Healthcare and a current job in Law Enforcement caused an exponential growth in my existing dark/morbid sense of humor, and I use horribly inappropriately timed jokes as a coping method when I'm really stressed out. Irony and sarcasm sit blissfully in the middle of my humor spectrum, and on the other side of that - there is no joke too cheesy to get a laugh!
I have a love/hate relationship with horror comedies because I always want so desperately for them to succeed, but they tend to either stray too far in one direction, or just plain fall flat. Damien originally just sent me one story from the collection of six, but I was curious and had to go check out the rest of them.
It starts right off with the really cool hand drawn cover design, giving it a cozy and nostalgic vibe that makes it feel more personal and really captures the Indie spirit. He takes major themes from the last few years (quarantine, climate change, social media obsessions, racism/sexism/all the other awful -isms, and my favorite - the horror of dating), painting some grim pictures but highlighting them with various types of humor.
My favorite story is The Body is a Temple! First of all, I feel like it would be just my luck to meet "my person" in the midst of some godawful situation like the one Kerry and Lucy find themselves in. Their quips are so inappropriately timed that I feel like they'd be my best friends if I ever ran into them, and that would obviously happen mid-apocalypse.
Overall, In the Palm of the Left Hand Black* was a fun read that gives us time to view serious subjects through a lighter lens, and escape the reality of them. Or in some cases - give us some hope for quirky, goofy humor to exist if (or when) they come to fruition! I know I'll be the one who still drops the worst jokes you can imagine while we're hunting for dry land that isn't insanely hot!
Where to find Damien:
Twitter: dcuglybooks
Instagram: damienthulhu
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.