While some things fall into the alternative or underground categories, others earn that distinction.
Jasmine Sailing's locally produced magazine Cyber-Psychos A.O.D. is rapidly becoming a finishing school for those who want to polish their fringe portfolios and make a name outside the mainstream.
The occasionally produced 'zine has already drawn a respectable collection of authors and artists while developing a devout following of people with interests that deviate more than a few points from normal.
Now Sailing has launched the latest salvo in her attacks on average everyday life -- books.
"The style is a weird crossover. I guess it's partial horror and part science fiction, like Burroughs, John Shirley, and J.G. Ballard," Jasmine offered as a description of the literature she plans to continue publishing.
Her first two books, priced at $5 and clocking in around 70 pages each, are the products of Michael Hemmingson and Sue Storm's darkly painful imaginations. Hemmingson's collection, "Nice Little Stories Jam-Packed With Depraved Sex and Violence", turns out to be as much a warning label as title.
The introductory piece turns a musing on evil and murder into a lump stuck in your throat as the author, Full Force Frank, claims he is a real person, not the product of the author's imagination and he plans to turn his sickening ideas into action. A post-modern mind-flip, maybe, but an emotionally powerful assault for sure. From there it only gets worse, or better, depending on the strength of your stomach.
Storm's "Star Bones Weep the Blood of Angels" could be called horror, except that might mislead a generation of readers weaned on weak-kneed monster tales. Her work thrives on the crippling terrors locked inside people and the atrocities they commit against themselves and others. Disturbing is the word here.
"I guess I go for more of a level of what's going to get people thinking and emoting in different ways when they read it," said Sailing.
Copies are available directly from Sailing for $5 plus $1.50 for postage ($1 each for two or more): Cyber-Psychos, Box 581, Denver, CO 80201.