The Land of Ick and Eck: Harlot's Encounters - Softcover

Genest, Micah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1775372146 ISBN 13: 9781775372141

Publisher: Mortar and Pestle Publishing, 2018

Synopsis

A young girl stumbles into a strange and dangerous land filled with fairies, nymphs, and the most bizarre characters in this odd, dark fairy tale adventure about innocence, nonsense, and wanderlust.

Think Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but more twisted. 

Think the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, but weirder. 

Think the Wizard of Oz, but darker.

After following a stranger up and down a magical tree, Harlot finds herself in an absurd land littered by depraved creatures who have one thing on their mind, the carnal sort. With a few somewhat helpful fairies, the naive and graceless (and quite rude) girl finds herself wandering through the most bizarre and even psychedelic situations that could only make sense in the world of fairies. How will Harlot survive the bloody goblins who want to eat her? the tricky Nigwig who wants to beat her? and does the knight and his sword simply want to greet her?

Written in the style of classic children's books, like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, but meant for adults. Find yourself thinking twice at each encounter and dark nursery rhyme, getting lost in this exciting journey into fairyland, the Land of Ick and Eck.

About this title

From the Back Cover

A much too trusting Harlot finds herself in the preyful Land of Ick and Eck, a place where she encounters peculiar creatures that have the most awful intensions of the carnal sort. By happenstance, she finds the company of a Ground Faerie, a Wood and Water Nymph, and a Butter-Maiden to assist her (sort of) along the way.

But Alas! How the outlandish figures are quite the handful, ranging from the likes of Spriggans, the-man-with-a-can-for-a-head, Jaw Skins, to Alter-Fops, a knight of courtly love, and a Nigwig (to name a few). Thankfully, there are moments of repose, such as those with the band of eunuchs with sacs on their heads, the beautiful Milk-Maidens, and the adventures within the Faerie Ring.

Though the bombardments continue to pursue her, Harlot's innocent temperament, irrational faith, and devotion to feeding her curiosity provokes her forward, and thus her true strengths are revealed within the Land of Ick and Eck.

An author's note: The following three volumes of The Land of Ick and Eck are meant to capture the fleeting, innocent imaginations of the little people, and the turning of head bones, or double hearing, of the larger folk. Harlot's encounters are as they may seem, and not, depending on the spectacles chosen. This is indeed an orthodox expurgated glance upon the following happenings.

When a scream is heard, wait... for silence is our assurance of tolerability.

Review

"...a hard story to pin down in words, but fairytale, bizarre, surreal, childlike wonder, beautiful, and magical are the first few that come to mind...The book has an Alice in Wonderland meets Grimm's Fairy tales meets Labyrinth feeling to it that I absolutely loved." (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"The characters that Harlot encounters are probably my favorite, no detail is left untold and while you may wonder if the author was on hallucinogenic drugs as he was writing this story, it does not disappoint in any manner..." (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"It was ridiculous and because of that, thoroughly enjoyable..." (Amazon Review) ★★★★
"The author has developed a story that inspires a strange urge of wanderlust. The story makes the reader want to go on a quest of their own to lands unknown. It is a complex story filled with suspenseful moments. This book is edge of your seat worthy..." (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"It reminds me of a darker version of the Wizard of Oz on steroids." (Amazon Review) ★★★★
"As a HUGE fan of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "the Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales", and Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", I was totally stoked to read this book, and it totally delivered!" (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"I was a bit hesitant on this book thinking it would fall into either another boring slack at a retell or an overly written dark retell. But this book amazed me. Alice in wonderland meets adult mind!! It was a great balance of, fairy tale, dark retelling, satire, and exceptional writing." (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"You'll be Seeing Jim Henson's Creepy Puppets the Whole Time." (Amazon Review) ★★★★★
"...this book is a reminder that fairy tales are not just for children and that adults can also enjoy them." (Amazon Review) ★★★★

The Land of Ick and Eck: Harlot's Encounters

Edition details

• Publisher: Mortar and Pestle Publishing
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1775372146
• ISBN 13: 9781775372141
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 206
• Illustrator: Bauer John