David Malki !is the author of the comic Wondermark a gag strip crafted entirely from 19th century illustrations. Wondermark was syndicated inThe Onion, and has three hardcover collections from Dark Horse Books, the first of which was nominated for the Eisner award (the highest honor in comics) for 'Best Humor Publication.' It's possible that this was a clerical error.

He's also co-editor of the bestselling Machine of Death series of fiction anthologies, and most recently, creator of the morbid storytelling game Machine of Death: The Game of Creative Assassination. In his spare time, he uses dice to generate fantastic creatures and draws their portraits atrollasketch.com. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nikki, and he likes to fly airplanes.

Horrid Little Stories by David Malki

Horrid Little Stories: Sixty Dark and Tiny Tales of Misery and Woe is a book of little stories about people dying, getting hurt, hurting each other, hurting themselves, making mistakes, causing problems, and falling in love — all written in verse, in the style of Edward Gorey, or his many inferior imitators. If you like Edward Gorey, you have good taste.

The contents of this book originally saw print as the pages of the celebrated limited-edition 2008-2012 Wondermark calendars. This book also contains a few bonus verses too!

CURATOR'S NOTE

When the author dies one day, his tombstone will surely kvell: "Here lies David in decay, but his books are still funny as hell." – The Devastator

 

REVIEWS

  • "Seriously witty, subversive, and enjoyable."

    – Goodreads Review

  • "A thoroughly amusing series of illustrated verses...I could not resist laughing out loud and then reading several of them to anyone else who was around. Initially I gave this book a 4 star rating as I without a doubt "really liked it", but upon further reflection I upgraded it to a full 5 stars. It exceeded my expectations for a collection of verse, and I would recommend it to anyone with at least the tiniest sense of humor."

    – Goodreads Review
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

The pages to come feature nothing of taste
For those whose opinions discern;
It's vileness, crudity, gross and debased
As in a few pages you'll learn.
I wrote these small ditties in calendar form
And printed them every December;
Hence there are references (I should inform
you) to matters you may not remember.
For each little verse is a statement of fact,
For each page, my research meticulous;
The details recounted are true and exact
Your doubts -- I'll just say -- are ridiculous.

"Pretend that I'm blind," said Melissa to Ken,
"I want to conduct an inspection."
She felt up his face, then she did it again --
Then she shivered at some imperfection.
"What is it?" said Ken, thinking all was a gas,
Not noticing how she'd gone pale;
His pockmarks and scars -- oh, their terrible mass! --
Spelled out sick innuendos in Braille.