“The Eye of Argon,” by all rights, should have languished, a forgotten or ignored piece of amateur fantasy fiction published in a fanzine half a century ago. But it didn’t. Somehow, it was detached from those ignoble beginnings, and gained an underground cult following at science fiction conventions, where people would attempt to read it without breaking out in laughter at its clumsy prose, misspelled words, and overall awfulness.
Its reputation grew. And the rituals involved in sharing the story grew. And now it has attained near-legendary status among those who can appreciate the awful things in life.
Among those fans is Pocono Liars founder Michael A. Ventrella, who over the years has organized readings, improv theater and even a live performance of the story at various conventions.
He then invited some of his writer friends who had participated to write sequel stories of the character, with the only qualification that the stories had to be funny.
This book contains the original story by Jim Theis, and then adds new, hilarious contributions to the mythos from noted authors Keith R.A. DeCandido, Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, Daniel M. Kimmel, Peter Prellwitz, Hildy Silverman, Ian Randal Strock, Jean Marie Ward, and Michael! Jody Lynn Nye wrote the introduction, and Monica Marier did the cover and inside art.
It’s available in paperback from Fantastic Books. You can order a copy from Amazon here.
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