Zencore! Scriptus Innominatus is a unique anthology published by Megazanthus Press and is the seventh volume (including the mysterious missing sixth volume) of Nemonymous, an experiment in speculative fiction.  As originally envisioned by the editor, these anthologies publish cutting-edge magic fiction and magic realism written by professional authors.  The catch is that the authors and the editor are anonymous as of the date of publication.  This gives the authors unprecedented freedom as they can experiment, try new ideas and techniques, without the reader having any expectations or preconceived notions.  The prose stands (or falls) on its own merit.  And as you would expect with experiments, the results are decidedly mixed.

First up is a lovely tale, a diamond among the gravel if you will, of wasted life titled “Torsion.”  We follow the narrator as he visits a favorite retreat from his barren life, a polluted pond inhabited only by sludge-eating snails.  He pretends to fish with no bait or lure, knowing that there are no fish to catch.  Yet this mindless pastime is the highlight of his week.  When he finds a homeless person eating the snails at his fishing spot, he chases him off in a possessive rage, but not before the ragged fellow infects the narrator with a curse. And so it comes to pass, what his life is, he becomes.