Kathe Koja’s classic, award-winning horror novel is finally available as an ebook.Nicholas, a would-be poet, and Nakota, his feral lover, discover a strange hole in the storage room floor down the hall – “Black. Pure black and the sense of pulsation, especially when you look at it too closely, the sense of something not living but alive.” It begins with curiosity, a joke – the Funhole down the … down the hall. But then the experiments begin. “Wouldn’t it be wild to go down there?” says Nakota. Nicholas says “We’re not.” But they’re not in control, not from the first moment, as those experiments lead to obsession, violence, and a very final transformation for everyone who gets too close to the Funhole.
THE CIPHER was the winner of the 1991 Bram Stoker Award, and was recently named one of io9.com’s Top 10 Debut Science Fiction Novels That Took the World By Storm. Long out-of-print and much sought-after, it is finally available as an ebook, with a new foreword by the author.
“An ethereal rollercoaster ride from start to finish.” – The Detroit Free Press
“Combines intensely poetic language and lavish grotesqueries.” – BoingBoing
“Kathe Koja is a poet … [T]he kind that prefers to read in seedy bars instead of universities, but a poet.” – The New York Review of Science Fiction
“Her 20-something characters are poverty-gagged ‘artists’ who exist in that demimonde of shitty jobs, squalid art galleries, and thrift stores; her settings are run-down studios, flat-beer bars, and dingy urban streets [a] long way from Castle Rock, Dunwich, or Stepford, that’s for sure.” – Too Much Horror Fiction
“This powerful first novel is as thought-provoking as it is horrifying.” – Publishers Weekly
“Unforgettable … [THE CIPHER] takes you into the lives of the dark dreamers that crawl on the underbelly of art and culture. Seldom has language been so visceral and so right.” – Locus
“[THE CIPHER] is a book that makes you sit up, pay attention, and jettison your moldy preconceptions about the genre … Utterly original … [An} imaginative debut.” – Fangoria
“Not so much about the vast and wonderful strangeness of the universe as it is about the horrific and glorious potential of the human spirit.” – Short Form
From Publishers Weekly:
Down-and-out Nicholas and his friend Nakota one day discover a black hole in the floor of an abandoned storage room in his apartment building, which they quickly christen the “Funhole.” The two set out to see what happens when they drop various items into the hole, whetting its appetite with insects, a mouse and a human hand, which all come back violently rearranged. Next, they lower a camcorder into the hole to record the action within. The videotape they retrieve is spellbinding, but there’s a catch: what Nicholas sees is different from everyone else’s vision. To Nakota the hole means change, because whatever is dropped into the Funhole emerges transformed– if it ever emerges. Mesmerized by the Funhole, she claims that Nicholas is the only one who can make things happen around it. For Nicholas himself, the hole is a phenomenon that forces him to face his miserable, aimless life. Koja has created credible characters who are desperate for both entertainment and salvation. Inaugurating Dell’s new Abyss Books series, this powerful first novel is as thought-provoking as it is horrifying.
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Two friends discover a living black darkness in the form of a strange hole. Approximately one foot in diameter and located in a storage room, the unusual opening slowly becomes an obsession with regard to experimentation for the pair. This leads towards a hideous version of a Twilight Zone episode come true.
Kathe Koja brings to life a horror that defies disbelief as she introduces a stretched and distorted unrealism to everyday reality. This entity is vacant of all light and cleverly nicknamed “The Funhole”. Written with an intellectual stimulation of the horrific kind Koja establishes a gateway to a opened Pandora’s Box full of nightmare images linked with science and mysticism. The Cipher has constant spontaneous arrangements of self combustion which flow towards distorted imageries beyond your average rudimentary horror novel. There are plenty bits of comic relief in the fashion of beer induced theories of what lies beyond, however the essentials in this work of fiction certainly bleeds its own brand of terror.
Hitting on all cylinders of phantasmic flesh, fans of Clive Barker will definitely have their hooks into this one. I really enjoyed all aspects of this book, and I think you will too.
THE CIPHER! I don’t even know what to say.
I’ve only recently joined the church of Koja. It may not be as big as some, Stephen King’s say, but there are joys to be found in smaller congregations.
This is the story of Nakota and Nicholas who one day found a black hole, named it the funhole, and changed their lives forever. They stuck different things into the hole, (getting uncomfortable yet?), including bugs, a mouse, and then a hand. What happened to these items when they were thrust inside? You’ll have to read this to find out!
I absolutely adore Ms. Koja’s prose, and Joshua Saxon the narrator brought it home with flare. This must not have been an easy performance due to the style of the aforementioned prose-especially in the second half of the book because it’s a stream-of-consciousness narrative. His voicing was phenomenal.
I’m a bit irritated with myself because the few clips I made of the audio that highlighted the prose apparently did not save. There were short, staccato-like descriptions that…stabbed at my heart. Beautiful, honest and evocative words that my brain immediately transferred to a visual-like a direct injection. For instance “…the flat was full of drizzly day.” 7 words that draw a perfect scene. Brief, staccato, BAM: there’s the picture-full and complete.
I could go on and on about this prose but I’ll leave it at what I’ve written. Kathe Koja’s writing probably isn’t for everyone; the reviews seem pretty split on Goodreads. For me, however, I feel like I have been missing out out an author that is perfect for my dark and black heart. I’m on a mission to read everything she’s written. I’m a Koja missionary, baby!
My highest recommendation!
You can get your Kindle copy here: https://amzn.to/2A56ERn
*I received the audio-book from Audiobook Boom! and the narrator, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
Great example of a modern day cosmic horror story that sticks with you for weeks. Weird. Very weird.
Nicholas and Nakota have a pretty normal life until they discover a black hole in their home. They ironically name it the fun hole and from there, they start to experiment. Various items go into it, and with it, their obsession starts to grow. What happens to the items that they put in and what would happen to a person?
So when I first started listening to this audiobook, I wasn’t sure what to think. The prose is written differently from a lot of books I’ve read. It’s almost poetic, and at times, I had to pause it to really stop and think about what it was that the author was trying to say. I don’t think I’ve ever had to do that with a horror story before, but that made it all the more interesting.
There was plenty of suspense and intrigue in this story. The more Nicholas and Nakota messed around with the black hole, the more I was curious to see what else they would do. Of course, as the items got bigger and bigger, so did my questions.
Narration really brought the characters and story to life.
Interesting unique piece of fiction here. Not for everybody, but I recommend it for people looking for something that’s outside of the box.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Amazing. Truly weird and written with such poetic and mesmerising prose. I loved this book. My first Koja and definitely not my last.
Interesting read. It kind of f4cked with my head when I read it. There’s a personal connection with the main character, Nicholas, and his parasitic on again off again girlfriend of many names, and through this book you journey with them through something terrifying. Mind boggling events that I couldn’t even imagine myself going through. Definitely not for young readers or the faint of heart. The ending is not very satisfying but the rest of the story makes up for it. I must admit, I learned many new words from this book. Kathe has a large vocabulary. Five stars.
…omfg…if ur n2 weird but w/ an actual purpose dnt mis ths spin…original…drk…sooo frkn mind f’n…n my top 5 reads 4 almst 10 yrs, sinc tht 1rst read & tht 1rst chptr…the chrctrs r amazingly real…evn if Kodje nevr inspires awe again mine stil aint waned…icld go on…i luv knowin tht its there…can & wil b red again…mass peace…