I recently interviewed Forneus, the Great Marquis of Hell, who originally developed the handshake as a way of “spreading pestilence and suffering o’r the land. An excerpt follows. Me: So, I understand the handshake wasn’t your first attempt at spreading germs throughout the human race, right? Forneus: That’s right, Ben. […]
Author: Ben Butina
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
My daughter Rose created a comic of Chapter 23 of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I am biased, naturally, but I find it moving. And now, with my inept commentary.
Stand Up Comedy & Horror
You can never laugh at a Jim Gaffigan joke the way you did the first time you heard it because you see the punchline coming. You’ll never be as scared of The Sixth Sense as you were the first time you watched it because you know where the jump scares […]
Fata Morgana
The image above is not Photoshopped. Read and be amazed.
The Carnival Has Ended
Human life cannot be formless. We live by patterns. We move in comradeships. Conformity is evil when it distorts, flattens, and erases fruitful ways, strong ideas, natural identities; it is evil when it is a steamroller. But a man cannot escape being part of a milieu – and a recognizable […]