The best AA stories are always the worst ones

Like the one about the guy with the prolapsed esophagus

He bled out from the mouth before the ambulance got there 

PHOTO BY ROOTBOY

I’ve always 

wanted to 

be a 

dancer but 

I could 

never get 

the shit 

off my shoes

ART BY PAUL WARREN

I jerk off 

with one hand 

make the sign 

of the cross 

with the other

catholic guilt 

ART BY MERRITT WALDON

I was excited to pet the stray dog

until my dad hit it with a shovel and chased it away

He said grab me another beer and drink your tears

& then I realized how hard life was going to be  

ART BY SHANE ALLISON

In the 

rust belt 

the hookers 

are winning 

our politicians 

and the 

factories that 

have left

show us

how the 

gods kill

the way 

out isn’t

the bible

or football

or Prozac

its Russian 

roulette with

a fully

loaded revolver

she’s out
there on
the rural
highway

got her
high beams
on the
dead deer

jesus on
the dashboard
open beer
in the
cup holder
& hank
is on
the radio

nights like
this its
hard not
to rob
a liquor
store get
drunk on
stolen bourbon
and blow
her brains
out on
the bible

In the
County Hospital
Mariah is the
Virgin Mary
And has
Been impregnated
By gods twins

Image Alexander Limarev

In the
County hospital
Stephanie has
A plan
To drink
A liter
Of vodka
And drown
Herself In
the upper
Niagara River
Near Mississippi
Muds because
It was
Her favorite
Restaurant when
She was
A kid

PHOTO BY ROOTBOY

in the factory 

walter said his goal was 

to die on the assembly line 

so his wife could get a settlement

he retired first 

then died of a heart attack

at the burial his polish friends 

got drunk on krupnick & 

took turns pissing on his grave

PHOTO BY ROOTBOY.

Frank is an insomniac. When he’s not working at the diner he’s sitting inside the gas station mini mart by himself at four o’clock in the morning playing scratch off tickets. Everything in this shit town smells like fucking and fighting. He takes acid and goes to work. There is a girl that works there that’s always yelling at the cooks HAM CHEESE NOODLES! HAM CHEESE NOODLES! Frank thinks maybe she has Tourette’s or ass burgers or something like that. When he’s at home he’s usually fucking the corpse of some runaway and uploading it to the internet. No one knows he’s fucking dead bodies because he does it doggystyle and films it from the back or the ceiling. His films are quite popular. If his audience only knew. He likes to dress them up in make-up and different wigs and costumes and have regular conversations with them. Lots of wine and lipstick and music and shared cigarettes. He sometimes makes his own custom sex dolls out of his favorite parts from his favorite women. He knows he’s going to hell and he’s looking forward to it. He’s thinking about the girl from the diner next. HAM CHEESE NOODLES! HAM CHEESE NOODLES!

ART BY SHANE ALLISON