The Squirrel Machine af Hans Rickheit (Bog)

Set in an alternate, surreal version of 19th-century New England, the story follows two eccentric brothers, Edmund and William Torpor. The brothers share a dark, labyrinthine home and spend their time crafting bizarre musical instruments and complex mechanical contraptions. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they discover a hidden cache of strange, mummified animal remains and occult-like blueprints hidden within their house.
Key Narrative Beats
The Creations: Driven by an obsessive curiosity, the brothers begin incorporating these biological remains into their inventions. They construct labyrinthine, meat-powered automatons and disturbing, flesh-hybrid instruments.
The Town's Rejection: When the brothers showcase their bizarre musical creations to the conservative local community, the townspeople are deeply repulsed. Ostracized and misunderstood, Edmund and William retreat entirely into isolation.
The Descent: The brothers turn inward, transforming their home into a massive, reality-bending architectural maze. They lose themselves in a dark underworld of their own making, where the boundaries between machinery, flesh, and human consciousness completely dissolve.
Themes & Style
The graphic novel explores themes of alienation, the grotesque intersection of biology and technology, and the madness of forbidden art. Rickheit delivers this narrative with highly detailed, gothic black-and-white artwork, relying heavily on visual storytelling and a dreamlike atmosphere rather than traditional dialogue.
Forfatter: Hans Rickheit
Sprog: Engelsk
Antal sider: 0
Forlag: Fantagraphics Books
Udgivelsesår: 2009
An anachronistic parable for the convulsive elite.
Titel: The Squirrel Machine

Sammendrag: Tegneserie/graphic novel om to brødre i en 1800-tals New England-by, der bygger musikalske maskiner af mærkelige teknologier og dyrekadavere. Deres eksperimenter gør dem til udstødte, og de søger dybere ind i et skjult, mekanisk og organisk mareridtslandskab, hvor virkelighed og hallucination flyder sammen. Fortællingen er fragmenteret og symbolsk, med fokus på besættelse, skam, kropslighed og kreativ galskab snarere end en klassisk lineær plotstruktur. Billedsiden er tæt, mørk, grotesk og fyldt med sære detaljer, som læseren selv må fortolke. Målgruppen er voksne læsere af eksperimentelle, surrealistiske og horror-prægede graphic novels.
Type: Hardcover