In Michael Cisco’s Black Brane (Clash Books, July 22, 2025), readers are introduced to Gross, a man suffering from a mysterious, relentless pain in his foot. Gross has no idea why his foot hurts. There are no visual indications of what is wrong, no other people present in his dimly lit sick room to share insights. And yet, as Gross invites us into his world of writhing anguish, he begins to hint that his condition is connected to his job as a clerical assistant at a research institute devoted to the study of holes.
A word of warning right as we begin. If you’re looking for a straightforward horror story, Black Brane will not be for you. Cisco’s nightmarish narrative loops and circles back on itself in ways that go beyond demanding your full attention and into active interpretation. Scenes of Gross interacting with his colleagues as they work to comprehend the nature of holes slide into moments of hallucinogenic terror as Gross, still back in his room, tries to accomplish simple tasks like using the bathroom or telling time. Characters’ actions fragment mid-scene as past events overlay each other in dizzying tableaus that could be the key to Black Brane’s mystery. Or they could mean nothing.
And yet, if you’re willing to hold on tight, Black Brane will reward those who enjoy the chaotic absurdism of dreams. In this world, a researcher can put their head inside a hole in a copper sheet and strain to learn the secrets of the universe; an abacus directs its user to locations where something important might happen; black hole particles are not only transportable, they can also be misplaced. The result is a Lewis Carroll-style world where anything is possible as long as it adheres to the logic of the lunatic. “… what makes the message a message is that you can notice it while you can’t notice where it’s from,” one character explains to Gross while they work. “You have to get the message first to know the from-ness is there.”
But Black Brane’s story is almost beside the point. Cisco’s talent with prose is undeniable and consistently worth the price of admission. Whether he is describing chronic pain (“It gathers its force for a new assault and likes to give me a bit of respite to sharpen the despair when it gets bad again”) or the experience of waking from a nap to discover its night (“I drifted into it without moving”), readers will be delighted with just how perfectly Cisco has captured the strange experience of being alive (“… there’s always the unfolding boom and rustle of my nervous system”).
Michael Cisco’s Black Brane is a cold plunge into a wonderful word of weird fiction. Go ahead and dive in.
Looking for more dreamy absurdism? Check out A Primer to Ramsey Campbell.
About Post Author
