This may be the first intentional satire I’ve gotten to review for the Dragon Page.
The chapbook Necronomicrap: A Guide To Your Horoooscope, by Tim Frayser, mixes astrological “facts” with obvious lampooning. For example, while you can use the book to learn the names of Saturn’s moons, I highly doubt you should share Frayser’s interpretation that the moons regulate “various aspects of human flatulence.”
About half of the book… teaches? various aspects of astrology: the planets and their influences, the four basic elements, the zodiac, etc. The last half consists entirely of a yearly horoscope.
My birthday falls on July 10, so my horoscope for July reads thus:
“You will read something that will remind you of something completely different and unrelated, and you will spend an inordinate amount of time this month trying to figure out what it was about the former that reminded you of the latter, exploring all options, at least coming to the conclusion you must be nuts. When invited to appear as a guest on a daytime talk show alongside all your former intimate partners, give it a pass.”
Now, if I ever go on a daytime talk show, I’m sure as hell not cutting off my right hand, but you get the idea.
Now since I had to review the book, I had to pretty much read it straight through like a novel. If you buy the book, I can’t recommend doing that, reading straight through the horoscope one entry after another after another got to be quite dull, and I honestly started skimming and jumping pages to get to the end.
However, I can see this book being great for when you have guests over. Looking up people’s horoscopes and personality types via their signs would make for some fun. Plus, I’m sure there’s a drinking game in there somewhere, and what more do you need than that?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Necronomicrap: A Guide to Your Horoooscope by Tim Frayser
Published by: Yard Dog Press; December, 2002
ISBN: 189368735X
Genre: Satire
Publisher Website: yarddogpress.com
