Diego Jourdan Pereira - Bizarre Bathroom Reader

Praise for the

I thought Astonishing Bathroom Reader was entertaining and often quite funny. Plus its subject matter and approach are unique and even thought provoking. Indeed, major kudos for all the comic book references that are sprinkled throughout the book. As a comics nerd, I eat that sort of thing up.

John Lustig, Last Kiss Comics

A panoramic sweep of bite size facts delivering everything it promises on the cover.

Alan Digby, Blackwater Side

One of the funnier and more informative bathroom books. Lots of content!

Ross May, Devil Dealers

This book stands up quite well to other books in this genre. It is dicult to put down once you open the first page. Lots of new and interesting items. If you love trivia, youll love this book.

Cal Stout, Amazon customer

Certainly value for moneywell researched and wittily written.

Kevan Donovan, Amazon customer

Loving it!! Its so much fun I am sending one to my son and one to my nephew!

Barbara W., Amazon customer

Copyright 2021 by Diego Jourdan Pereira

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Racehorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Racehorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Racehorse Publishing is a pending trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover and interior art and design by Diego Jourdan Pereira

Mechanical design by Kai Texel

Scream Queen font designed by Nate Piekos at Blambot.com.
Used under license.

Print ISBN: 978-1-63158-679-8

eISBN: 978-1-63158-680-4

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife, Icha,
who made a believer out of me.

BONUS CURSE

A medieval warning to book thieves ancient and modern:

The finished book before you lies; This humble scribe dont criticize. Whoever takes away this book May he never on Christ look.

Whoever to steal this volume durst; May he be killed as one accursed. Whoever to steal this volume tries Out with his eyes, out with his eyes!

Mark Drogin (1936-2017), Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses (Allanheld & Schram, 1983)

CONTENTS

BONUS QUOTES

All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.

J. M. Barrie

Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. They both die in the process.

E. B. White

A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.

Italo Calvino

INTRODUCTION

Were all mad here. Im mad. Youre mad.

How do you know Im mad? said Alice. You must be, said the Cat, or you wouldnt have come here.

Lewis Carroll

W hen Jesse McHugh at Skyhorses Racehorse imprint requested a sequel of equal girth, yet different in tone from my Astonishing Bathroom Reader, I proposed an open-minded, indepth follow-up of the fringe subjects I only managed to glaze over in that book, which had managed to capture my interest and fuel my investigative curiosity for months after the leaded black ink had been finally set in glorious, pulpy print.

The way I see it, a true skeptics mind is drawn to the weirdest of things, if only to inoculate itself against the virus of certainty, which tends to clog intellectual growth more than any odd theoryhowever far-fetched it would seem to our well-meaning mindbecause there is always room for healthy doses of doubt, no matter which side of the belief spectrum we are on. Case in point, see the photo below, taken years ago by my beloved Maritza Icha Mardones. I assure you it wasnt doctored in any way.

Maritza Mardones Castillo

What is that? A floating eye peeking through the steam, obviously, but whose? How? Where from? Well, Ill be damned if not knowing should prevent us from seeking the answers to this and other unfathomable mysteries! So, gulp down your Kool-Aid, and plunge into the rabbit hole of this Bizarre Bathroom Reader with me. I promise you wont regret it.

I

PUZZLING PLACES

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind.

Youre moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. Youve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone.

Rod Serling

A LAND OF SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE

I can think of no better way to open this volume than by interviewing fellow writer J. M. DeMatteis. A man known to many for his seminal work in comic books (including Justice League International, Spiderman, and Abdazad), the focus of this particular conversation nonetheless falls on his work for the 1985 The Twilight Zone TV series revival.

What made you want to become a writer?

I was always creative. Spent my childhood drawing. Started playing guitar in the fifth grade and began writing songs and playing in bands when I was a teenager. Writing was something that always came naturally to me, just another expression of that same creativity that came out through art and music. But its the one that led to a careerfirst as a music journalist, then in comics, TV, novels, film...