Review: Victim: Unknown
Zine
Victim: Unknown
S.C. Burke
Nihilism Revised, Escapegoat Records
Street: 06.16
In a contemporary time, an ordinary man is turned into a deadly gunman. The protagonist was a man who was beaten, raped and watched his bastard son’s mother participate in group sex with the whole junior varsity football team on prom night. Though the zine is only 15 pages, the author is able to make the story come alive with the intricate details in the writing. The zine focuses on the social influences which created this gunman with hints at his humanity. In the beginning of the story, there is a quote by a survivor of the Pleasant Heights Massacre which is focused on asking the “right” questions. However, the questions posed and explored in the story only contribute to the well-worn rhetoric around this subject. They all are self-serving and lead to the answers which are easily palpable—being that these were isolated, estranged people who were sadistic and nihilistic beings. However, the questions which point the lens on the individual in the crowd are neglected. The questions which lead to looking at each person’s individual humanity and their propensity for these actions are surely missed. –Barnabas