Were there any books or plays famous for being badly written almost to an archetypal hilarity before My Immortal? Like were there any 19th century memetic gothic romances or?
Even just within SF fandom, The Eye of Argon (1970) is a classic viral example of hilariously bad writing from pre-Internet days; there were contests at cons to see who could get the farthest reading it without cracking up.
William Topaz McGonagall’s poetry was considered hilariously bad in his day (late 19th century); according to Wikipedia, “He found lucrative work performing his poetry at a local circus. He read his poems while the crowd was permitted to pelt him with eggs, flour, herrings, potatoes and stale bread. For this, he received fifteen shillings a night.”
I don’t know much more about the history of memetically bad literature than these two examples, but hopefully people can add more!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_was_a_dark_and_stormy_night
don’t forget “English as She Is Spoke”, a guide to speaking English written by a man who spoke no English. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_As_She_Is_Spoke
There’s also “Naked Came the Stranger” which was a collaborative effort to write the worst novel possible and still get it published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Came_the_Stranger
Also, “A Tragedy” by Theophile-Jule-Henri “Theo” Marzials, considered by some to be the worst poem ever written in the English language. (Obviously I am in love with it and intend to somehow incorporate it into my wedding vows.) http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/bad/Marzials.Tragedy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_McKittrick_Ros
Supposedly the Inklings competed to read her aloud, in the Eye of Argon manner.
rosetherandomreblogger liked this generalfandomsofthefreak reblogged this from gyroshrike
tribigirl reblogged this from korraisnottan
ellynneversweet liked this gothfirefaerie reblogged this from pendragyn
digital-faggot liked this
pendragyn reblogged this from korraisnottan
capitalistskeleton liked this sciencewolfnerd reblogged this from therealbrigeedarocks
cat8226 liked this
giga-men liked this
soullessmystic reblogged this from gyroshrike
a-soggy-fruitloop liked this
missveryvery liked this
xofre liked this
sharkrad08222222 liked this
nicho18jar reblogged this from gyroshrike gyroshrike reblogged this from korraisnottan
therealbrigeedarocks liked this
therealbrigeedarocks reblogged this from korraisnottan
pendragyn liked this
korraisnottan reblogged this from darkpuck
mistysnat liked this
indefinitereferences reblogged this from quasarkisses
kittiescatscats liked this
aroanehring liked this
nynaeve-mashiara reblogged this from roachpatrol
timkey reblogged this from toadghosts
strangestcase liked this
miistical liked this
stargazing-bookwyrm liked this
stargazing-bookwyrm reblogged this from turretangel the-vowelless liked this
turretangel reblogged this from gallusrostromegalus
turretangel liked this
curiously-fanning-out reblogged this from davidfoley
tappedoutmaniac reblogged this from buff-history timemachineyeah posted this
- Show more notes