Mystery Flesh Pit National Park
| Mystery Flesh Pit National Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Trevor Roberts |
| Genre | Speculative evolution, alternate history, décollage, Cosmic horror |
| In-universe information | |
| Other name(s) | Permian Basin Superorganism |
| Type |
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| Location | Texas, United States |
The Mystery Flesh Pit National Park is an ongoing science fiction/horror project by artist Trevor Roberts that blends multimedia illustrations, writings and immersive world building. The story revolves around the fictional Mystery Flesh Pit, a colossal, ancient superorganism discovered beneath the town of Gumption, Texas, during an oil excavation. The pit was then transformed into a tourism destination and harvested for raw materials, until a catastrophic disaster in 2007 forced its closure.
Format and multimedia elements
[edit]Roberts has since posted fictional letters, diagrams, posters, and advertisements that emulate the style of National Park Service publications. The artworks are in a realistic style, which plays into the grotesque nature of a living superorganism being utilised as a national park.
The park operated for about thirty years, before being shut down due to the events of the Fourth of July in 2007. During the evening celebrations, unseasonably rainy weather and an electrical fault caused the Permian Basin Superorganism to choke and 'swallow' the structures inside the park; subsequent attempts to subdue the Superorganism caused it to vomit. The incident was said to have taken the lives of over 750 people.[1][2]
Reception and impact
[edit]A tabletop RPG is currently being developed in a partnership with Ganza Gaming.[1] A book is also currently being created by Roberts.[3] Once the book is published, which is set to contain expanded lore and art, Roberts says he will be done with the project.[1] A video game based on Mystery Flesh Pit was in the process of creation, however the project was scrapped for numerous reasons, including fan feedback and creative differences.[2]
Features of the Pit
[edit]The Permian Basin Superorganism is home to a wide variety of "Geo-biological" structures that were popular hiking destinations during the park's tenure. Examples included the Bronchial forests, or the lungs, the Gastric seas, or the digestive areas, the throat of the organism, and more exotic organs such as the 'Ballast pods', which contained a potent aphrodisiac and were operated by the park as hot springs. A troglobitic ecosystem of organisms lives inside the Permian Basin Superorganism, having been completely cut off from the rest of the world. The majority of the parks fauna include arthropods, echinoderms, mollusks, cnidarians, worms, and several vertebrate species.
See also
[edit]- Roadside attraction — one of the influences on the aesthetic of the project
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Weiss, Josh. "The Strange Appeal Of Mystery Flesh Pit: How Trevor Roberts Built The Wildest Theme Park In All Of Fiction". Forbes. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
- ^ a b "Kickstarter Cancelled In The Most Brutally Honest Way Possible". Kotaku. November 29, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
- ^ Rocket, Stubby the (January 3, 2020). "Welcome to Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, One Redditor's Colossal Feat of Worldbuilding". Tor.com. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
