"The Horrors of Being Alive" Zine #002 — A Surgeon Unravels the Truth in His Own Body

Dr. Prone Polkey can heal almost anyone. Except himself.

Zine #002 is where you meet him... really meet him. At his mother's funeral, holding still the way he always has, with his best friend Sarah at his side and his father somewhere in the room. It's a quiet, devastating piece about grief, about the families we're given versus the ones we should have had, and about a man who feels everything and admits almost nothing.

Inside:

• A full story sequence — a light moment for the characters during a funeral.

• Character introductions for the people who orbit Prone: Sarah, Earl, Malcolm, and the family he should have had

• "What is this story about?" — a guide to the project's themes

• The Cylinder House, and the world taking shape around him

If #001 is the foundation and #003 is the deep history, #002 is the heart — the one where you fall for the boy. It's the piece readers keep coming back to.

Content note: This work contains medical trauma, coercive control, gaslighting, toxic family, childhood sexual abuse, and supernatural body horror. Please take care of yourself.