59 pages 1 hour read

Bora Chung, Transl. Anton Hur

Cursed Bunny: Stories

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2017

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Stories 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Story 1 Summary: “The Head”

Content Warning: This section of the guide features depictions of gender discrimination, pregnancy loss, child abuse, child death, animal cruelty and/or death, rape, incest, child sexual abuse, graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, death by suicide, cursing, and ableist attitudes toward blindness

A small, partially formed head pops out of a woman’s toilet calling her “mother.” The woman flushes the head, but it reappears several days later, explaining that it is the amalgamation of the woman’s hair, feces, and toilet waste. The head asks the woman to keep using the toilet so that it can continue to form. Once it finishes, the head promises to live independently. The woman disowns the head as her child, never having intended its creation.

The head continues to appear in the toilet, much to the woman’s chagrin. The woman tries to shoo the head away with her menstrual pad, but this only clogs her toilet, requiring her to call a plumber. The woman’s family tells her not to mind the head since it isn’t being a nuisance to anyone else. When the head appears in her office toilet, the woman quits her job and stops using the toilet altogether.