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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 18, 2019 15:57:23 GMT -6
See title. They can be true, fictitious, or unconfirmed. Whatever they be, post 'Em here. Share.
Here's one I'm fond of, but it's not a favorite. I can't seem to be able to find the one I want to share, so this'll do for right now.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 22, 2019 15:26:22 GMT -6
Another one I'm fond of is "Prey," by John R.: (I think Salzmark will enjoy this. Don't forget to read what comes after the quote) I actually spoke to the author of this story a long time ago, but I can't find the conversation. Apparently, this is based around a local Kentucky myth concerning angry spirits specific to Kentucky regions, called "haints." They're apparently a lot like poltergeists and demons, tormenting and stalking specific prey over a long period of time, using every ghostly trick in the book. I found that part of fascinating. There's an article about it here.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 22, 2019 16:56:33 GMT -6
This is another one I'm fond of, " Quiet," by Josef K. I love the Lovecraftian (HA!) angle of this one. It's another that's been a long-time favorite of mine.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 8:35:37 GMT -6
I haven’t watched “The One Outside” or read “Quiet” yet, WeirdRaptor , but I really liked “Prey.” The middle sequences, where he’s describing what his father felt, are really good (though perhaps too good—how would the son know in that much detail what the father was going through if he wasn’t there? But I’m nitpicking). Here’s one I remember liking. It kind of falls apart at the end, and it feels like a paragraph is missing between 4 and 5, but the concept is very clever and the writing decent. “Satellite Images”
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 8:38:42 GMT -6
Just read “Quiet.” It is very good—both well-written and intelligent. Excellent.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 8:51:57 GMT -6
There’s this fairly well-known one, “ The Story of Her with an Orange,” which for me is an object-lesson in how not to write this stuff. It has this exceptionally weird and creepy premise, a childhood memory of Mom’s friend offering the narrator an orange and then reappearing periodically to do the same, and wastes it. There’s no atmosphere, the narrator just curses a lot, it’s predictable from the moment he mentions how pale she was, and it goes on forever. The more the narrator writes, the less creepy it becomes. We get a rundown of his day-to-day events, which completely takes us out of the story, and he repeatedly tells us how “shocking,” “creepy,” etc., it was, which not only tells rather than shows but also makes him sound like a bad late 19th century HIBK authoress. Not only that, but rather than leaving his threat vague, he overexplains it, which takes away any and all spookiness. Overexplaining your threat fails nearly every time, and it’s a very bad habit of NoSleepers. (On the other hand, when I tried to write a story that avoided all of these traps, it got removed from Reddit for not being scary enough. So what do I know?) It’s a terrible story with a great premise, unfortunately.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 8:54:11 GMT -6
On the other hand, “ Search and Rescue Woods,” a well-known one that I do like very much, gets away with day-to-day rundowns and length because it’s supposed to be recollections of small true-life mysteries, not a continuous narrative.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 25, 2019 14:54:27 GMT -6
On the other hand, “ Search and Rescue Woods,” a well-known one that I do like very much, gets away with day-to-day rundowns and length because it’s supposed to be recollections of small true-life mysteries, not a continuous narrative. I LOVE THIS SERIES!! I didn't post any of it because of how freaking it is, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only fan.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 15:16:37 GMT -6
On the other hand, “ Search and Rescue Woods,” a well-known one that I do like very much, gets away with day-to-day rundowns and length because it’s supposed to be recollections of small true-life mysteries, not a continuous narrative. I LOVE THIS SERIES!! I didn't post any of it because of how freaking it is, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only fan. It’s fantastic. The naturalism, and (related) the author’s ingenuity about placing real-sounding stories (usually tragedies—parents losing their kids, for example) with possibly supernatural material, is what sells it. My only caveat is that it goes on a bit much and the later installments become too blatantly supernatural, but on the whole it’s brilliant.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 25, 2019 15:24:48 GMT -6
I LOVE THIS SERIES!! I didn't post any of it because of how freaking it is, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only fan. It’s fantastic. The naturalism, and (related) the author’s ingenuity about placing real-sounding stories (usually tragedies—parents losing their kids, for example) with possibly supernatural material, is what sells it. My only caveat is that it goes on a bit much and the later installments become too blatantly supernatural, but on the whole it’s brilliant. I dunno, I actually like the idea of a national park that stays open despite the fact they interdimensional have rifts and wendigos.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 15:29:46 GMT -6
It’s fantastic. The naturalism, and (related) the author’s ingenuity about placing real-sounding stories (usually tragedies—parents losing their kids, for example) with possibly supernatural material, is what sells it. My only caveat is that it goes on a bit much and the later installments become too blatantly supernatural, but on the whole it’s brilliant. I dunno, I actually like the idea of a national park that stays open despite the fact they interdimensional rifts and wendigos. Oh, I do too, especially the “just-don’t-talk-about-it” messages from the higher-ups. But I’d prefer to leave a lot of it mysterious, rather than clearly “this is interdimensional/paranormal.” What I mean is that the author starts connecting people going up the staircases to the bodies found in improbable locations. That’s not needed; in fact, leaving what happens with the staircases and how the people ended up in these locations ambiguous would improve the spookiness of the story (for me, at least).
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 25, 2019 15:32:01 GMT -6
I dunno, I actually like the idea of a national park that stays open despite the fact they interdimensional rifts and wendigos. Oh, I do too, especially the “just-don’t-talk-about-it” messages from the higher-ups. But I’d prefer to leave a lot of it mysterious, rather than clearly “this is interdimensional/paranormal.” What I mean is that the author starts connecting people going up the staircases to the bodies found in improbable locations. That’s not needed; in fact, leaving what happens with the staircases and how the people ended up in these locations ambiguous would improve the spookiness of the story (for me, at least). I actually love the part you put in the spoilers. Man, we can't even agree when we like the same things.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 15:33:01 GMT -6
At the risk of tooting my own horn, I recently posted another piece—not on NoSleep, where apparently they don’t like my stuff, but on the similar “Super Short Scary Stories.” They have to be under 500 words (this story is [purposely] at 499).
Anyone interested is more than welcome to critique this piece to kingdom come; I greatly appreciate constructive criticism.
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Post by Salzmark on Jan 25, 2019 15:34:08 GMT -6
Oh, I do too, especially the “just-don’t-talk-about-it” messages from the higher-ups. But I’d prefer to leave a lot of it mysterious, rather than clearly “this is interdimensional/paranormal.” What I mean is that the author starts connecting people going up the staircases to the bodies found in improbable locations. That’s not needed; in fact, leaving what happens with the staircases and how the people ended up in these locations ambiguous would improve the spookiness of the story (for me, at least). I actually love the part you put in the spoilers. Man, we can't even agree when we like the same things. Um… What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jan 25, 2019 15:34:12 GMT -6
Another online story I absolutely love is "The Art of Jacob Emory", by Peter Divine (Douglas Greenwood)
There's a very potent message here.
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