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Post by Salzmark on Apr 29, 2019 18:36:07 GMT -6
So, I read about half of them (found them online—I prefer to read them on my own, for the most part) and listened to the rest. I didn’t much like “The Cave,” unfortunately. The premise is the kind of thing I like, but the writing was so off (was it written by a non-native-speaker? I’m thinking of lines like “they were typically argumentative of identical twins”) and it’s so amusingly clichéd: “THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE.” “The Stone Wall” was OK. I do get annoyed at imperfect rhymes because it’s possible to do light verse, even spooky light verse, with only perfect rhymes—and it makes the words snap into place. I also think there’s more that can be done with the concept of evil Dr. Seuss. “I Found a Boy in My Walls”—liked it, on the whole, but again I think there’s more that can be done with the premise. The end’s not much of a twist, for one thing (and it seems like it was intended that way), as the narrator says halfway through the boy said there was something living in the walls. “Doors” got me. I wasn’t expecting the twist. It’s interesting that it’s a horror story with a non-horror twist—I haven’t seen that before. Plot hole, though: {Spoiler}who spanks a dog? Unless the father was an animal abuser? Geez. “The Antiguan Giant” is neat (great title, too). It’s not really scary, but then it wasn’t meant to be; the Cthulhu-esque stuff is (aptly) beneath the surface. On the other hand, I find that a lot of people who like the Lovecraftian monsters and “world” don’t really read Lovecraft—and this feels like that too. I’m not even sure he intended to create a “mythos.” Still, on its own, it’s good.
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Post by Salzmark on Apr 29, 2019 18:40:38 GMT -6
For what it's worth, "Black Lantern" isn't bad. If I had to wager a guess, it's probably the Pandora's Box element that's clicked with people. "Start of the Season", ah, it's one of the THOSE deals. In other words, never check into that hotel earlier than the summer rush. Thanks. I don’t think it’s terrible, but I also don’t have any particular connection with it. It’s just something I tossed off. Oh well. “Start of the Season,” on the other hand, I based on a recent (St. Patrick’s Day this year) occurrence when a pal and I went up to Portsmouth and had dinner at a grandiose, near-deserted, and reputedly haunted (of course) hotel. And I did Mr. King proud by setting it on the other side of the Piscataqua. You understood it, then? Because I didn’t think it was that subtle at all—in fact, re: King, I thought it might be too obviously close to The Shining (the book of which I recently read and enjoyed).
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Apr 29, 2019 18:46:30 GMT -6
For what it's worth, "Black Lantern" isn't bad. If I had to wager a guess, it's probably the Pandora's Box element that's clicked with people. "Start of the Season", ah, it's one of the THOSE deals. In other words, never check into that hotel earlier than the summer rush. Thanks. I don’t think it’s terrible, but I also don’t have any particular connection with it. It’s just something I tossed off. Oh well. “Start of the Season,” on the other hand, I based on a recent (St. Patrick’s Day this year) occurrence when a pal and I went up to Portsmouth and had dinner at a grandiose, near-deserted, and reputedly haunted (of course) hotel. And I did Mr. King proud by setting it on the other side of the Piscataqua. You understood it, then? Because I didn’t think it was that subtle at all—in fact, re: King, I thought it might be too obviously close to The Shining (the book of which I recently read and enjoyed). Well, yeah, it's not the first "previous victim/overseer is freed as soon as a replacement sucker comes along" story I've read, but it was very well-done.
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Post by Salzmark on May 5, 2019 13:39:29 GMT -6
So, I finally wrote up a story to which I alluded here a while ago: “ Whose Hungry Mouth.” I also wanted to recommend (if that’s the word) a story I read on r/let’snotmeet (so it’s supposed to be true): “ The Office in the Middle of Nowhere.” It’s pretty horrible, in the sense that it’s scary and also that what the people were doing was evil, but it’s well-written and compelling.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on May 5, 2019 13:55:01 GMT -6
So, I finally wrote up a story to which I alluded here a while ago: “ Whose Hungry Mouth.” I also wanted to recommend (if that’s the word) a story I read on r/let’snotmeet (so it’s supposed to be true): “ The Office in the Middle of Nowhere.” It’s pretty horrible, in the sense that it’s scary and also that what the people were doing was evil, but it’s well-written and compelling. "Treebeard some call me."
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Post by Salzmark on May 5, 2019 14:04:27 GMT -6
"Treebeard some call me.”
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Post by WeirdRaptor on May 5, 2019 14:06:01 GMT -6
"Treebeard some call me.” I know it might not actually be the tree, itself, but it was too good to pass up.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jun 23, 2019 14:30:30 GMT -6
I FOUND IT! Way back I wanted to show off a scary story about a robot, but I couldn't find it. So here it is to enjoy and be horrified by, Salzmark
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Post by Salzmark on Jun 28, 2019 14:35:18 GMT -6
New story of mine. Had a dream last night about it and had to jot it down. Probably because of that I’m rather proud of it—not sure if that’s warranted or not.
“And Be One Traveler”
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jun 28, 2019 15:17:32 GMT -6
New story of mine. Had a dream last night about it and had to jot it down. Probably because of that I’m rather proud of it—not sure if that’s warranted or not. “And Be One Traveler”Well, there's an existential crisis if there ever was one. Very creepy concept. Well done.
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Post by Salzmark on Jun 28, 2019 15:31:12 GMT -6
New story of mine. Had a dream last night about it and had to jot it down. Probably because of that I’m rather proud of it—not sure if that’s warranted or not. “And Be One Traveler”Well, there's an existential crisis if there ever was one. Very creepy concept. Well done. Thank you. It may actually be my favorite of everything I’ve written there. Goddam dreams!
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jun 28, 2019 15:51:47 GMT -6
Well, there's an existential crisis if there ever was one. Very creepy concept. Well done. Thank you. It may actually be my favorite of everything I’ve written there. Goddam dreams! You're welcome. So this came from a nightmare, then?
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Post by Salzmark on Jun 28, 2019 16:32:41 GMT -6
Thank you. It may actually be my favorite of everything I’ve written there. Goddam dreams! You're welcome. So this came from a nightmare, then? Yeah. Everyone looked completely different except for one person (and, I guess, myself), and all the pictures I’d had of them had changed, but otherwise they all seemed completely like themselves.
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Post by WeirdRaptor on Jun 28, 2019 16:43:38 GMT -6
You're welcome. So this came from a nightmare, then? Yeah. Everyone looked completely different except for one person (and, I guess, myself), and all the pictures I’d had of them had changed, but otherwise they all seemed completely like themselves. Now you know what TV show characters feel like when one of their friend's actors get fired and replaced. Did you like the robot story?
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Post by Salzmark on Jun 28, 2019 16:55:37 GMT -6
Yeah. Everyone looked completely different except for one person (and, I guess, myself), and all the pictures I’d had of them had changed, but otherwise they all seemed completely like themselves. Now you know what TV show characters feel like when one of their friend's actors get fired and replaced. Did you like the robot story? Yes. I guessed where it was going, but it’s so creepy—the narration especially. I don’t think it would work as well in prose. A horror twist on Pinocchio in many ways. Very creepy, very effective.
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