Well, I perpetrated short fiction again, this time with a horror theme. Presumed Dead is a short story I wrote in response to a challenge. It’s brought to you by the folks at Sci-Fi & Scary: Sci-Fi & Horror Reviews, News, and More, and yes, the blog is exactly what it says it is, sometimes serious, sometimes snarky, and where do they go those illustrations?
I’ve done surprisingly little straight horror on this blog, as my longer stories don’t usually quite fit that description even with horror elements in them, the vampires of Martha’s Children being one example. But some short stories qualify as horror. Dead Cellphone is a tasty little bit of supernatural and psychological horror. Death and Professor Appleton is a more traditional horror story, while On Huckman Causeway is in tone spiritual kin to Presumed Dead. And the shorter The Day After Halloween and longer When the ghost came in from the cold are fair horror humor stories.
Sillyverse 
What I would call ‘gently spooky’. As with erotica, the art is to imply, as you have done to perfection.
🙂
I’d been keeping the idea of “horror as suggestion” (which was Vernon Lee’s creed) in my mind, especially after seeing “The Autopsy of Jane Doe,” a horror flick that is at its best BEFORE it tries to explain itself.
Quite right. Why dole out the nasty contents of your mind, when you can tease out the far worse contents of your readers’ minds. 🙂
Good to see you back in the writing game!! I will post haste go and see about following that link. Florida has been impossibly gloomy weatherwise lately and absolutely no help to the funk I’ve been in myself!! Looking forward to Presumed Dead…I think I’ve read all those others, but have to check that out as well.
You probably have read all the others. “Presumed Dead” and “The Saturnian Rings of Life” are the only new pieces, and both on that other blog.
But I do have some longer pieces in preparation. Still, finishing the selling of my mother’s house comes first, so I probably won’t have anything for people to read before July.
Sorry you’re in a bit of a funk. You know how people tell you, “Well, it’s just attitude. If you don’t want to be unhappy, you don’t have to be”? Of course, they are wrong; changing to a more positive attitude requires help and good things in one’s life and something to look forward to. And those are not always easy to arrange. (One of my stories under development actually touches on this. No surprise after the last few years of my life.)
So, we had friends over to grill some food outside, then watch an intriguing time travel movie (the Spanish “Timecrimes”) and then I actually got them laughing by reading some of the passaged about Cindy Van Schacht from “Summer of the Netherfield Witch.” So I’m in a good mood today, myself. I’ll try to transfer some good vibes your way.
Good vibes received! Dealing with things giving me reason for feeling down, yet at the same time, the mood was there first I think. Goes to control what you can accept what you can’t. Its the waiting for something bad to happen that has me off center and feeling I can’t do a thing.
So you see I need stories to live in for a while, looks like Saturn is next!! 🙂 Cheery right?
Spent Friday wiped out with a nausea-inducing headache, myself. Nothing that like to dispose you to look at the dark side.
But . . . you make a good point: waiting for a bad thing is a real mood killer. My doctor of several years ago once described me as a “stress puppy” for my poor ability to handle problems I was either awaiting or couldn’t resolve quickly. So I can empathize with your situation.
Yeah stress puppy, that’s me!! LOL!! Right now feeling stressed that my comments don’t show on the Sci-Fi site despite hitting Post. Maybe its my computer!!
I did like both stories very much. The understated encounter with the ghostly swing with unnamed memories past…and the Saturnian tale is truly original I think. Despite all the geometry, there was life to it! I mean really. Good visual on both tales. Good going!!
Thank you. It was a challenge, writing shorter fiction. Hope it taught me something.
Well I have always liked the idea of flash fiction and any exercises which a writer can let a story happen in a short amount of time. Like exercising muscles. It is even better when the short story has great possibilities for future development because it is such a great appetizer.
PS: I guess we are both headache people.
Sorry. 😦
Ditto that!
Umm, I commented on the story on the other site but nothing shows as of yet… hmmmm
Sometimes their spam filter catches comments for inexplicable reasons. Eventually they go through and restore the ones that shouldn’t have been caught. I know this because the filter nailed 4 or 5 of mine in a row.
Well we can’t be too safe I suppose!!
My spam filter once caught a few of Crispina’s comments. Never did figure out why. I have to go diving into my spam on a regular basis, because it seems some idiot spam generator has targeted two of my pages.
Well Crispina’s can be awfully suspect at times!! LOL!! 🙂 But, mine are pure as the driven snow.
I know. First you wash them in 20 Mule Team Borax, then scrub them with Ivory Soap, and finally rinse them off in rain water from the high sub-Arctic. Spam filters have committed suicide upon reading your comments, as you make them feel so unnecessary.
Perhaps just an early retirement!! Or maybe I should consider making them more necessary!!