this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIWELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.
i am doing my best. merry merry.
DECEMBER 24: PIGEONS - NIBEDITA SEN
it's christmas eeeeeve so i only have time to listen, and whaddya know—this story has TWINS and BIRDS so it's just like that other time jack skellington halloweened xmas and made it full of SHRIEKS and HORRORS!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIWELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.
i am doing my best. merry merry.
DECEMBER 22: BLOOD DAUGHTER - MATTHEW LYONS
[image] 13 minutes
ho ho ho-liday's got me working six-day weeks, so i made the most of my ONE DAY OFF by doing another audio-story today, which i listened to whilst washing the dishes from the RED VELVET FUDGE i made.
[image]
hooray for efficiency.
a short n' gross story about an unhinged man who is coping with losing custody of his daughter in an acrimonious divorce...poorly.
the character-narrator's descent into ew-iness is rapid, and the vocal-narrator does a great job giving his thoughts jabby little edges. it's all pretty disgustingly predictable until the very end of the story explodes into a WTF-ness that doesn't really make sense, but i guess points for going that extra mile?
try not to get too attached to his pet rat. or to any beliefs that he's a good man derailed by unfortunate circumstances. santa finds him...NAUGHTY.
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIWELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.
this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.
GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.
i am doing my best. merry merry.
DECEMBER 17: THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
as a story, it's fine, as a horror story, it's not really pulling its weight. it's more about nostalgia and guilt and maybe what happens next is the spooky part, but you can't just end the serial killer movie with the leggy blonde co-ed investigating the noise that roused her from her topless slumber.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listSPOOKTOBER DAY THIRTY-ONE
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 56 minutes
so many halloweeny feelings right now!
this was a great story to end my spooktober audio project: very creepy, very ambiguous, very much leaving me wanting more. i'm hoping that when i finally get around to watching antlers, which is what this story grew up to be, i will like it every bit as much as this story.
fun fact: nick antosca was one of the first people i interacted with here on goodreads that i didn't already know in the real world. 'twas a long time ago and he's all big time now and prolly doesn't remember me, but i 'attaboy!' him every time i see his name on my teevee screen.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listeninSPOOKTOBER DAY THIRTY
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 29 minutes
with only two more days left in this spooktober audio project, and so many more stories from which to choose, i decided to let the ratings decide which one i would listen to today.
this one had a solid 4/5 average rating, which sounded promising.
...cut to 29 interminable minutes later and me an eye-rolling bundle of ugh.
i thought it was boring and predictable and not particularly inspiring, but i am also in the midst of a seasonal-change illness and my brain isn't working so listen to me even less than you ordinarily would.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by lisSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-NINE
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 10 minutes
this is just 100% pure fun. it's more audio drama than book recitation, which automatically ups my thumbs, but add to that the sgj-brand dark-humor slasher film meta-horror of it all, and we have a yesssssssss.
i'm too under the weather to make words work, but if i die from this illness, my last wish is that you listen to this story.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by liSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-EIGHT
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
i don't think "puddle horror" is ever going to become a robust subcategory of the genre, but congrats for trying!
the real horror here are the crimes perpetrated against the innocent books in this bookshop—intentional, spiteful misshelving—it's truly unacceptable, sociopathic behavior.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by liSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-SEVEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!!
[image] 19 minutes
another yessssss! and to think i almost skipped this one because i thought john langan was one of those cosmic horror writers whose whole deal shivers the timbers of other readers but is Not For Me.
none of that frustratingly intangible cosmic-horror-stuff here, just regular old supernatural horror—twisty and twisted, clever and squirmingly gross.
the descriptions are all up in your face, describing what's left of someone's face, with some extra horror for those of you with dentophobia.
and i loved it.
it also reminded me i should finally crack open my copy of Vlad, but that i should never, EVER discuss it in public.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-SIX
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 14 minutes
i guess that "dispassionately recalling the time your actions incited a hate crime, escalating a beating into a crowd-pleasin' murder" is a kind of horror story. there's just no flicker of fun in this one—no remorse, no accountability, no justice. "everyone's dead" is not good enough, somehow.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by lisSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-FIVE
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 21 minutes
YESSSSSSS!! this might be my favorite so far—a story long enough to actually develop a story, a new narrator (who is perfect), and—while it didn't scare me like EEEEEEEEK—it is definitely a horror story, and a brilliantly-written one at that. ALL THE STARS!!!!!
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by lisSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-FOUR
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 7 minutes
okay, this one is great—it's one of those WHAT IF __ WAS REALLY __ kind of stories or one of those times where you're watching a true crime documentary that's suddenly lovecraft. i guess the takeaway here is...give serial killers the benefit of the doubt?
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by liSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-THREE
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!!
[image] 25 minutes
now that's how you polish up a done-to-undeath genre like a zombie tale. this story is fantastic, even though it left me wanting more more moooooore, like a zombie's hunger for brains, which—this story is quick to point out—is not necessarily what they're after.
it's more deeply sad than scary, but that's what floats my boats anyway.
and—bonus—this author's creepy little tor novella Comfort Me With Apples is out in only THREE DAYS!
*NEVER MIND, IT LOOKS LIKE THE PUB DATE GOT PUSHED TO 11/9, SO KEEP WAITING!!!*
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-TWO
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!!
[image] 28 minutes
i don't even know where to start with this one! it's a weird little story about trauma and its repercussions and careless child-cruelty and its repercussions and hornets and fairies and parenthood and i'm not sure i understood all of it but ramón de ocampo's back doing his little-girl voice, only this time it was more grating whine than creepy whisper.
that girl REALLY wanted to go outside.
anyway, spooktober's almost over and i'm not scared yet!
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY-ONE
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!!
[image] 5 minutes
A woman lures her lover to a dark, watery death.
yup, that's what happens. although "woman" is debatable, yeah? anyway, it's kind of anticlimactic since the synopsis tells you what's gonna happen at the end of yer five-minute journey. and then it happens. and then it's over.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listeninSPOOKTOBER DAY TWENTY
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 13 minutes
the synopsis of this story is both concise and precise:
A woman wakes up to find that her girlfriend has ripped her heart out of her chest. It's not the first time this has happened, but it will be the last.
it's pretty clear, reading that, that this is going to be one of those metaphorical stories, about the horror of abusive toxic relationships. this story would be good friends with In the Dream House; the two pieces nursing each other's wounds and sharing their experiences suffering at the hands of their unreasonable and violent lady-loves and raising a glass to getting away from them into healthier partnerships.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listenSPOOKTOBER DAY NINETEEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 21 minutes
one of the veryfew movies that ever scared me (and i mean SCARED ME, so that even now, just thinking about it, i'm looking over my shoulder a little bit), was one i saw at a very young age, with a little story-within-a-story sequence involving a trucker.
YEAH, YOU KNOW WHICH ONE I MEAN, DON'T MAKE ME LOOK AT HER!!
so when it comes to trucker-horror, i'm predisposed to being spooked by it, but, paradoxically, i got childhood scars toughening up my psyche's susceptibility to it, and a high-set bar you're gonna have to work hard to clear.
like many of the other shorties i've listened to for this project, this one was very atmospheric and eerie but it didn't make me eek or anything. his writing is descriptive enough to almost have a visual quality to it, and i could see this story being adapted into one of those horror anthology shows on the teevee.
there was one thing, though, that was truly creepy, and that was the grown-man-narrator doing the voice of a little girl. ramón de ocampo, you will make my nightmare reel with that one.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listenSPOOKTOBER DAY EIGHTEEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 26 minutes
eerily ambiguous, this story is about a teacher who hates her job, especially as the 1 1/2 hour commute each way, each day, means she never sees the sun, which leaves her feeling isolated and unmoored from the rest of the world, resenting each long drive alone through the darkness. then, her students start getting sick, not showing up to class, the hallways becoming emptier with each passing day. what is happening? is it a real epidemic-scenario, or the delusions of the narrator's spirally descent into daylight-deprived depression, paranoia, and maaaaaadnesssss?
once upon a time, i worked a 10pm-6am shift, and lemme tell you, the vampire-novelty of that schedule soured fast. completely disconnected and out of step with the world around me, i felt helpless and depressed all the time. there was something so grimy-feeling about going to bed as the people in the apartments around me were just heading out to their much-better jobs, and i stopped even feeling like a human for a while—i was just a thing that did a job and ate and slept on an entirely different plane of existence than everyone else. it fucked me up a lot, and listening to this story brought back all of those jittery-itchy, what-even-is-real? feelings, so ymmv, but to me, this story was chilling.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listeSPOOKTOBER DAY SEVENTEEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 4 minutes
i love you, paul tremblay, but this one was TOO short. i listened to it a couple of times to make sure i didn't miss anything, like—for example—the consequences of The Thing That Happened at the Pond, but that part of the story seems to have been sucked down to the pond's murky bottom lined with bloated bodies and bleached white skin and crumbling flesh intertwined in a loveless embrace and matted hair turned to weed and open mouths and swollen tongues and empty eyeholes.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listeniSPOOKTOBER DAY SIXTEEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 9 minutes
well, that escalated quickly. the violence starts almost immediately, with such abruptness that at first i was thinking it was going to go down the humor-horror route, but it...doesn't. it's more of a bewildering descent-into-madness situation, but it feels awfully unresolved. either my brain's notorious inability to process audio content is bedeviling me again, or this one is missing the part that ties the story's loops together into a pleasing AHA shape.
i do like the title, even though it's not the thumb-gesturing "this guy, amiright?" inflection.
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listeniSPOOKTOBER DAY FIFTEEN
welcome to my spooktober audio advent calendar, where, each day during the month of spooktober, i will be celebrating by listening to a free audio short from nightfire's Come Join Us by the Fire series, and you can join ME by following the links. let's all be scared together!
[image] 12 minutes
i was unfamiliar with the aesop fable that this story is having its way with, but i'll save you the google and plop it here for you:
A wasp seated himself upon the head of a Snake and, striking him unceasingly with his stings, wounded him to death. The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid himself of his enemy, saw a wagon heavily laden with wood, and went and purposely placed his head under the wheels, saying, “At least my enemy and I shall perish together.”
this reconfigures the fable with human participants, employing some effective body horror to tell the tale of a supernaturally-enhanced assassin-for-hire enacting a revenge-plot on behalf of her cuckolded employer, with an outcome that does not go to plan. it dabbles a little too much in the realm of cosmic horror for my personal liking, but the parts the my feeble brain could grasp were chillingly good.
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