‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’
That's a brilliant story Adam. I started to get a sense of where it was going, at the blackjack table. despite all the venal graphic horror pulsating through it, it's still subtle enough to take a while to get it and then you need a second read to really savour it. dont know how you're going to do 98 more when youve smashed the first two so hard. I was right to give you 9.5 / 10 for backgammon.. this ones getting a 9.6 cos i think you surely will need a bit of headroom.
Hah! I'll take all of the high marks I can get. :-)
That is a REALLY dark one. I scared away half of my subscribers with that. I don't anticipate having to include trigger alerts again, but there are a lot more to go as you point out.
The next two are VERY different even from each other. #3 is the polar opposite (it's about a child) and #4 is, I think, the best piece of fiction I've ever written. So, from here on out maybe this is just one long slide down into disappointment and obscurity. 😆
Thanks again for the kind words. I know I'm behind on acknowledging an earlier comment of yours, and thanks for subscribing. 🙏
I did not think that was for everyone to be sure. Particularly not after recent posts about meeting my wife, but I was in Vegas walking down a very, very long corridor and saw a food service cart and thought of someone reliving a forgotten horror like that and I wanted to create an existential hell for them. There will be a 100 Stories. Some will be dark, I’m sure, but it’s only one puzzle piece. 🧩 There are lots to share.
Don’t give up on me. The next one is about Valentines. 💝
By the way, I don’t like watching the kind of content I created. I don’t really watch scary contact like Lucifer, but I found it satisfying in some way to scare myself writing Vegas.
Well, that was a blistering read. Jesus, I feel like I need a bath in aloe vera. No, scratch that too oily. Seriously, Adam, what a gripping read, the pacing is fierce. It’s wonderful to see your range.
I'm here to report that this reads far better as words on a screen than listening to the AI lady read it. I'm impressed that you honored the dark voice that wanted to tell this story. What I most admire about your craft is the imagery of the Four Kings, the way you nightmarishly return again and again to the lit-up sign and the matching masks. And the pink velvet Raiders jacket for its incongruity and how it evokes the inside of a rabbit's ears. (I was rooting for her . . . what if she killed him instead? 😬)
May I say, I don't like this guy one bit. I couldn't find a shred of empathy for him. Horror is not my thing, so I wonder, is that a convention of this genre? (Apologies if I'm being too literal.) Funny coincidence - my post today involves the devil. 😱🔥
I feel like she does get him in her way (sort of). She's a horrible victim, but... she stays on offense (which I like) and she's ahead of him on comeuppance. And she gets several chances to scare the hell out of him. I wouldn't want to turn around with her in my hotel room door flicking the lights on and off...
When my husband finally appeared this morning he gave me an odd look, apparently I was hyperactive and way too talkative, he said, ‘I want some of whatever you’ve taken…’
First of all, thank you for sharing such a positive note. It’s such a dark piece and so different than everything I tend to share here there’s been a lot of stress sharing it. But I got very interested in a vision of hell and what that might be. Then I worked backwards to something pretty grim.
I was in Vegas on business a couple of months ago and they have insanely long corridors on the floors and I imagined seeing four guys committing a horrible crime that the guy committed. Then once he left and went home he’d forget about it completely. (Now that I write that I realize that essentially is the plot still.)
But it’s so awful and the characters are so awful it’s been a real worry publishing it. And yet… it honors some dark place of anxiety. And I want to play with genres and voices and styles.
I’m rambling.😩
Thanks for the note. And for hitting “Like.” Like is somehow, the wrong button for this piece.
‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’
When all that is left of good in the world is a child that is polite to you.
And you killed her mother.
That's fucking hell.
That's a brilliant story Adam. I started to get a sense of where it was going, at the blackjack table. despite all the venal graphic horror pulsating through it, it's still subtle enough to take a while to get it and then you need a second read to really savour it. dont know how you're going to do 98 more when youve smashed the first two so hard. I was right to give you 9.5 / 10 for backgammon.. this ones getting a 9.6 cos i think you surely will need a bit of headroom.
Hah! I'll take all of the high marks I can get. :-)
That is a REALLY dark one. I scared away half of my subscribers with that. I don't anticipate having to include trigger alerts again, but there are a lot more to go as you point out.
The next two are VERY different even from each other. #3 is the polar opposite (it's about a child) and #4 is, I think, the best piece of fiction I've ever written. So, from here on out maybe this is just one long slide down into disappointment and obscurity. 😆
Thanks again for the kind words. I know I'm behind on acknowledging an earlier comment of yours, and thanks for subscribing. 🙏
Ben is correct, feeling like I need a long hot shower.
I guess Vegas was the perfect backdrop.
Ever watch the Netflix series Lucifer? You might be intrigued. Yeah, no ‘warm heart ‘ for this one.
I did not think that was for everyone to be sure. Particularly not after recent posts about meeting my wife, but I was in Vegas walking down a very, very long corridor and saw a food service cart and thought of someone reliving a forgotten horror like that and I wanted to create an existential hell for them. There will be a 100 Stories. Some will be dark, I’m sure, but it’s only one puzzle piece. 🧩 There are lots to share.
Don’t give up on me. The next one is about Valentines. 💝
By the way, I don’t like watching the kind of content I created. I don’t really watch scary contact like Lucifer, but I found it satisfying in some way to scare myself writing Vegas.
Well, that was a blistering read. Jesus, I feel like I need a bath in aloe vera. No, scratch that too oily. Seriously, Adam, what a gripping read, the pacing is fierce. It’s wonderful to see your range.
I'm here to report that this reads far better as words on a screen than listening to the AI lady read it. I'm impressed that you honored the dark voice that wanted to tell this story. What I most admire about your craft is the imagery of the Four Kings, the way you nightmarishly return again and again to the lit-up sign and the matching masks. And the pink velvet Raiders jacket for its incongruity and how it evokes the inside of a rabbit's ears. (I was rooting for her . . . what if she killed him instead? 😬)
May I say, I don't like this guy one bit. I couldn't find a shred of empathy for him. Horror is not my thing, so I wonder, is that a convention of this genre? (Apologies if I'm being too literal.) Funny coincidence - my post today involves the devil. 😱🔥
I feel like she does get him in her way (sort of). She's a horrible victim, but... she stays on offense (which I like) and she's ahead of him on comeuppance. And she gets several chances to scare the hell out of him. I wouldn't want to turn around with her in my hotel room door flicking the lights on and off...
i now need to have AI lady read it to me...
Lucifer is actually very funny.
Aw , just give it 20 minutes. The devil decides to come up from hell and live in Vegas!
PS. I don’t know if you needed another childhood memory, I donated one if you do.
‘Hell’no , I ain’t goin nowhere.
Good. 😊
When my husband finally appeared this morning he gave me an odd look, apparently I was hyperactive and way too talkative, he said, ‘I want some of whatever you’ve taken…’
I gave him two cups of coffee and this!
What a read!
First of all, thank you for sharing such a positive note. It’s such a dark piece and so different than everything I tend to share here there’s been a lot of stress sharing it. But I got very interested in a vision of hell and what that might be. Then I worked backwards to something pretty grim.
I was in Vegas on business a couple of months ago and they have insanely long corridors on the floors and I imagined seeing four guys committing a horrible crime that the guy committed. Then once he left and went home he’d forget about it completely. (Now that I write that I realize that essentially is the plot still.)
But it’s so awful and the characters are so awful it’s been a real worry publishing it. And yet… it honors some dark place of anxiety. And I want to play with genres and voices and styles.
I’m rambling.😩
Thanks for the note. And for hitting “Like.” Like is somehow, the wrong button for this piece.
Ramble away…
Creativity takes turns none of us expect Adam… I suspect you are more worried than this warrants!
It is a compulsive read no matter how gruesome the characters!
You are quite right about the ‘like’ button though… hasty habits!
Thanks for the warning. Still worth the read.