I had a lot of fun with this! I’d been meaning to come back to it.
The story itself has a mythical parallel in Pandora’s box. Like opening the box examining faith can lead to its destruction but just like Pandora found hope at the bottom our characters appear to have also grown somehow. I can’t articulate exactly how but they seem to have developed their own values. I also liked the dark comedy in some sections.
I appreciated the fractal like story structure with each section mimicking parts of the others and all of them centering around the number 13.
I’ve tried for a while to pin down who your writing reminds me of and I’ve decided that at least thematically it’s probably Clive Barker. I don’t read as much poetry so it confused me that something felt familiar about your writing but having seen two short stories I think Barker is who you remind me of. The strong focus on feeling exiled, physical pain, and sensory pleasure helped me make the connection. If you haven’t read Barker I prefer his short fiction but thematically I think the novel Mr B Gone might interest you. It’s stayed with me since I read it as a teenager because of how weird it is. Books of Blood has a lot of his best known short fiction and I’m a bigger fan of it. He deals more directly with Hell than the author I’m about to mention.
The part about the maw reminds me of Nicole Cushing’s Great Dark Mouth (no spoilers but it’s a god like thing used to express similar themes). If you haven’t read Cushing she also combines esoteric themes with mental/emotional problems. A lot of her protagonists are driven to cruelty by an obsession with their own emotional pain. The line “we all have our little things” really reminded me of Cushing. I had trouble understanding the setting in some places but this is also true of certain Barker pieces. It isn’t a story breaking problem and can be an asset in some contexts. I think Cushing has a stronger sense of place despite devoting more of her word count to interiority. One of my favorite things Cushing does in A Sick Grey Laugh is create intentional ambiguity about certain aspects of the setting with strategic double meanings which is something I think you could totally try if it interested you! I think you’d be good at it with the poetry you write.
Also if you haven’t read Gogol I think he’s worth looking at if you like Barker or Cushing. While none of them engage in exactly the same flavor of esotericism I think they might at least be interesting to you. Good job with this!
An honor to be compared to Clive Barker! I love his work!! my Mom somewhat absentmindedly (but well-intentioned-ly) got me into him at a too young age to be reading him and it all really stuck, (as evidently came through). The Great and Secret Show was one of my favorites. I haven’t read Cushing or Gogol but I will have to check them out. Thank you so much for your detailed feedback as always I so so appreciate it!! ❤️ glad you liked it!
Oh I was not ready to read this in the morning! It was so good and my brain could take this into so many interpretations but my mind was so focus on how you constructed or manipulated flesh in the story (literally). I loved it!
I should go and find my old cloche hat so I can put it on my head and then take it off to you Aurora, because I am speechless. My brain is full of words I'm trying to string together, but none of them seem adequate to the task.
Absolutely bloody brilliant, and even writing that isn't good enough.
thank you!! And thank you for organizing this whole thing, I had a lot of fun writing this and I wouldn’t have had that without this advent project! Excited to see what other people have in store for us!
I had a lot of fun with this! I’d been meaning to come back to it.
The story itself has a mythical parallel in Pandora’s box. Like opening the box examining faith can lead to its destruction but just like Pandora found hope at the bottom our characters appear to have also grown somehow. I can’t articulate exactly how but they seem to have developed their own values. I also liked the dark comedy in some sections.
I appreciated the fractal like story structure with each section mimicking parts of the others and all of them centering around the number 13.
I’ve tried for a while to pin down who your writing reminds me of and I’ve decided that at least thematically it’s probably Clive Barker. I don’t read as much poetry so it confused me that something felt familiar about your writing but having seen two short stories I think Barker is who you remind me of. The strong focus on feeling exiled, physical pain, and sensory pleasure helped me make the connection. If you haven’t read Barker I prefer his short fiction but thematically I think the novel Mr B Gone might interest you. It’s stayed with me since I read it as a teenager because of how weird it is. Books of Blood has a lot of his best known short fiction and I’m a bigger fan of it. He deals more directly with Hell than the author I’m about to mention.
The part about the maw reminds me of Nicole Cushing’s Great Dark Mouth (no spoilers but it’s a god like thing used to express similar themes). If you haven’t read Cushing she also combines esoteric themes with mental/emotional problems. A lot of her protagonists are driven to cruelty by an obsession with their own emotional pain. The line “we all have our little things” really reminded me of Cushing. I had trouble understanding the setting in some places but this is also true of certain Barker pieces. It isn’t a story breaking problem and can be an asset in some contexts. I think Cushing has a stronger sense of place despite devoting more of her word count to interiority. One of my favorite things Cushing does in A Sick Grey Laugh is create intentional ambiguity about certain aspects of the setting with strategic double meanings which is something I think you could totally try if it interested you! I think you’d be good at it with the poetry you write.
Also if you haven’t read Gogol I think he’s worth looking at if you like Barker or Cushing. While none of them engage in exactly the same flavor of esotericism I think they might at least be interesting to you. Good job with this!
An honor to be compared to Clive Barker! I love his work!! my Mom somewhat absentmindedly (but well-intentioned-ly) got me into him at a too young age to be reading him and it all really stuck, (as evidently came through). The Great and Secret Show was one of my favorites. I haven’t read Cushing or Gogol but I will have to check them out. Thank you so much for your detailed feedback as always I so so appreciate it!! ❤️ glad you liked it!
Oh I was not ready to read this in the morning! It was so good and my brain could take this into so many interpretations but my mind was so focus on how you constructed or manipulated flesh in the story (literally). I loved it!
thank you so much!!
I should go and find my old cloche hat so I can put it on my head and then take it off to you Aurora, because I am speechless. My brain is full of words I'm trying to string together, but none of them seem adequate to the task.
Absolutely bloody brilliant, and even writing that isn't good enough.
thank you so much!! ❤️
My pleasure Aurora.
phenomenal.
"The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed" sprang to mind.
I am going to reread it right now.
thank you!! And thank you for organizing this whole thing, I had a lot of fun writing this and I wouldn’t have had that without this advent project! Excited to see what other people have in store for us!
Truly, it was my pleasure. I was so excited you agreed to contribute. You writing is really next level. 🖤