Flash Fiction Online #97, October 2021
“Litany in the Heart of Exorcism” by Sarah Pauling
“Like a Sunday House” by Linda Niehoff
“Aita for Using My Side Hustle to Help My Boyfriend Escape the Clutches of Death?” by Aimee Picchi
“Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester
Reviewed by Tara Grímravn
Flash Fiction Online presents four stories perfectly themed for October. Some are funny, others terrifying, but each one is well-timed for Halloween season.
“Litany in the Heart of Exorcism” by Sarah Pauling
A narrator sits with another, bodies entwined, within a purification circle. Around them, priests conduct an exorcism intended to free the young woman in the circle from the clutches of a demon with whom she has become entangled. As the rite proceeds, however, it becomes clear that the girl may not be the one under possession.
While the underlying theme of female oppression by men through marriage is somewhat worn out, I have to give the story credit for its rather original twist on the possession trope. I was prepared for the usual fare presented in this kind of story, usually that of a weak woman whose mind has been usurped by a beguiling spirit and now requires saving by male priests, but we are given something else entirely here. Another point in favor of this story is that the reader isn’t drip fed clues with which to piece together the bigger picture. Instead, the reader is suddenly, almost violently, confronted with the truth of the situation, and that is what makes the story interesting—not the social commentary. Would I call it terrifying or even unsettling? No, but it is a satisfying read.
“Like a Sunday House” by Linda Niehoff
For as long as he can remember, a young boy’s mother would send him to give a bottle of Coke to an old, ugly, balding woman living in the small, one-room house behind their home—a woman to whom the child has no name and no connection. This daily chore stopped once winter passed. Now, his mother threatens anyone who tries to enter the house, warning everyone to stay away. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to curb a child’s curiosity.
This story is marked as horror, but I can’t really say that it fits that bill. While I found it to be vaguely interesting as more of a contemporary piece, it’s certainly not unsettling, unnerving, or scary. It tries to pluck at the heart strings on behalf of the mother and the child, to build up the suspense as this young boy defies his mother, but it really just falls flat. Nothing really happens. In the end, I found I could only focus on the horrendous family dynamics on which this tale is centered, as it ends up reading more like a story about elder abuse and neglect than one of loss and sorrow.
“AITA for Using My Side Hustle to Help My Boyfriend Escape the Clutches of Death?” by Aimee Picchi
Someone with the username, “DeathBecomesHer,” posts on a Reddit-like “Am I the Asshole” forum describing a rather unique problem with her boyfriend. Although the herbal restorative she peddles works fine to reanimates dead pets, it’s never been tried on humans before. Well, until her boyfriend came home one day and mistook it for a craft cocktail. Now, she’s looking for answers online.
Picchi’s story does have a faint humorous streak running through it, and it reads pretty close to what one would find on this kind of Reddit forum, complete with comments. I also am a fan of stories involving the undead, so it has that going for it as well. Unfortunately, none of this is enough, and the narrative only passes for okay.
It’s just incredibly bland. Even though it tries to move into “zombie threat” territory, it does so in such a weirdly non-threatening way. And the environmental concerns end up being a strange leverage to use as a means of advancing the plot. It’s hard to tell whether this is meant to be commentary on environmental activists as a threat to the world or if the author is advocating for the death of humanity.
“Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester
In the shadows beneath her porch, Caitlin finds a little girl eating a sparrow. The child’s white hair is matted with blood and feathers, and her teeth are like tiny knives. When Caitlin asks her name, she says she doesn’t have one. Caitlin suggests that eating the birds isn’t healthy, but the girl retorts that she wants wings… and she doesn’t mean the kind that are deep fried with buffalo sauce.
Now, this is a horror story worth reading. I’ve read a few other works by DeMeester, and I remember enjoying every one. This latest entry does not disappoint, what with its theme “you are what you eat.” The imagery is incredibly unnerving, and Caitlin’s sorrow over her life’s events is palpable. Of course, the ending is also a tad predictable, as are the circumstances that Caitlin has endured, but the overall sentiment still resonates with the reader. As for the girl, she’s a suitably chilling little ghoul, both in form and action.