Flash Fiction Online #42, March 2017
“The Girl Who is Going to Survive Your Horror Movie” by Barbara Barnett
Reviewed by Stephanie Wexler
Whether you are a fan of horror or just looking for a good laugh, Barbara Barnett sets the stage for almost every horror movie trope you can think of. “The Girl Who is Going to Survive Your Horror Movie” starts with your typical Scoobie gang whose narrator has declared herself the protagonist. Everyone has their role, boyfriend, BFF, squirrely guy whose misadventures keep getting more and more uproariously crazy. What makes this story even more precious is her constant diatribe to psych herself against all the usual horrors and things that go bump in the deep dark cellar. It is a fun romp, so my suggestion is just go with it and have yourself a chuckle at our protagonist’s expense!
“Do’s and Don’ts” by Paul DesCombaz introduces us to Esme, an eight year old girl who unknowingly releases something quite sinister in her bedroom. Innocently, Esme has found a small house in her backyard created with sticks and bits of animal hair. Unknown to Esme and her family the tree where this small house was found has a rune carved into the tree’s bark. Who has carved the rune? Why has the tree been put forth to terrorize Esme’s family? The mystery is never revealed, though the author does translate the rune to mean ‘mouth’, foreshadowing Esme’s family’s ultimate fate. It’s all too soon when a fly reveals itself, growing bigger to strike and start taking people out. Throughout all this we have a narrator telling the reader that we should have stopped reading, which makes us want to read more even though events are getting creepier. As the story progresses, the focus shifts from Esme to another point of view, an unnamed narrator (another sibling?) which makes him or her watching Esme sleep add to the eerie atmosphere. This creates a bit of confusion since Esme was the original point of view character. Even though this switch sent shivers down my spine, the narrator’s reminders and warnings were a bit too distracting in what could have been a truly ghoulish tale.
“To Comfort the Headless Child” by Matthew Amati almost reads like a Doctor Seuss book. Headless Child is tortured by insomnia. At this point we don’t know why he has insomnia. The author is having too much fun with word play. The loving mother of Headless Child has a very Adam’s family take on child rearing. She attempts to soothe Headless Child with lists: of books, music, and medication. Each list starts innocently enough, a golden book, stuffed bear, or a lullaby. Yet the items soon become crazier, eccentric, and finally distressing. The Headless Child, a besieged soul, simply wishes to be calmed. Finally, we have his concerned father add to the litany of increasingly strange activities to ease Headless Child’s mental instability. It is here we learn Headless Child is simply worried about his future. We receive a list of all he is afraid of, which he is unable to express to his parents. I get the impression that Headless Child doesn’t want to grow up to be his father. It is clear Headless Child suffers all that he feared and has come out the other side. Now an adult, the Headless Child is now the Guillotined Man. His life has come full circle and he now gets to choose how his elderly parents live their final years. It’s quite apparent the author enjoys playing with morbid language. He spends a lot of time setting up the Headless Child’s woes before leaping forward very quickly to settle up with Headless Child’s own sweet revenge. We never really understand why he ends up this way. Did he ever try and communicate with his parents as he grew up? Is it perhaps that he is Headless and he can’t communicate? If you can accept these small inconsistencies, suspend believe, and/or you just enjoy melancholic characters give this one a read.
Stephanie Wexler lives in Massachusetts. Besides spending her days reading and writing SF and Fantasy, she also enjoys making vintage cards and collecting really old books.