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Kama: A Mini Macabre
Past his prime and recently separated from his husband of 24 years, Edward consoles himself with a drink at a local bar where meets Kama, a remarkable young man...with a secret. Award-winning author Paul G. Bens explores the price of the past in a story that Uniquely Pleasurable described as "a deceptive little story... which veers off into something really quite dark..."
26 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2006
61 people want to read
About the author
Paul G. Bens Jr.
11 books76 followersBorn in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, far too many years ago to be honest about, Paul G. Bens, Jr., has spent the majority of his adult life in the entertainment industry. His first foray into Hollywoodland was as a casting assistant on the feature films Trip to Spirit Island and Martians Go Home. He then graduated to Casting Associate and worked for three years on the NBC hit series Night Court as well as the short-lived series Walter & Emily, Good & Evil and The Linda Lavin Show. As a film and television Casting Director he was responsible for the principal casting of such fine (ahem!) feature films as Death Ring, Evil Obsession and Flipping, as well as the television series Ned & Stacey, Malcolm & Eddie, Likely Suspects, Murder in Small Town X and a string of unsold pilots. Outside of casting, Bens has been many things: a film producer, a file clerk, an altar boy, a bartender (still makes killer martinis), a boy scout and, for a second-and-a-half, an actor.
As an author, Bens' short fiction has appeared in Cemetery Dance, Dark Discoveries, The Egg Box, Outsider Ink, Scared Naked, HeavyGlow, Bleeding Quill, Twisted Tongue, Velvet Mafia: Dangerous Queer Fiction and Chick Flicks. His debut novel "Kelland" was awarded the 2009 Dark Quill Award for Best Small Press Chill.
Currently, Bens marks time working for an historic Hollywood film studio as a paralegal in the new media division. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his ever-patient husband. When not writing, he can generally be found driving around smoggy Los Angeles, singing along with the radio to Van Halen, Def Leppard or The Smashing Pumpkins, and day-dreaming about living full time in Hawai‘i.
Learn more about Paul at www.paulbens.com
As an author, Bens' short fiction has appeared in Cemetery Dance, Dark Discoveries, The Egg Box, Outsider Ink, Scared Naked, HeavyGlow, Bleeding Quill, Twisted Tongue, Velvet Mafia: Dangerous Queer Fiction and Chick Flicks. His debut novel "Kelland" was awarded the 2009 Dark Quill Award for Best Small Press Chill.
Currently, Bens marks time working for an historic Hollywood film studio as a paralegal in the new media division. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his ever-patient husband. When not writing, he can generally be found driving around smoggy Los Angeles, singing along with the radio to Van Halen, Def Leppard or The Smashing Pumpkins, and day-dreaming about living full time in Hawai‘i.
Learn more about Paul at www.paulbens.com
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 21, 2016
A one-night stand turns into something malicious. Another reviewer mentioned that she was curious to see the story through Kama's perspective. So am I.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
July 17, 2017
What starts out as a melancholy tale that explores aging and loneliness takes a dark turn once Kama enters Edward's life.
I loved this heart-stirring and bone-chilling story.
I loved this heart-stirring and bone-chilling story.
June 7, 2014
It is rare that a short story is so compelling, but this is that brilliant exception. Not an easy read, but one that stayed with me. Is Kama evil? No. Is Kama troubled? Oh yes. Disturbing. Yes all of that in a short story. Not one criticism of this story.
February 11, 2017
This is a short story with a nice little gut punch. I went into it without any expectations other than that it was a "darker" read, and I'm glad I did. I don't want to give anything away. The writing is decent, but mainly it's the ending that makes the read worthwhile.
I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 3 just because it's difficult to write a satisfying short story.
I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 3 just because it's difficult to write a satisfying short story.
August 22, 2011
Wow, this was quite disturbing but oh so interesting. The lengths people will go when they are hurt is quite troublesome. This is a short story and is available for free at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
November 13, 2011
A very short, very emotional story about loneliness, heartbreak and the darker side of human nature. It can be read online for free here.
November 5, 2012
Oooh, liked it!
I really want to read more from this author.
I really want to read more from this author.
September 23, 2011
With Kama, Paul G. Bens, Jr. has written a tour de force of nearly modern gothic horror proportions. This brief story packs a wallop that is as unexpected as it is frightening. Bens, author of numerous short stories and the novel Kelland, is a writer of huge talent, a real a master of all that storytelling was meant to be, ought to be. With his book, Kama, Bens most reminds me of the late Josephine Hart, author of the 1991 novel Damage (which was the basis for Louis Malle’s film by the same name a year later). Like Hart’s novel, Ben’s work is purposefully sparse and unyieldingly powerful.
No one I’ve read, except O.Henry and Josephine Hart, can pull off an astonishing, horrific, palpably sickening and stunningly heartbreaking ending like Paul Bens. In this story, it’s a double whammy. I might have had a faint hint of a premonition for the first shocker, but I did not see the second one coming. Did Not! Like Hart, Bens chooses his words carefully, and every word counts.
The starkness of the story’s minimalistic narrative pulls us into the quiet dramatic rendering of escalating unease. We are gently nudged into feelings of empathy for the protagonist, an empathy offset by a curious combination of both mild discomfort and intrigue. By the end of the story, we are reduced---by the simpatico of shared horror and then back into those first feelings of empathy, then horror, again, then empathy, again.
We feel, first for the protagonist, and then, later, much later, for his nemises. And there are at least two of those! But as the story unfolds in a deceptively simple way, there is a vague, indeterminate tenor of terror that grips the reader early on. I kept having a feeling that something was not going to end well. Everything was so ordinary, at first. Casual, almost. Random, even. Bens has a special talent for engendering tension in the simplest of situations. Only later does one understand that tension as the source of the earlier felt dread. What a brave display of honesty, ingenuity, and talent! The ethos and the pathos of this drama are worthy competitors for our attention.
No one I’ve read, except O.Henry and Josephine Hart, can pull off an astonishing, horrific, palpably sickening and stunningly heartbreaking ending like Paul Bens. In this story, it’s a double whammy. I might have had a faint hint of a premonition for the first shocker, but I did not see the second one coming. Did Not! Like Hart, Bens chooses his words carefully, and every word counts.
The starkness of the story’s minimalistic narrative pulls us into the quiet dramatic rendering of escalating unease. We are gently nudged into feelings of empathy for the protagonist, an empathy offset by a curious combination of both mild discomfort and intrigue. By the end of the story, we are reduced---by the simpatico of shared horror and then back into those first feelings of empathy, then horror, again, then empathy, again.
We feel, first for the protagonist, and then, later, much later, for his nemises. And there are at least two of those! But as the story unfolds in a deceptively simple way, there is a vague, indeterminate tenor of terror that grips the reader early on. I kept having a feeling that something was not going to end well. Everything was so ordinary, at first. Casual, almost. Random, even. Bens has a special talent for engendering tension in the simplest of situations. Only later does one understand that tension as the source of the earlier felt dread. What a brave display of honesty, ingenuity, and talent! The ethos and the pathos of this drama are worthy competitors for our attention.
November 6, 2016
I would not really call this only a macabre story. It's about life's surprises and regrets. Without giving too much away, a man on the rebound after his partner left him, finds solace with a stranger he meets in a bar. Only the stranger turns out to have a connection to the man and his partner. It's a very well written poignant story; short, but well worth the read.
March 3, 2011
I just finished this story and I'm frantically searching for something sweet, light, and happy to read. That last line just broke my heart. A wonderful, heavy story that I definitely recommend, but be ready for anything...
November 19, 2017
Kama: A Mini Macabre is now available exclusively on Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Kama-Paul-G-Be...
https://www.amazon.com/Kama-Paul-G-Be...
January 18, 2011
This short story just blindsides you and only at the end is the level of revenge throughly understood. It's so sad and so good. To be able to do so much in so few pages is amazing.
March 25, 2011
Creepy! The twist at the end was well done and left me with a lot of questions. I would really love to see the story from Kama's viewpoint.
April 20, 2013
3.5 stars Oh my goodness. Talk about a twist! I don't even know what to say. I feel sad and dirty and also somewhat amazed. Definitely unique.
January 13, 2011
Paul G. Bens, Jr. has written a story with more emotional intensity in it's eight pages than is sometimes found in much longer stories.
The book grabbed me from the very beginning...
I was a walking cliché that night: the Garbo of the over-forty crowd. I wanted to be alone. Not truly alone, just unattached amongst other people. I didn’t want to talk to any of them; I simply needed to know that I still existed, had a place in the world, was part of a community.
and then didn't let go until the very last sentence. Mr. Bens deftly takes the reader on a heartbreaking journey through pain and loneliness, hope and regret and then delivers a stunning, and horror-filled, ending to Edward and Kama's story that won't easily be forgotten.
Highly recommended.
Kama is available as a free download at Smashwords.
The book grabbed me from the very beginning...
I was a walking cliché that night: the Garbo of the over-forty crowd. I wanted to be alone. Not truly alone, just unattached amongst other people. I didn’t want to talk to any of them; I simply needed to know that I still existed, had a place in the world, was part of a community.
and then didn't let go until the very last sentence. Mr. Bens deftly takes the reader on a heartbreaking journey through pain and loneliness, hope and regret and then delivers a stunning, and horror-filled, ending to Edward and Kama's story that won't easily be forgotten.
Highly recommended.
Kama is available as a free download at Smashwords.
January 12, 2011
Paul Bens portrays emotions with such deftness and grace. His characters are immediately accessible, and vulnerable. Kama is shortstory that shows us the way a person can experience heartbreak and sadness on every level of their being.
August 23, 2011
Slightly unlikely, and I've seen a (Dutch) movie with pretty much exactly the same plot so the shock value was highly diminished, but still a fun story and a good read. Might pick up the full length novel by the same author so I guess this free e-book story served its purpose.
November 15, 2011
Wow!! Did not see that one coming. I had to read the ending 3xs to understand what happened. I really, really hope there is another installment for Kama, cause this little read left me wanting answers and more to read.
April 23, 2011
Lovely, with a sad ending. How ones past can come to haunt us.
January 16, 2011
Beautiful, breathtaking story
February 4, 2011
Im so confused as to what just happened... I enjoy the read but I must be really slow because I dont get it >.<
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews