Transmogrify

by Richard Thomas

"In order to live, I have to die." So begins this story. In the near future there are people that prey on the weak—not vampires, needing blood to survive, but psychic vampires, energivores, who feed off of the misery of others. Cinder, or Cindy to her friends, is a lonely woman that has been alive for hundreds of years, moving from place to place to avoid the death that surrounds her. But there are entities in this world that are far worse than Cinder, people from her past—and in the end, she is vulnerable to her emotions and her desperate need to connect.

14 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2013

About the author

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of nine books: four novels—Incarnate (Podium), Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), and Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications); four short story collections—Spontaneous Human Combustion (Turner Publishing—Bram Stoker finalist), Tribulations (Cemetery Dance), Staring Into the Abyss (Kraken Press), and Herniated Roots (Snubnose Press); as well as one novella of The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). His over 175 stories in print include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice), Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker Award winner), The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors (Shirley Jackson Award winner), Lightspeed, PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Shallow Creek, The Seven Deadliest, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad (numbers 2-4), PRISMS, Pantheon, and Shivers VI. He has won contests at ChiZine and One Buck Horror, has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, and has been long-listed for Best Horror of the Year seven times. He was also the editor of four anthologies: The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker (twice), Shirley Jackson, Thriller, and Audie awards. In his spare time he is a columnist at Lit Reactor. He was the Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press and Gamut Magazine. His agent is Paula Munier at Talcott Notch. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.

Reviews

[Peter Tieryas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this up at my blog. This is a very interesting twist on vampires and the best part is it's free at Amazon. It's also a preview of Richard Thomas's collection, Staring Into the Abyss.

http://tieryas.wordpress.com/2013/07/...

[Lila Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this tale. A lot.

At least, when I could follow what was going on.



Note to self: just because it's a short story doesn't mean it's ideal when you're super sleepy.

There were some really cool ideas that came through in this short. Psychic vampirism is a nice change from the abundance of vegan sanguinists that populate every second paranormal book these days. In relation to this, the use of technology was certainly a curious but intriguing addition for these little leeches. That, piled with a sassy main character, and quality writing made me love this short in many ways.

Then, there come the reasons why I couldn't love the whole thing. The narration is painfully disjointed, though this seems to be due to an unreliable narrator of sorts, it is still extremely frustrating. A lot of concepts are also thrown into the mix and aren't really expanded upon. Short stories are wonderful, but if you've got so many ideas in your head, you're better off making it a bit longer so that we can explore these ideas with you. Or at least have a reasonable level of understanding (unless of course my small brain just wasn't capable of grasping it all properly. A fair possibility).

So here I sit. Questions bubbling around in my brain about the hows and whys of what Thomas has incorporated into his world. While I enjoyed what I read, the details seem like they could have been pursued considerably further - and I hope they do in the future.

Yeah... I should probably give this another read when I'm more awake. Oopsie.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story that can be read in about twenty minutes. It is not
clear if it's noir, science fiction, or horror. It certainly has elements of all of these genres. In some ways, it is typical of Richard Thomas'
work. It is poetic prose that involves all of your senses and emotions.
There is also an element of the story that is not spelled out. An
interesting story well worth reading.

[Elaine Plourde · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry but I did not understand this book at all. I generally find something of interest on any book I read but this one had me completly stumped. I really am sorry for not enjoying it.