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I Can See Right Through You
"I Can See Right Through You", by Kelly Link, is an off-kilter ghost story (or not) about an estranged couple who have remained friends long after they were originally paired in a vampire movie that made them famous. Now the demon lover searches out his former lover in Florida while she is in the middle of filming a tv episode about ghost hunting.
32 pages, ebook
First published March 12, 2014
2 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Link
209 books2,673 followersKelly Link is an American author best known for her short stories, which span a wide variety of genres - most notably magic realism, fantasy and horror. She is a graduate of Columbia University.
Her stories have been collected in four books - Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, Pretty Monsters, and most recently, Get in Trouble.
She has won several awards for her short stories, including the World Fantasy Award in 1999 for "The Specialist's Hat", and the Nebula Award both in 2001 and 2005 for "Louise's Ghost" and "Magic for Beginners".
Link also works as an editor, and is the founder of independant publishing company, Small Beer Press, along with her husband, Gavin Grant.
Her stories have been collected in four books - Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, Pretty Monsters, and most recently, Get in Trouble.
She has won several awards for her short stories, including the World Fantasy Award in 1999 for "The Specialist's Hat", and the Nebula Award both in 2001 and 2005 for "Louise's Ghost" and "Magic for Beginners".
Link also works as an editor, and is the founder of independant publishing company, Small Beer Press, along with her husband, Gavin Grant.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 21, 2015
While reading this story, an image came into my mind: that of holding a carefully carved but strangely shaped object in my hands. Blindfolded, the reader gently explores the odd and spiky contours of this object, carefully hefting its weight, unsure of its exact measurements...
Link's stories are like that precisely crafted but unidentified object.
Here, she spins us a tale of the fraught relationship between two celebrities. I'm usually not one for feeling too much sympathy for the tribulations of the rich and famous, but this piece worked very well. (And, the grand finale at the haunted (?) nudist resort was the perfect mix of weird and hilarious).
Link's stories are like that precisely crafted but unidentified object.
Here, she spins us a tale of the fraught relationship between two celebrities. I'm usually not one for feeling too much sympathy for the tribulations of the rich and famous, but this piece worked very well. (And, the grand finale at the haunted (?) nudist resort was the perfect mix of weird and hilarious).
February 4, 2015
Really good even if it's not Link at her best (which is stratosperically good).
I will start by saying that I have not read or seen anything of the Twilight saga, and I'm happy to remain this way. So it's quite ironic to be reading a story that I imagine could be about Kirsten Stuart and Cullen in their forties (unless I'm missing something).
Having said that, I recently watched "The clouds of Sils Maria" with Juliette Binoche and Kirsten Stuart, and was quite amazed at Stuart's performance and the type of role she has in the movie, as I had always had her for a terrible actress (from hearsay), so maybe there are hidden depths in her, as there are in the characters in "I can see right through you".
Having said that, if anyone wants to watch "The Clouds..." I would recommend that you imagine that all 5 minutes of Chloë Grace Moretz appearances do not in fact exist. Not only is she terrible, she threatens to ruin an otherwise good movie.
As for "I can see right through you", I'll certainly reread it.
I will start by saying that I have not read or seen anything of the Twilight saga, and I'm happy to remain this way. So it's quite ironic to be reading a story that I imagine could be about Kirsten Stuart and Cullen in their forties (unless I'm missing something).
Having said that, I recently watched "The clouds of Sils Maria" with Juliette Binoche and Kirsten Stuart, and was quite amazed at Stuart's performance and the type of role she has in the movie, as I had always had her for a terrible actress (from hearsay), so maybe there are hidden depths in her, as there are in the characters in "I can see right through you".
Having said that, if anyone wants to watch "The Clouds..." I would recommend that you imagine that all 5 minutes of Chloë Grace Moretz appearances do not in fact exist. Not only is she terrible, she threatens to ruin an otherwise good movie.
As for "I can see right through you", I'll certainly reread it.
March 28, 2022
Unreal. I'm still trying to figure out how Kelly Link creates such brilliant stories that feel like they thwart all the rules (as ambiguous as the rules are). She really does something new every time. So creepy and delightful!
November 9, 2015
Part of my attempt to read short fiction nominees for the World Fantasy Awards this year.
At 10,300 words or so, this tale should have squeaked over the edge into their Novella category instead of as a Short Story, but not my decision to make.
Well into the story, I'm still waiting for there to be a speculative element. One character, mostly off screen, hosts a ghost hunting television show--doesn't qualify. Eventually, very close to the end, the POV, a famous actor whose name we know but is only ever referred to outside of dialogue the name of a part he played a quarter century ago, tells a ghost story. Except it isn't really a ghost story, and when his friend disappears at the end of this story with someone who never really existed, the whole novelette is revealed as the set up for an over-told campfire ghost story.
The writing is good, but this isn't a fantasy tale in my eyes, or even mild horror, and the eye rolling at the end hurt.
At 10,300 words or so, this tale should have squeaked over the edge into their Novella category instead of as a Short Story, but not my decision to make.
Well into the story, I'm still waiting for there to be a speculative element. One character, mostly off screen, hosts a ghost hunting television show--doesn't qualify. Eventually, very close to the end, the POV, a famous actor whose name we know but is only ever referred to outside of dialogue the name of a part he played a quarter century ago, tells a ghost story. Except it isn't really a ghost story, and when his friend disappears at the end of this story with someone who never really existed, the whole novelette is revealed as the set up for an over-told campfire ghost story.
The writing is good, but this isn't a fantasy tale in my eyes, or even mild horror, and the eye rolling at the end hurt.
May 18, 2016
Read in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015
A couple who made it big co-starring in a romantic vampire movie years ago cope with a less famous and fantasized present reality. The main character who is referenced as "The Demon Lover" is careening down the celebrity food chain and he hopes reuniting with Meggie, his once co-star, will remedy his situation.
While the story is well written and easy to read I was pushed away by the un-likability of both the main characters. They are celebrities with every selfish and arrogant trait you would imagine them to have. Once I reached the end of the story I didn't really care what happend to them so I wasn't too let down by the lack-luster payoff, which may have left a worse taste in my mouth if I had been more charmed by the characters.
A couple who made it big co-starring in a romantic vampire movie years ago cope with a less famous and fantasized present reality. The main character who is referenced as "The Demon Lover" is careening down the celebrity food chain and he hopes reuniting with Meggie, his once co-star, will remedy his situation.
While the story is well written and easy to read I was pushed away by the un-likability of both the main characters. They are celebrities with every selfish and arrogant trait you would imagine them to have. Once I reached the end of the story I didn't really care what happend to them so I wasn't too let down by the lack-luster payoff, which may have left a worse taste in my mouth if I had been more charmed by the characters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews