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Bedside Manner
It's easy to tell yourself there's no such thing as ghosts, at least until you meet one face-to-face. Then it becomes a matter of convincing yourself that you are not seeing what you think you are seeing. If you happen to be Jake, a barely school age child who awakens one night to find an elongated abomination in female form floating by his bedside, there is no amount of daylight or parental soothing that can convince you that ghosts are not real.
The apparition arrives at a crucial time in Jake’s family life, just when he’s beginning to notice that his mommy and his daddy aren’t getting along the way they once did. Daddy seems particularly stressed about his job at the hospital, which seems to be making him tired and nearly always irritable.
His new visitor, the start of the school year, and the tension between his parents start to take their toll on Jake as he searches for a way to rid himself of at least one of his triad of problems. His schooling is required by law. His parents don’t seem to be interested in continuing to get along. That leaves Jake with only one option. Can he determine what the ghost wants and send her on her way back to the realm of the dead?
BEDSIDE MANNER is a short tale of dark comic horror from the mind of Isaac Thorne, a nice man who simply wants to provide you with a few fun frights. Throughout history ghosts have haunted the imaginations of young children. On a few occasions, they have reportedly compelled those children to perform unspeakable acts of horror against the living. BEDSIDE MANNER documents one child’s attempts to resist.
The apparition arrives at a crucial time in Jake’s family life, just when he’s beginning to notice that his mommy and his daddy aren’t getting along the way they once did. Daddy seems particularly stressed about his job at the hospital, which seems to be making him tired and nearly always irritable.
His new visitor, the start of the school year, and the tension between his parents start to take their toll on Jake as he searches for a way to rid himself of at least one of his triad of problems. His schooling is required by law. His parents don’t seem to be interested in continuing to get along. That leaves Jake with only one option. Can he determine what the ghost wants and send her on her way back to the realm of the dead?
BEDSIDE MANNER is a short tale of dark comic horror from the mind of Isaac Thorne, a nice man who simply wants to provide you with a few fun frights. Throughout history ghosts have haunted the imaginations of young children. On a few occasions, they have reportedly compelled those children to perform unspeakable acts of horror against the living. BEDSIDE MANNER documents one child’s attempts to resist.
52 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2016
12 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Thorne
14 books249 followersIsaac Thorne is a Middle Tennessee man who has, over the course of his life, developed a modest ability to spin a good yarn. Really. He promises.
He considers himself a lover of books, music, movies. His philosophy on his life is that it's all one giant experiment.
He considers himself a lover of books, music, movies. His philosophy on his life is that it's all one giant experiment.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 31, 2022
I.. uhh yeah well. That was unsettling. Creepy kids man.
December 30, 2020
A particularly creepy little tale, telling the story of a little boy haunted by the literal ghost of his father's past mistakes, full of the cloying fear that comes with a childhood bedroom plunged into darkness and parents absolutely failing to realise that the monster really is in the closet. I'd read this in his larger collection Road Kills, but it was nice to discover it all over again in this short.
December 31, 2021
Ok short horror story :)
October 30, 2017
My original Bedside Manner audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Jake is awaken by the ghost of a woman in the middle of the night. He's terrified of this fetid presence that seems to appear every night at the same hour, so he asks his parents for help. What Jake didn't expect is that his parents seem to know more about this woman than what they let in.
This is a short but interesting story. It's written from the the point of view of Jake, a child of unspecified age but I guess he would be around ten years old. The child's personality transpires from the narration, and the effect is very well created.
The dialogs are fluid and sound natural. Sometimes it's difficult to make characters sound like real people but Thorne succeeded. This is partly why his characters work so well.
The story kept my attention, even though I felt the end was a bit anticlimactic. It sent chills anyway down my spine. I had a couple of issues with the writing style, seeming at times a bit repetitive.
What shocked me a bit was how Jake's father tells the woman's story to his child. It seemed a bit unrealistic, unless Jake's father had psychological issues.
Although I liked the story, I had troubles with the narration, which is done by Isaac Thorne himself. If I could give a piece of advice to authors would be to hire a professional narrator unless they can deliver spotless narration and audio production. It is sadly not the case here. Thorne's interpretation skills are okay but all voices sound the same most of the time, and they are not even consistent. There are also variations in volume, mouth noises and sudden background noises which really distracted me from the story. Narrating is one of those things that may seem easy but it takes a professional to get professional results.
I would recommend this short story to any horror fan, but sadly I can't recommend the audio version.
Jake is awaken by the ghost of a woman in the middle of the night. He's terrified of this fetid presence that seems to appear every night at the same hour, so he asks his parents for help. What Jake didn't expect is that his parents seem to know more about this woman than what they let in.
This is a short but interesting story. It's written from the the point of view of Jake, a child of unspecified age but I guess he would be around ten years old. The child's personality transpires from the narration, and the effect is very well created.
The dialogs are fluid and sound natural. Sometimes it's difficult to make characters sound like real people but Thorne succeeded. This is partly why his characters work so well.
The story kept my attention, even though I felt the end was a bit anticlimactic. It sent chills anyway down my spine. I had a couple of issues with the writing style, seeming at times a bit repetitive.
What shocked me a bit was how Jake's father tells the woman's story to his child. It seemed a bit unrealistic, unless Jake's father had psychological issues.
Although I liked the story, I had troubles with the narration, which is done by Isaac Thorne himself. If I could give a piece of advice to authors would be to hire a professional narrator unless they can deliver spotless narration and audio production. It is sadly not the case here. Thorne's interpretation skills are okay but all voices sound the same most of the time, and they are not even consistent. There are also variations in volume, mouth noises and sudden background noises which really distracted me from the story. Narrating is one of those things that may seem easy but it takes a professional to get professional results.
I would recommend this short story to any horror fan, but sadly I can't recommend the audio version.
April 12, 2021
Like father like son
Very interesting story about the lengths a little boy will do to be free of a scary ghost.
Lots of little subtle touches I liked about this story. Would have loved if it’d been developed a bit more though.
Very interesting story about the lengths a little boy will do to be free of a scary ghost.
Lots of little subtle touches I liked about this story. Would have loved if it’d been developed a bit more though.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews