Rorschach

by Peter Kispert

This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers.

He’s been having nightmares. To his therapist, the reason is obvious: as a producer, he plays a pivotal role in the Crucifixion, a modern-day real-life reenactment of the classic corporal punishment.

On opening night, a line snakes down the block to the Boston Opera House, as theatergoers brave the frigid cold in hopes of getting a good seat for the spectacle. The evening’s star had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder two years ago and has chosen tonight’s performance as his means of execution. As the producer prepares backstage, he hears the crowd shuffling in. They of course know how the show will end, but that doesn’t matter. They are hungry for violence; they’re paying for the moment when the theater takes on a chill, a collective awareness of what is to come.

Strange and thought-provoking, Rorschach explores our human tradition of bloodlust, retribution, and inescapable guilt.

17 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 6, 2016

About the author

Peter Kispert is the author of the debut story collection I Know You Know Who I Am, coming soon from Penguin Books (February 11, 2020). His fiction and nonfiction has appeared in OUT magazine, GQ, Esquire, Playboy, The Carolina Quarterly, Slice magazine, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of Indiana University’s MFA program, where he taught undergraduate fiction writing workshops, and serves as an assistant editor at American Short Fiction. He lives in New York.