Ghost Writer

by Tom C. Underhill, Nick Wisseman

A dead writer asks you to help him kill. He’s not asking for complicity in a murder, however; he’s asking for vengeance.

The target is a monster of a man who did terrible things to the writer’s family.

The choice is yours: finish the story and help administer justice, or put the tale down unfinished and leave the monster’s fate in someone else’s hands?

“Ghost Writer” first appeared in Allegory Magazine, vol. 7, issue 34, September 2008, under the pen name Tom C. Underhill.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

ebook

First published February 26, 2012

About the author

Tom C. Underhill (real name: Nick Wisseman) lives in Bear Lake, Michigan with his wife, daughter, fifty cats, twenty horses, and ten dogs. (Okay, so there are actually ten times less pets than that, but most days it feels like more). He's not quite sure why he loves writing twisted fiction, but there's no stopping the weirdness once he's in front of a computer. Eventually he hopes to merge this stubborn surrealism more fully with his academic training to produce something in the historical fantasy line. But for now, he's content with the purely speculative fiction he's published in magazines like Allegory, Battered Suitcase, Bewildering Stories, The Cynic Online Magazine, and Mysterical-E.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this unusual, creepy short story. The premise really draws you in and you can't help but read the story to the end. I agree with other reviewers that this would make a good preview to a more in depth story. An entertaining read that is quite easy to complete in your coffee break.

[Angels · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had a lot of potential it was just to short.The story however had an interesting plot and drew you right in but, the minute it did it ended.Hum.....

[Flora Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this short story for my honest review.


This short story begins with the unknown author asking for your help with vengenance against someone who has murdered his family and mentor. As you read on he explains that just reading the story to the end will be enough for him to be revenged altho how this is to happen is never explained only implied. If you didn't want to participate all you had to do was quit reading but once you started this story you felt compelled to finish it. This was a very unusual and original story however I did find it to be quite dark. Another reviewer had mentioned that they wished Underhill would expand this story into a novel and I tend to agree. I would love to know more about what happened before and after but then again it would take some of the mystery away which is one of the most intriguing aspects of it. Overall I loved it and would recommend it to any fan of a good ghost story.

[Petra Sando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Writer starts on an intriguing premise, in which the reader is asked, or rather manipulated, to accept certain uncomfortable, disturbing tasks, and finally, a specific role in the story, IF he/she/they want(s) to continue reading the tale. This is a fantastic literary tool to keep someone reading, because one has to read the narrator's story, which led to these mandatory commitments in the first place, to decide for themselves whether the tasks are truly justifiable as the narrotor claims, or not. The story follows with the explanation, but it was rather flat. I found it predictable, but even that fact could have been obscured by more tension building leading up to and including the peak event. I also kept wondering why the antagonist wasn't fleshed out more, in a sense of psychological thrill or horror connected to this antagonist's personality.

Finally, considering the date mentioned at the end, I would have liked to know how and why the reader, to whom the "note" is directed, could still adhere to the commitment after so many years, or why and how the actual reader might be able to help the narrator find justice. I also wondered what happened to the "magic" tool of the main character's trade, after the note was written, and where the note might have been found. I cannot see the connection to the country where this happens, or the time period, either (I was born and raised near the place the author references and the main character's description of how he grew up sounded more like what you might have encountered in the late medieval era than in the the 1900s).

All in all, it was an imaginative read, with some resemblance to E. A. Poe but not quite satisfying, at the end. Despite being an enjoyable, short read, there were a few too many questions left unanswered. It would have been warranted if this was the prequel to a larger story -- so, I hope the author creates one, to give readers more enjoyment and more answers.

[OldBird · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those creepy involve the reader premises that draws you in the the dark world of an author who's works seem to take a life of their own.

I did feel that after a promisingly horrible start (and I mean that in the shock value content rather than bad writing way), the vagueness of the narrator about the circumstances left the story feeling a bit flat. The ending didn't quite live up to the beginning as it didn't feel too well explained.

-I received a free copy of this ebook via a giveaway-

[Kay Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun and interesting short read. I felt like it could have been fleshed out a lot more though.

[louise davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short read but had a lot packed into it. It was to the point. Go for it cause it doesn't take very long to read it.

[Heather Boustead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Five Star Review!

This short story sucks you right in beginning with an unknown man asking you to agree to kill a man. He tells you his story and what has happened leading him to want this person dead.

This is one of the most morbid and fascinating stories I have ever read. I wish Tom Underhill would take this story and turn it into a full novel, it was amazing. Even my husband, who refuses to read anything for pleasure, would enjoy this story.


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[Infinite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ghost Writer starts out with pulling the reader into the story through a plot device that feels cheap. The story progresses in a rather unimaginative and bland way until finally culminating with an ending that too many will feel contrived. The ending which the reader has been waiting for the whole story, falls flat, leaving the entire story feeling gimmicky. Ghost writer tries to be a great horror story, but definitely doesn’t meet its goal. If the reader takes into consideration that this story is one of the author’s earlier works some of the writings missteps can be explained, as it is though this story falls far below many of his subsequent works. It’s an okay read but lacks a lot of originality.
Disclaimer: Story was obtained from author for review.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea, but for me, this one felt like it would be better with a sister story to fill it out. I felt like there was more story to tell with this one, but what *is* told, is dark and haunting.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Davvero terribile, per fortuna che è corto.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this dark and creepy tale that’s written concisely and gruesomely descriptive.