Choke

by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

A night of food, fun, and festivities quickly turns sour. But what else can you expect when your ancestors say you will choke?

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Contemporary, Ebooks

22 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 14, 2022

About the author

Also known as Suyi Davies

Suyi Davies Okungbowa is an award-winning author of fantasy, science fiction and general speculative work. His latest books include Lost Ark Dreaming and The Nameless Republic epic fantasy trilogy ( Son of the Storm and Warrior of the Wind ). His debut godpunk novel David Mogo, Godhunter won the 2020 Nommo Award for Best Novel. His shorter works have appeared in various periodicals and anthologies and have been nominated for various awards. He also writes for younger audiences as Suyi Davies. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.

this is the SEVENTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your annual reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.

GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, and because my brain has felt scraped clean ever since my bout with covid, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.

i am doing my best.
merry merry.

DECEMBER 6



i do love a story that creeps up on you, that slowly transforms from ordinary to extraordinary horrors; here an awkward, undesired social gathering peppered with white-people-bullshit that escalates into a not-quite-people threat, the details of which were a little hazy, but still effective and evocative. sometimes you don't need to see all the teeth to know you're in danger.

“I think you’re the only person here whose name I don’t know,” he says.

Choke.

You swallow. “My name is Kédiké.”

Reality flickers like a failing neon tube. Something nestles within that millisecond—a sound like flowing water, though you can’t be sure. Too suddenly, you’re back at the table, everyone still trying to wrap their tongue around your name. Alessia, intermittently contributing to the conversation from the side table where she’s tossing salads, says: “Do you go by a nickname?” She digs at the bowl with wooden spoons and flips with practiced ease. “Like Kay, or something?”

“Maybe what you need is an honorary American name,” says Charlotte, enthusiastic. “Name exchanges are great for cultural appreciation—you know the Indians used to do it with missionaries and soldiers? Anyway, my honorary Japanese name is Eiko. Means prosperous or something like that. I gave my friends American names, too: Kayleigh, Brooklyn, Chad. They love it.” She angles her head. “Maybe later you can give us African names?”

Another flicker, this time a half second, the crack wide enough to fit several images: white sheets; the sickly gray of a spider’s web; bloodred; fingernails scraping wood.

read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2022/09/14/choke-...

2022:

DECEMBER 1: PORGEE'S BOAR - JONATHAN CARROLL
DECEMBER 2: SKELETON SONG - SEANAN MCGUIRE
DECEMBER 3: JUDGE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING MANUSCRIPT - LAVIE TIDHAR
DECEMBER 4: QUANDARY AMINU VS THE BUTTERFLY MAN - RICH LARSON
DECEMBER 5: IN MERCY, RAIN - SEANAN MCGUIRE

FROM THE BEFORETIMES:

2016 short story advent calendar
2017 short story advent calendar
2018 short story advent calendar
2019 short story advent calendar
2020 short story advent calendar
2021 short story advent calendar

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each whisper a doorway to other doorways, each word pregnant with as many meanings as a centipede has legs. Sometimes, you can’t even put together an English equivalent for the expressions they employ. Those you manage to parse often turn out to be false flags, the voices as fallible in death as they were in real life.

How does one talk to ghosts? You don’t. Rather, you come to an unspoken agreement: unparseable whispers will go unanswered, and they’ll just have to suck it up and deal.

Absolutely brilliant - if I'm honest (and why not?), I didn't follow it completely at the end. But the lead up is so good, the language so perfect for conveying that sense of menace that doesn't naturally translate into words, the way it's used to feign innocence by those who prey on others.

Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2022/09/14/choke-...

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short form psychological horror in the vein of a Jordan Peele film. Grad student slave wages, the hunt for a free meal, and vicious jabs of colonialism combine to make a meal that hard to swallow. After all, your ancestors have warned you that you will choke.

Available for free here https://www.tor.com/2022/09/14/choke-...

[Shiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a narrative! I loved the story and the narrative. Okungbowa’s writing connects to you and touches you in his powerful mastery. I could sense the fears and hear whispers as if I was there at the dinner table myself.

A rich history and longing behind every sentence!

“Once home, you will return to a trusted friend, the web search, and open the first doorway by looking up the word your ancestors have whispered all night. One by one, the doorways beyond will appear, and you will step through each, savor the sounds, elasticity, and endless possibilities. Only then will you realize how shackled by this foreign tongue you have become, failing to look beyond singular meaning. You will understand now that the sibilant whispers of your ancestors have always been prisms, light with rainbows ensconced within if you listen just right. You will listen now, and hear the other words contained in the spectrum, each one a crack, a new understanding of the acute warning they have delivered all this time.
Choke. Stifle. Smother.
Suffocate. Strangle.
Drown.”

5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The ending didn’t make sense, due to the verb tense used. Did he escape or did he just IMAGINE he made it out, but didn’t in time and that was part of the entrapment. It would have been nice if it was a little clearer and if the others escaped and if it was ALL of the family who were the spiritual vampires of just the older brother…I assume all if they FRAMED the news stories about the older brother’s criminal actions as if they were something to be proud of. And it is to be assumed he was raised to be that way if he acted that way thinking it was the correct way to act.

Also, way to make Christianity the Bag Guy. Kind of tired of it. Can’t do that with other religions, but Christianity is ok to do that with.

Yes, those claiming to be Christians have done some HORRIBLE things in the past, but so have those claiming to be members of other religions. Can we please move on from the past, learn from it and not repeat those same mistakes or must each generation keep paying for the sins of the great great great etc grandparents?

2, wish this had a clearer ending, stars.

[Renn · Rating 5 out of 5]

CWs assimilation, forced conversion, micro aggressions, racism, religious trauma, trauma response

“You played the game until adult independence beckoned. And when you finally cut them off, the stranglehold around your neck was lifted. You could finally breathe. A doorway, once shut, opened up, and out poured your ancestors, freewheeling.
But your body has not forgotten. Each time someone insists Let us pray, without asking if you want to partake, your body remembers.”

[Tammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd person POV? sign me up

[Beth N · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never know if the best stories are those that leave me with questions or those that answer them. This story definitely falls into the former camp. Delightfully weird, it slides from mundane into a strange nightmare surrealism as the hinges of reality come loose.

I have been sitting here for half an hour trying to work out how many stars to rate it. I can't say I like it, but then I don't think it's necessarily meant to be likable. And then there's main character Kédiké's alternate perception of the world, which is a trope I always enjoy, particularly when - as here - it can't quite be mapped onto my own understanding. As with many short stories, I feel it could benefit from slower pacing over a higher word count, as this felt slightly rushed, particularly towards the end.

In the end I am giving it 2 stars, but mostly that is down to my personal taste in imagery and I think for some readers it could be rated higher. This is an unsettling piece of writing, but for that I would not not recommend it.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story didn’t really work for me but it was short so I read it again. Still meh. I don’t think it was bad, just not for me. Your mileage may vary.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

What lengths would you go to to get a free meal - and what would you put up with?

A very creepy little tale, which either is or isn't a ghost story but is fill of menace and a strange ending that left me groping for what had actually happened.

[Sevi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You will rise and make for the door, feigning a hurt belly, mumbling a quick “good night” over your shoulder. Confused responses will chase after you, but that there is Sodom and Gomorrah, and you are not Lot’s wife. You will not look back."

A masterfully crafted psychological horror short story.

[nizza · Rating 3 out of 5]

here i am in the final half of December trying to cheat complete my 2022 reading challenge by reading free TOR short stories! they should count, too, right? :—)

read here

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.tor.com/2022/09/14/choke-...

[Lidian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never seen religious trauma so well represented hhh
"A twelfth person has taken a seat." This parallel to the last supper gave me such a feeling of personal dread that can't be matched by thrillers or traditional horror stores.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy. They came for the free food and had to deal with evangelizing white-people as a result. Forced assimilation. It gets very unsettling. I didn't understand the ending at all, but the atmosphere was so good that's it's worth a read anyway.

[Dima · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the premise is great, and the author is a great storyteller, the narrative is confusing and disjointed. Immature, basically. Author, overall, continues to show great promise.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise, reminded me a bit of Riot Baby. Proselytizers are the worst.

[fatru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting and sobering.

[Vlod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave it a try but not really my thing.

[Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't grab me, probably my fault

[mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

ended too quickly!

[Greg Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bold, detailed, and intriguing writing with a slight twist on the tale end

[zeph · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The compote and mascarpone look and smell good, but you see them for what they truly are: forbidden fruit upon which you will choke.”

[Catia Araujo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting what I was going to read in this book at all, but it definitely surprised me, these guys are delulu.
The only thing I will say to describe this book is: last supper type of shit!

[Nona the First · Rating 1 out of 5]

1. The vibes were definitely menacing.

2. I have no clue what happened in the end.

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story warns of something bad to come from the first line, but the main character decides to go out with his friends anyway. The tenseness of the situation only rises from there as the reader tries to understand what these warning signs could mean.

This was such a good and creepy story and it sneaks up on you perfectly. I wouldn’t classify it as horror and it’s not too detailed if you don’t like scary stories but there’s just enough to raise goosebumps and wonder what is really going on in this house. I also enjoyed this take on ancestors and cults, it was such a powerful story.

I love the author’s writing and will need to seek out more!

[Quỳnh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choke (Nghẹn): Một buổi họp mặt bên bàn ăn tối nhanh chóng trở nên kỳ quặc. Nhưng bạn mong chờ gì khi tổ tiên đã cảnh báo trước rằng bạn sẽ bị nghẹt thở?

Đây là thứ đầu tiên mà mình thấy được nhận xét là Peele-esque (theo phong cách Peele) vì những điểm chung về nội dung và phong cách của nó với “Get Out”: Một buổi họp mặt tưởng chừng bình thường dần trở thành một hiểm họa phi-nhân. Nhưng khác với bộ phim, truyện ngắn này không đi sâu vào các vấn đề xã hội (khá đáng tiếc, vì bối cảnh truyện rất phù hợp để khai thác chủ đề này) mà tập trung tạo dựng một bầu không khí gượng gạo và kỳ quái (nếu không phải Peele-esque thì cũng là Lovecraftian).

“Choke” không hẳn là dở, nhưng mình chả có nhiều ấn tượng cả tốt lẫn xấu về nó. Các nhân vật không được khắc họa nhiều, trừ nhân vật chính với những giọng nói trong đầu, thành ra mình không quan tâm lắm đến tương tác giữa họ hay sự an nguy của họ. Bí ẩn trong truyện không được lý giải, thành thử độc giả chỉ có thể đưa ra phỏng đoán. Điều này cũng ổn, chỉ là mình không thấy bí ẩn này đặc biệt kinh dị hay hấp dẫn. Nhìn chung mọi thứ cứ thường thường bậc trung.

“Mỗi lời thì thầm là một ô cửa dẫn đến những ô cửa khác, mỗi lời nói đa nghĩa như một con rết nhiều chân. Đôi khi, bạn còn không thể tìm được từ tiếng Anh tương đương nghĩa với cách diễn đạt của họ.
Làm thế nào để giao tiếp với các hồn ma? Bạn đơn giản là không thể. Thay vào đó, bạn đi đến một thỏa thuận ngầm: những lời thì thầm không thể giải nghĩa sẽ bị lờ đi, và họ sẽ phải chấp nhận điều đó.”