Good evening, Ghoulish Ones! I wish a Crisp, Chilly and Macabre October to you all, except you Thornton Flesh, Senior, you know what you did. Ah yes, the new names. I imagine you will all soon notice the colorful theme connecting these monikers. I am loath to move away from the Lord of the Flies discussion (and ask that you please revisit it if the time presents itself), but for now, we must adopt new material. Let us try something new, My Sweets. This time, instead of tackling an entire novel, we are simply going to read five short stories. The first two are forays into classic horror that some of you, no doubt, have previous encountered: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The remaining two venture into the world of modern horror, specifically that of the Creepypasta: “Jeff the Killer” (Author Unknown) and “Candle Cove” by Kris Straub. As for the fifth story, I had intended to assign “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, but realized that, at 44 pages, it is long for a short story. I am endeavoring to find a shorter selection, possibly even a fairy tale or urban legend. I will let you know immediately once I decide. Assuming there are no objections, you will have until October 30th to read these stories. Theoretically, there is nothing preventing you from finishing all of them within one or two days, and twenty-four days should ensure that no one encounters any difficulties. Furthermore, Good News! ALL of these stories are available online at no cost to you (I'll see if I can post some links in a following post). Finally, Delicious Friends, a quick content disclaimer. There is allusion to gruesome content in both “The Black Cat” and “Jeff the Killer”, but neither contains anything more graphic than that which appeared in Lord of the Flies. I will end with some history that I think will contribute to your reading of these selections. Edgar Allen Poe, who needs no introduction, published “The Black Cat” in 1843; like many of his works, it takes a psychological bent and discusses the mind of a guilty and troubled man dealing with the consequences of his actions. The most famous name of this list, Poe utilized protagonists who found their psyche turned against them, the reoccurring motif of the death of a beloved woman, karmic revenge enacted in gruesome ways, and guilt embodied in the form of a haunting figure in his writing. “The Black Cat” oozes Gothic horror from every pore. https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Bl... Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” in 1948, introducing a sort of retrospective horror with a Southern Gothic flair. Like Poe, she drew inspiration from the intersection between madness and supernatural phenomenon. I am afraid to say any more would give quite a bit away. Suffice to say that she was fascinated by the actions of groups of people and liked to be a bit coy with details. A sense of humor pervades all of her works. https://sites.middlebury.edu/individu... “Creepypasta” comes from “copy+paste”, in reference to spam comments in youtube videos. For example, “Sorry don’t look at this. If you don’t post this to 5 videos, then the MurderGhost will kill you in seven days with an icepick!!!! But if you do post it, you will meet the love of your life in seven days! It really works guys so be careful!” We have all seen such things, yes? “Creepypasta”, in its purest form, are urban legends that appear on the Internet. Ideally, they are written to be vague and somewhat truthful sounding. The author who produced “Jeff the Killer”, as per the usual standards of Creepypasta, has never identified himself or herself, but the story allegedly materialized in 2008. The story achieved massive popularity and Jeff the Killer remains an icon of internet horror. While not quite as well known as Slenderman, Jeff the Killer has produced a much larger female fan following and is even seemingly regarded as something of a sex object. I hope, in your reading of this story, Charming Vertebrates, you may be able to tell me why. https://www.creepypasta.com/jeff-the-... Kris Straub, a writer and artist still active today, changed the standards for Creepypasta in 2009 when his short story, “Candle Cove”, appeared on the Internet. He claims the story was written as a venture into “microfiction”, an experiment of how one might convey a disturbing idea in a finite amount of space. As it stands, the story is formatted as if it were a discussion happening on an online forum and is not presented as a work of fiction. Straub specializes in the collision between the supernatural and the mundane; one might call his work a foray into horrifying magic realism. Unlike Poe and Jackson, Straub tends to be less interested in character and more interested in concept. I leave it to your judgment, Esteemed Readers, the relative success of either approach. http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Can... Happy Halloween, Delicious Friends.
The Black Cat
discussion
I am loath to move away from the Lord of the Flies discussion (and ask that you please revisit it if the time presents itself), but for now, we must adopt new material. Let us try something new, My Sweets. This time, instead of tackling an entire novel, we are simply going to read five short stories. The first two are forays into classic horror that some of you, no doubt, have previous encountered: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The remaining two venture into the world of modern horror, specifically that of the Creepypasta: “Jeff the Killer” (Author Unknown) and “Candle Cove” by Kris Straub.
As for the fifth story, I had intended to assign “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, but realized that, at 44 pages, it is long for a short story. I am endeavoring to find a shorter selection, possibly even a fairy tale or urban legend. I will let you know immediately once I decide.
Assuming there are no objections, you will have until October 30th to read these stories. Theoretically, there is nothing preventing you from finishing all of them within one or two days, and twenty-four days should ensure that no one encounters any difficulties. Furthermore, Good News! ALL of these stories are available online at no cost to you (I'll see if I can post some links in a following post).
Finally, Delicious Friends, a quick content disclaimer. There is allusion to gruesome content in both “The Black Cat” and “Jeff the Killer”, but neither contains anything more graphic than that which appeared in Lord of the Flies.
I will end with some history that I think will contribute to your reading of these selections. Edgar Allen Poe, who needs no introduction, published “The Black Cat” in 1843; like many of his works, it takes a psychological bent and discusses the mind of a guilty and troubled man dealing with the consequences of his actions. The most famous name of this list, Poe utilized protagonists who found their psyche turned against them, the reoccurring motif of the death of a beloved woman, karmic revenge enacted in gruesome ways, and guilt embodied in the form of a haunting figure in his writing. “The Black Cat” oozes Gothic horror from every pore. https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Bl...
Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” in 1948, introducing a sort of retrospective horror with a Southern Gothic flair. Like Poe, she drew inspiration from the intersection between madness and supernatural phenomenon. I am afraid to say any more would give quite a bit away. Suffice to say that she was fascinated by the actions of groups of people and liked to be a bit coy with details. A sense of humor pervades all of her works. https://sites.middlebury.edu/individu...
“Creepypasta” comes from “copy+paste”, in reference to spam comments in youtube videos. For example, “Sorry don’t look at this. If you don’t post this to 5 videos, then the MurderGhost will kill you in seven days with an icepick!!!! But if you do post it, you will meet the love of your life in seven days! It really works guys so be careful!” We have all seen such things, yes? “Creepypasta”, in its purest form, are urban legends that appear on the Internet. Ideally, they are written to be vague and somewhat truthful sounding. The author who produced “Jeff the Killer”, as per the usual standards of Creepypasta, has never identified himself or herself, but the story allegedly materialized in 2008. The story achieved massive popularity and Jeff the Killer remains an icon of internet horror. While not quite as well known as Slenderman, Jeff the Killer has produced a much larger female fan following and is even seemingly regarded as something of a sex object. I hope, in your reading of this story, Charming Vertebrates, you may be able to tell me why. https://www.creepypasta.com/jeff-the-...
Kris Straub, a writer and artist still active today, changed the standards for Creepypasta in 2009 when his short story, “Candle Cove”, appeared on the Internet. He claims the story was written as a venture into “microfiction”, an experiment of how one might convey a disturbing idea in a finite amount of space. As it stands, the story is formatted as if it were a discussion happening on an online forum and is not presented as a work of fiction. Straub specializes in the collision between the supernatural and the mundane; one might call his work a foray into horrifying magic realism. Unlike Poe and Jackson, Straub tends to be less interested in character and more interested in concept. I leave it to your judgment, Esteemed Readers, the relative success of either approach. http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Can...
Happy Halloween, Delicious Friends.