Status Updates From Vicious Traditions : Tales ...

Story 1: 3/5

"Good Sister, Bad Sister" - this story, from a plot perspective, was probably favorite. I didn't like Dilay that much, but I liked the way she matured. I could see where the plot was going, but I still enjoyed it.

"Lake of sin" - This story feels like an outlier, a WWII history/curse story. A bit maudlin for my tastes, but I can see it appealing to many readers

"My Tears Ricochet" - the character makes a weird remark in this one: "Then again, not many people get to attend their own funeral" It's a weird thing to say, as a new ghost. Like, how do you know you're an anomaly? That's like a baby making some grand pronouncement about life - like, you haven't lived long, you're not coming from a place of knowledge? This story is very soap opera. Teen soap opera.

"The Invasion" - this story works pretty well. Would have been good if we got a smidge more insight into Lillian so we were more invested in her fate, but I think it's fairly normal to assume you will root for a fellow human being until given reason not to, it's just as a character reader, I don't become invested that way. So I'm nitpicking...

"Across the Woods" - this one doesn't me sense. Is the rite of passage actually to get across the woods? Is there anything mysterious about the family 16 year old tradition at all? The setup doesn't match the twist and resolution

"Green gloves" - a bit of thriller element here, as the writer is desperate to find out what occurred. The curse feels a bit ungenerous - it seems the hands are usable and people who suffer from such things without a gypsy curse certainly don't need to cover it up... This one was just ok

Comets tear the skies - dubious surgical procedures and kind of all over the place - Homeric myth references, aliens, cults, monsters. I did not enjoy

"Silent Ivy Hotel" - very moralistic tale about vanity and beauty, mixed with Hellenistic mythology references & a dash of Gremlins.

"Driver, Surprise Me" - another flash fiction. It's fine

"Red Snow" - I liked this one. Blurred lines between fiction and reality, at least partially due to mental illness. Surprising ending.

"One for the Money, Two for the Show" - bit of flash fiction, this one works best out of the stories so far, in terms of story. Not sure why it is so carefully set in the 80s, though, since that doesn't really seem to matter?