Yuletide recs III -- Dark
Clever & inventive dark stories, with a dash of creeping horror...
**Top ten selections
Coriolanus
Sleight, by Llassah
'He is not a clever man. Not as other men are. He had an uncle, growing up, who could produce a dove from the sleeve of his robe. That is clever.' It's a bit of a cliché perhaps, but this harsh, gritty vignette does an excellent job of conveying all the horror & confusion of war in the complex relationship that binds the two enemies together
Historical RPF
Surpassingly, by Skazka
'Perhaps he's inventing something out of whole cloth to pretend he had a life before being loved.' Antinous, beautiful & beloved of an emperor, contemplates his fate. A thoughtful study of power imbalance, chilling yet plausible (Adult)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Long Gone Soon, by Eruthiel
'Alleyways, backstreets and narrow spaces of all kinds feature heavily in a typical 'mean and seedy' environment. Kontropolis, nerve centre of the Mean and Seedy Republic of Kontron, is famous for being composed almost entirely of such areas, and for the badly-lit brothels, reclamation dives and kebab houses that line them.' This unusual one-shot suggests an intriguing possibility for Zaphod's past. Not the best pastiche, perhaps, but the atmospheric world-building makes up for it. Strange & dark
HP Lovecraft
For Mind and Memory is the Soul of Man, by Quillori**
'I first caught sight of him on the train, all muffled up in hat and scarf and coat with upturned collar. It was a cold day, to be sure, but something about him seemed off: the stiffness of his movements, perhaps, or the immobility of his face, nor was his voice when he spoke briefly with the conductor quite what one would expect...' Creepy & original horror story, inspired by Lovecraft's ideas notebook, which builds slowly but relentlessly to an inevitable end that invites parallels with dementia
Interview with the Vampire
Un Vampire se déplace dans l'espace et le temps (A Vampire Moves In Space and Time), by Cephalopod**
'...The freshwater oceans and silicate soil of La Jeunesse failed to match the oceans of Earth which all humans still contained some small part of. There were supplements, for citizens. New arrivals tasted better, Lestat said, but the whole planet had the taste of a boiled trout.' A novel setting & an unexpected twist mark this original take on the mythos. Memorable & strange, with a surprisingly moving ending
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Steal My Breath, by Luna
'He wakes before sunrise, his heart pounding. Something has touched his face in the dark. A cat, he guesses, walking over his pillow.' Clever brief prequel to the play, with a perfect ending
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer
**Top ten selections
Coriolanus
Sleight, by Llassah
'He is not a clever man. Not as other men are. He had an uncle, growing up, who could produce a dove from the sleeve of his robe. That is clever.' It's a bit of a cliché perhaps, but this harsh, gritty vignette does an excellent job of conveying all the horror & confusion of war in the complex relationship that binds the two enemies together
Historical RPF
Surpassingly, by Skazka
'Perhaps he's inventing something out of whole cloth to pretend he had a life before being loved.' Antinous, beautiful & beloved of an emperor, contemplates his fate. A thoughtful study of power imbalance, chilling yet plausible (Adult)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Long Gone Soon, by Eruthiel
'Alleyways, backstreets and narrow spaces of all kinds feature heavily in a typical 'mean and seedy' environment. Kontropolis, nerve centre of the Mean and Seedy Republic of Kontron, is famous for being composed almost entirely of such areas, and for the badly-lit brothels, reclamation dives and kebab houses that line them.' This unusual one-shot suggests an intriguing possibility for Zaphod's past. Not the best pastiche, perhaps, but the atmospheric world-building makes up for it. Strange & dark
HP Lovecraft
For Mind and Memory is the Soul of Man, by Quillori**
'I first caught sight of him on the train, all muffled up in hat and scarf and coat with upturned collar. It was a cold day, to be sure, but something about him seemed off: the stiffness of his movements, perhaps, or the immobility of his face, nor was his voice when he spoke briefly with the conductor quite what one would expect...' Creepy & original horror story, inspired by Lovecraft's ideas notebook, which builds slowly but relentlessly to an inevitable end that invites parallels with dementia
Interview with the Vampire
Un Vampire se déplace dans l'espace et le temps (A Vampire Moves In Space and Time), by Cephalopod**
'...The freshwater oceans and silicate soil of La Jeunesse failed to match the oceans of Earth which all humans still contained some small part of. There were supplements, for citizens. New arrivals tasted better, Lestat said, but the whole planet had the taste of a boiled trout.' A novel setting & an unexpected twist mark this original take on the mythos. Memorable & strange, with a surprisingly moving ending
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Steal My Breath, by Luna
'He wakes before sunrise, his heart pounding. Something has touched his face in the dark. A cat, he guesses, walking over his pillow.' Clever brief prequel to the play, with a perfect ending
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer