therealljidol week 28: going forward

[j0ydivided]

He was bitten on Tuesday and died on Saturday. We buried the body in the churchyard, in consecrated ground -- the only thing, the priest said, that would counter the effects, and waited for the inevitable

Comments

[penpusher]

A bit of a cross between the classic W. W. Jacobs story "The Monkey's Paw" and something by O. Henry, which is why I found it so amusing you named the kid Henry! And for the record, I agree that the whole zombie psychology has never properly been addressed - how do you deal with needing to kill (again) your loved ones? Or maybe you don't and then you join them. Even though young Ava had been found, that really didn't change the flow and narrative of the story, or of Henry's eventual fate.

[marlawentmad]

Oh, this is dreadful, well done. I very much like the mother character, a wise woman on the edge of the community, but who is still a participant. The ambiguous nature of Henry makes it all the more horrific, and it fits nicely into the point of view.

[murielle]

Brava!

I love how you have examined "life" after life in each piece. Each a different study and extension, but there is always a price to be paid, and you examined that price perfectly. Such care and artistry! Well done! Very well done!

[i_17bingo]

This reminds me of some of the research I did a couple of years ago of a Serbian creature called an aloviti. The transformation into a full-blown aloviti was gradual, and probably went unnoticed by a lot of people.

I really liked this story, with the escalation of the horror happening gradually, followed by an ending that was really the only way it could have gone (outside of a horrifying rampage).

[alycewilson]

I enjoyed this take on a tale of the undead.