A short story part of Nightbeast Godfather: A Collection of Brutal and Beastly Fairy Tales by Skyler Woods
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In my own writing I tend to remain minimalist when it comes to extraneous details. I feel that readers today, especially those that are willing to give the time to unknown authors, have a short attention span. “Story Eleven: A Ghost Lady Fragrance”, a short story part of Nightbeast Godfather: A Collection of Brutal and Beastly Fairy Tales by author Skyler Woods, has me rethinking that maxim.
In “Story Eleven” Woods makes various seemingly parenthetical references to American culture. Woods describes a menacing serial killer as having the frame of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a face like Pennywise. Similarly, albeit in a less terrifying fashion, Woods has his child character combine the names of two other well-known pop figures, Sabrina Carpenter and Arianna Grande, to make a nickname for his mother, who he thinks bears similarities to the two singers.
By employing this tactic of repetitive cultural references, Woods makes the reader feel like the author is familiar. Because the author looks at the world like you, seems to see the world like you, sounds like you, a bond is formed. True to the root word, so is the author’s authority. To enhance reader comprehension, Woods goes from the Rock, to Pennywise, to Sabrina to Arianna and then over to rappers like DMX and the Wu-Tang Clan. All this name-dropping makes the reader BELIEVE that the author knows something about something, in this case culture. From there it is one more step for the author to get the reader to believe anything, including things outside of cultural references, things like the illusion of time as well as the existence of demons, ghouls and clown murderers.
Woods succeeds in this quest. And that’s when he has you. That’s when he can reveal that where you thought you were is not where you actually are in the story. Yet unlike in real life, you are happy about being duped. If you weren’t duped the door to discovery would remain hidden. Thankfully Woods fills your reading belly with the right breadcrumbs to get you inside…which is where all the fun is.
While the cultural references and their rhetorical usage are what I found unique about the author and the story from a stylistic standpoint, I’d be remiss to stay silent on the plot itself. “Story Eleven” succeeds for reasons beyond style. More than anything else, it also succeeds because of its originality. If the common ghost trope were a piece of flat paper, “Story Eleven” takes that piece of paper and folds it into origami. The result is that a terrifying ghoul coming towards your immobile bed-constrained body, ends up being saintly rather than satanic, a hero instead of an antagonist.
Finding that out is quite refreshing, especially if you like a tale where clowns get their just dessert.
Author’s own Book synopsis of Stories of Lost Souls (One Book 1).
“In this high-octane fairy tale collection, prepare to be sucked into a vortex of relentless horror and supernatural intrigue! You’ll learn about bounty hunter Santa tracking down a sadistic young man who craves blood from his little victims. A truck driver mother takes a wrong turn down a haunted road in the heart of night. The ghost of a naked woman terrorizes a widowed father and his daughter. And two teenage brothers ignore their grandfather’s warning to stay away from an abandoned asylum that harbors an unimaginable evil. If you like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, American Horror Story, Black Mirror, and the MCU, then these fairy tales will give you a paranormal high that will throttle your imagination!“
-Skyler Woods
Recommended Transient Visitors Stories by Dave if you liked this self-published book:
David O’Boyle is an
Self-published Author
Lawyer
Mooncalf
Finboy
Friend from Other Flower Pot
Transient Visitor
Earthling
Pro-Pluto
Maybe someday a Martian
Lover of Giants and Leprechauns and elves
ambassador to mummies and vampires.
David’s works are available in the shop!