Where they Were by George Schaade

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Megawatts
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Where they Were by George Schaade

Post by Megawatts »

Good intro, gets one’s attention. The story is event driven and I had to ask myself—is Blade dead? And is this story similar to the story “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce?
The fire suggests the Blake was burned beyond what any human could take, but in this story Blake might be more mystical than real, or some combination.

His journey in the tunnel introduces us to monsters or nightmares, depending on how one interprets the story. A multi-storied gothic house symbolizes vampires, ghosts, spirits and nightmares! Blake is welcome by a man who appears to be the curator of this gothic house, and this man shows him records of all who came. Blake’s name begins to enter into the book after a short time.
Each time Blake is asked what he does, he answers with another one-word description. That baffles me. Yet, the story held my interest!

The pace of this narration was Ok, and at no time did my interest wan as I read it. As it stand, it is a well developed and entertaining story.
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Lester Curtis
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Re: Where they Were by George Schaade

Post by Lester Curtis »

I got the solution just about the middle, when the old woman asked him what he did and he said, "Fear." Without thinking, I just said, "writer." It was kind of a two-points-define-a-line moment; his earlier response to the same question left me puzzled until then. I think that if he'd given the same answer both times, I may not have made the connection that early, and the suspense would have carried.

It's kind of a mood piece, and works well enough at that, but I think the unnamed man explained too much at the end. I'd have liked it better if he'd just said, "Do what you do best," and then handed Blake a pen.

Very surreal and dreamlike.
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