Loneliness Or a Warm Gun

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Robert_Moriyama
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The origins of the story

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

The author informed me that the story was inspired by a mass murder in Port Arthur (the very one described in the last part of the story), and indeed, his purpose was to ascribe that level of evil to an external source. While it is frightening to think that these things could be the result of a kind of possession that could happen to anyone, to me it is even more disconcerting to realize that human beings don't NEED an external influence to be so evil. (My suggested version of the ending went for irony: the loneliness of the families and loved ones of the murder victims would have constituted a feast for the alien, if he hadn't chosen to feed on terror and death instead.)

RM
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Jack London (1876-1916)
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