Dream House by Steve Cuffari

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Lester Curtis
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Dream House by Steve Cuffari

Post by Lester Curtis »

I liked the dialog and characterization in this story, but -- I'm just not much affected by most horror stories, and this one fell into the pile with so many others.

Maybe I'm just not susceptible to being scared by stuff that isn't real, like oppressive governments and the threat of nuclear holocaust.

A couple minor gripes: one -- Uncle Eddie never gets to finish his explanation of his bad vibe. Two: they never look up the word huaca to find out what it means. And, there are a couple of false leads, like Mary in the kitchen with a nasty knife, and their prescription meds that never get into play. Seems like the author is throwing in scary-sounding stuff just because it sounds scary, and not bothering to tie it into the story.

I was sort of expecting -- and somewhat hoping -- for the story to end with them standing outside the house while it burnt to the ground, or at least dragging the bed out and burning it. The ending provided by the author seemed anticlimactic.

Ho-hum . . . next . . .
I was raised by humans. What's your excuse?
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Robert_Moriyama
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Re: Dream House by Steve Cuffari

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

Lester Curtis wrote:I liked the dialog and characterization in this story, but -- I'm just not much affected by most horror stories, and this one fell into the pile with so many others.

Maybe I'm just not susceptible to being scared by stuff that isn't real, like oppressive governments and the threat of nuclear holocaust.

A couple minor gripes: one -- Uncle Eddie never gets to finish his explanation of his bad vibe. Two: they never look up the word huaca to find out what it means. And, there are a couple of false leads, like Mary in the kitchen with a nasty knife, and their prescription meds that never get into play. Seems like the author is throwing in scary-sounding stuff just because it sounds scary, and not bothering to tie it into the story.

I was sort of expecting -- and somewhat hoping -- for the story to end with them standing outside the house while it burnt to the ground, or at least dragging the bed out and burning it. The ending provided by the author seemed anticlimactic.

Ho-hum . . . next . . .
I suggested tying the deaths of our One-Percenter protagonists more obviously to the ombu wood, but the author declined...
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Jack London (1876-1916)
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