Thanks, Daniel! The rain certainly was a bonus! I will be putting up the audio version later, if there’s time, including rain. You mention M R James, that is such high praise! And yes, the shutter will click again!
I enjoyed all the use of the seasonal change in understanding the emotional state of the character. Also I love the idea of the photograph as a kind of portal (mise-en-abyme perhaps as well?). Dark and enticing!
(this would also be a good voiceover...just saying!)
Thanks, Kathleen! And yes, exactly mine-en-abyme, into the abyss she goes. Well, technically, it is not the exact same image, more an image within an image, hence Baudrillard.
I did record it but a street sweeper outside the apartment thought he'd do laps in front of the house for two hours... that background noise... going to re-record after midnight tonight. I need ze quiet!
Thanks! Jackhammers and Street Sweepers! Yeah, no noise gate strong enough 😂 we need a recording booth... good luck with the recording to you, too! If the run is successful, there will be audio magically appearing tomorrow.
Thank you, Nathan! From the prompt, it wasn't too far to get to 1000. Rain, graveyard, ghost, from there, words added up quickly. Another experiment done. Switching tenses between paragraphs and applying a darker tone/style. Glad you enjoyed it!
I second everything everyone already so gracefully mentioned. I also want to mention I appreciate how staccato this haunting piece reads, fluidly and fast.
Truly, madly creepy! When you mentioned Pere- Lachaise and I read your line, "People are strange" , I expected to see Jim Morrison as one of your photo apparitions. He is buried there. Brilliant tale, Alexander.
Thank you, Sharron! Can't fool you ;) "It is him." There's a passage that resembles part of the lyrics from People are Strange, so, I didn't want to explicitly mention the name of the ghost as long as it can be inferred. I had the song linked in the notes section but removed it as I thought it might be too much of a spoiler. I also removed the grave numbers, she stumbles next to Oscar (70) on the rendezvous to 46. I'll have to visit again, sometime... (map: https://www.api-site.paris.fr/paris/public/2018%2F9%2FCPLMapEN.pdf)
This was really great Alexander. Was reading it in the car when it started pouring with rain so made for a very atmospheric read!
I felt the ending was very much like an M.R James story with the chilling realisation that the tale goes on
Excellent stuff 👍🏼
Thanks, Daniel! The rain certainly was a bonus! I will be putting up the audio version later, if there’s time, including rain. You mention M R James, that is such high praise! And yes, the shutter will click again!
I enjoyed all the use of the seasonal change in understanding the emotional state of the character. Also I love the idea of the photograph as a kind of portal (mise-en-abyme perhaps as well?). Dark and enticing!
(this would also be a good voiceover...just saying!)
Thanks, Kathleen! And yes, exactly mine-en-abyme, into the abyss she goes. Well, technically, it is not the exact same image, more an image within an image, hence Baudrillard.
I did record it but a street sweeper outside the apartment thought he'd do laps in front of the house for two hours... that background noise... going to re-record after midnight tonight. I need ze quiet!
Yeah Baudrillard is more accurate here. Still a strong effect.
I had jackhammers today keeping me from a recording 😅 good luck with the midnight run! 🎙️
Thanks! Jackhammers and Street Sweepers! Yeah, no noise gate strong enough 😂 we need a recording booth... good luck with the recording to you, too! If the run is successful, there will be audio magically appearing tomorrow.
Fantastic, Alexander. Really enjoyed this (unsurprisingly!!)
Having reached the end, I need to go reread to catch a few of the details I may have missed. I had several "aha!" moments along the way.
Excellent work going from 200-1000 words!
Thank you, Nathan! From the prompt, it wasn't too far to get to 1000. Rain, graveyard, ghost, from there, words added up quickly. Another experiment done. Switching tenses between paragraphs and applying a darker tone/style. Glad you enjoyed it!
Always a boon if it flows out so easily 😃
I second everything everyone already so gracefully mentioned. I also want to mention I appreciate how staccato this haunting piece reads, fluidly and fast.
Thanks for reading, Nadia! Glad you enjoy this little ghostly yarn!
The most fun was picking up on the Jim Morrison references. Thank you!
Thanks a lot for reading/listening! Glad you enjoyed this little yarn, so happy you picked up on the reference, too!
Love it, Alexander! Thanks for reading my newsletter and the shout out!
Thank you for reading, Kathy! In the end the story asked for a few more words to be written. Thanks again for the fun prompt exercise!
Truly, madly creepy! When you mentioned Pere- Lachaise and I read your line, "People are strange" , I expected to see Jim Morrison as one of your photo apparitions. He is buried there. Brilliant tale, Alexander.
Thank you, Sharron! Can't fool you ;) "It is him." There's a passage that resembles part of the lyrics from People are Strange, so, I didn't want to explicitly mention the name of the ghost as long as it can be inferred. I had the song linked in the notes section but removed it as I thought it might be too much of a spoiler. I also removed the grave numbers, she stumbles next to Oscar (70) on the rendezvous to 46. I'll have to visit again, sometime... (map: https://www.api-site.paris.fr/paris/public/2018%2F9%2FCPLMapEN.pdf)
ha ha ha ha Sorry- I hope I didn't spoil anything. Rats!
well, if people read the comments before the story? then they'll still be in for a surprise. I hope! ;)
You could just delete my comment, too! No worries!
That would be uncalled for! It's great to see the reference worked! ;)
I enjoyed this. Very vivid.
Thanks, Jenny! Glad you like my little Flash Fiction experiment.