Review: Macabre Comfort Food
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2013
THINK TWILIGHT ZONEMia Zabrisky writes in her bio that she models the stories in her "Shudderville" series after classic TV shows like "The Twilight Zone," "The X-files," etc.  She does, indeed, serve up long short stories that remind me of the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone."  In this first installment, her characterization and pacing are skillful.  Each character has a motivation/thoughline; descriptions and exposition are minimal; and the stories end with a well developed emotional release after the climax, so the stories are complete despite having a teaser at the very end for the next story in this linked series.  To top it off, the editing and formatting for Kindle of this first story are, at least to my eye, flawless.THE STORY'S IDEAWorkaholic by day, alcoholic by night, Sophie lives alone is a filthy, squalid apartment.  She mourns her daughter who died at age nine.  After a boisterous young man moves in next door and breaks the lugubrious quiet of the apartment building with loud music and louder sex, Sophie finds herself intervening in an argument between the young man and another tenant, a sinister old man who is protesting the noise.  The old man trips and falls to the floor during the altercation, and Sophie helps him up.  In gratitude, the old man tells Sophie he will grant her one wish.WHO COULD WANT MORE?I do, for one.  I'll gladly give Zabrisky's story a star each for characterization, pacing, emotional intelligence, and editing--but I withhold a fifth star because the premise is too familiar.  Admit it, the moment you read that a sinister character has granted someone a wish, you know where the story is going.  Yes, "Shudderville" achieves its goal of recreating the experience of viewing a classic horror/macabre television show like "The Twilight Zone," but the writers of those shows created their scripts with an eye to staying in the comfort zone of the audience.  Zabrisky is not Robert Bloch or Alfred Hitchcock.  Seekers after original horror and macabre stories will have to look further for stories of wishes too horrible to grant.