I asked my three scary guests about their own favourite
fictional creations and left you last week with an excerpt from Su's preferred story, The Substitute - one of the
stories in her outstanding Hellbound
anthology. I've kept you waiting a week
for the other two, but I hope you'll agree it was worth it.
Jenny (Mrs Go-with-the-flow) is inclined to change her mind
about her personal favourite according to what she's working on, which is no bad
thing because it shows her total enthusiasm for her work. But she does admit to being a little bit
proud of The Man with no Face, the first story in the new Bedtime
Shadows anthology. This meets the
format of the ideal horror story, starting off quite gently but with a certain
intrigue and building up to a powerful crescendo and shock-ending. "I tried to do the literary equivalent
of the end of the film Carrie, when
the hand comes shooting up out of the grave," Jenny says.
Well, we're not going to reveal the ending, but here is the
beginning and I'm delighted to share it because it's one of my favourites too.
The Man with no Face
I read somewhere that most people have no memory before the
age of five and that very few indeed can remember anything before the age of
two. It's not that babies can't think. It's that they haven't learnt how to
save their thoughts as memories.
But I have a memory much earlier than that.
I am sitting in my pram. I know I am in a pram because the
hood is up and the view in front of me is framed by the edge of the hood. I can
see this very clearly. It has a trim of elasticated material, black with a
white pattern. The pattern may be writing. I can't tell because I am too young
to read. Through the hood, in front of me, is a garden, bounded by a high brick
wall. The wall is covered in a riot of red flowers. I know now the plant is
Japonica but in the memory I have no words for anything. In the middle of the
garden there are two people locked in a clumsy embrace. Either they are
standing very still or the memory is a still picture – a snapshot in time.
I can see the woman very clearly. She is wearing a white
cotton frock with a pattern of tiny blue flowers. Her face is turned towards me
and it bears an expression of anguish. I think she is my mother.
But I can't see the man clearly at all. I'm not even sure it
is a man. But I think it is. He is a shadowy figure, one hand gripping my
mother, if she is my mother, the other held over his head. He is holding
something aloft, something long and thin – a stick perhaps. I can't see it
clearly at all. Everything about the man is out of focus.
I have always believed that if I could just see his face, if
I could identify him, I would understand everything.
Now how can you not want to read on after that?
Join me on Monday for Tara's excerpt. I was so thrilled with her choice because it's my personal favourite of all Tara's stories in the wonderful Bedtime Shadows.
5 comments:
Lyn, you've done it again; another compelling post and commentary.
And great choice, Jenny. I know what I'm going to re-read this evening ;-)
You can't be blamed for not choosing a favorite. You can't, not with all the wonders you put in print!
Thank you for having me on your fab site, Lyn. It's always such a pleasure.
And thanks, Su, you darling. Love you both a million bagsful xxxxxx
Hi Su,
I have LOVED doing this, not to mention finding out about three really brilliant writers and their enormous creativity. I can't wait for Wednesday when you'll be my featured writer to round off this wonderful experience.
I want the whole world to know about you three talented ladies.
Ah Jenny,
How can I thank you for the hours of pleasure your stories have given me?
The pleasure, I can assure you, is entirely mine.
Best of luck with Bedtime Shadows - I love it (and with All in the Mind - another truly good reading experience waiting to be discovered).
Thank you for the kind words, Lyn...I really enjoyed the Man with no Face and am very glad its the first in the anthology, so all those checking out the book on Amazon will get enthralled when they take a quick look inside! :)
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