{"id":8884,"date":"2016-10-20T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=8884"},"modified":"2016-10-17T20:28:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T00:28:40","slug":"the-double-and-the-inconsolable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/the-double-and-the-inconsolable\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Double” and “The Inconsolable”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"exhumed_webbanner\"<\/p>\n

\"*Humblebrag\u2026
*Humblebrag\u2026 I own all 75 issues. Took me 8 years to track \u2018em all down. Just look at that collection!
(Photo Copyright 2016 K. Edwin Fritz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hi there folks, and welcome to “Exhumed: The Fiction of Cemetery Dance Magazine”<\/span>! <\/span><\/p>\n

Before you is the first of monthly double reviews that will study the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance<\/em>*. <\/span><\/p>\n

My ultimate goal = trying to answer the question: \u201cWhat makes us fear, squirm, shudder\u2026 and love this awesome genre so darned much?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Why \u201cdouble\u201d reviews? Simple: I wanted to showcase the change of horror over time. (Also, that way you get to read about TWO stories each month!) <\/span><\/p>\n

Each column will feature one old story (from the 1980s) and one new story (from the 2010s). <\/span><\/p>\n

Alrighty then, on to the goods…!<\/span><\/p>\n

THE OLD: \u201cThe Double\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"cd1cover\"AUTHOR:<\/b> Steve Rasnic Tem<\/span><\/p>\n

APPEARANCE<\/b>: Cemetery Dance<\/em>\u00a0#1 (December 1988)<\/span><\/p>\n

PLOT (with spoilers!):<\/b> This one is odd & hard to take in for more than one\u00a0reason, so bear with me. The following is exactly what is presented to the reader:<\/span><\/p>\n

A mother and father are playing with-<\/span><\/p>\n

[ no, wait\u2026 they\u2019re abusing!] <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

-their son. The \u201cpoke him with fingers,\u201d \u201cslap him quickly and hard,\u201d and later \u201cdrop him on his head.\u201d They also constantly tell him he is their only son. Other than that, they ignore him, going about the rest of their lives while leaving him alone in his room. The son, meanwhile, is sure this has all happened before. <\/span><\/p>\n

The son makes a doll out of a baby blanket, some socks, a rubber ball for a head, and even uses leftover peanuts to fabricate fingers, toes, and\u2026 um… a penis. He draws a face on the rubber ball, but reflects immediately afterward \u201cwith disinterest\u201d that he did not include a nose. He also adds parts of himself—a fingernail hidden into the doll\u2019s clothing, and his spit rubbed into the doll\u2019s belly. <\/span><\/p>\n

The mother and\u00a0father return and\u00a0repeat their abuse, but to the doll now, apparently unaware of the difference. They kiss\/tickle\/fondle\/caress\u00a0it,\u00a0then throw it onto the floor. They dance on the pieces of the body while singing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the son watches from the safety behind his bed. He feels the \u201cshadowy impressions of feet\u201d on his back, though it no longer hurts. <\/span><\/p>\n

MY GRADE: <\/b>A<\/p>\n

\"thedouble\"MY REVIEW<\/b>: As stated above, this one is hard to read, and perhaps even harder to review. There are two\u00a0reasons for this. First and most obvious is that we are seeing child abuse from the perspective of the child. The other reason—the one you can\u2019t see here because you\u2019re not reading the actual story—is that the story is extraordinarily short (so short I took the time to count words\u2026only 290), and as such everything comes off as suggestive rather than stated directly. Most of one\u2019s reading experience is a lesson in interpretation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet with a second reading (it\u2019s short enough to do that), it\u2019s clear the boy is a victim of abuse and his \u201cdouble\u201d is his attempt at survival. It\u2019s also clear that everything in the story is symbolic rather than literal. After all, the notion that two adults would so easily misinterpret a few socks and\u00a0a rubber ball for their flesh-and-blood son is preposterous. But symbolically, what Mr. Tem is telling us is that this boy (and, by association, all child abuse victims) FEEL<\/span> like they are nothing but rag dolls. Things. Objects to be hurt and then ignored. <\/span><\/p>\n

The abuse, by the way, isn\u2019t merely physical. It\u2019s sexual as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

Question: Why else would the boy feel the need to add a penis to his double? Answer: It\u2019s how he\u2019s been taught to identify himself. <\/span><\/p>\n

Question: Why else would Tem use words like “poke,” “kiss,” “fondle,” and “caress” when describing physical interactions? Answer: Because the parents\u2019 touches are almost always inappropriate. They also “tickle,” and that might be okay, depending on how it\u2019s done, but the rest most certainly is not, and with so many examples we\u2019d be blind to overlook them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The overall feel of the story is strikingly creepy. You have no choice but to feel extremely uncomfortable by the time you finish. First it happens with the obvious physical harm the boy suffers. Then it happens again when you realize the emotional distress the kid must have, as is revealed by his need to protect himself with a “double” (for me, this came moments after finishing my first reading). Finally (and for me this came as I was reading it that second time), by the sexual abuse that the kid goes through. Collectively, we are left feeling so many emotions, all of them powerful ones: Revulsion, Anger, Disgust, Sorrow and, most of all, Helplessness. As a guy who spent years researching and\u00a0writing his own fictional tale about physical, emotional\u00a0and\u00a0sexual abuse, this is a subject matter that is close to my heart. Moreover, Tem nails it, albeit in a very subtle way. (For my own writings, I prefer a more In-Your-Face approach). <\/span><\/p>\n

AND NOW, LET ME STEP UPON MY LITTLE SOAP BOX: <\/b><\/p>\n

I wanted to give Mr. Tem\u2019s story an \u201cA+\u201d, but I couldn\u2019t quite pull that trigger. Ultimately, the reason I felt the need to drop it that small notch is because of how hard he makes us work to figure out what\u2019s really going on. (Again, that\u2019s probably just a personal preference\/ bias). After all, the brevity of the story mixed with the impossibility of it all practically <\/span>begs<\/span><\/i> us to read it again. First we re-read it because we\u2019re confused and, heck, it only took three\u00a0minutes to read. Why not read it again and\u00a0figure out what you missed? When you do, you see more of the forest through the trees and\u00a0your eyes are opened. Then, if your stomach can handle that sort of thing, you\u2019ll read it yet again, and then you\u2019ll see just how complex and powerful this ultra-short story truly is. But, for a lot of people, it\u2019s too much and they won\u2019t read it that second\u00a0or\u00a0third time. They may even be turned off to the horror genre as a whole for a bit. For that, I can\u2019t blame them. <\/span><\/p>\n

No, wait. I can. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sort of. <\/span><\/p>\n

See, I get that some people won\u2019t want to experience it, any of it, even though it\u2019s an obvious piece of symbolic art. And we could say “to each his own,” and let it be. It\u2019s the reason our strongest emotion in this piece is hopelessness. It\u2019s all-too close to the truth. But I also know that when we remain silent in the face of evil, we are allowing evil to reign. As Dante said in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy<\/em>, “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”<\/span><\/p>\n

I get that it\u2019s hard to read this type of stuff. But pretending it doesn\u2019t happen doesn\u2019t make it go away. It only goes away for you, the reader, not for the actual victims. The only way to make change is to confront and\u00a0discuss these issues, no matter how uncomfortable you may feel. And for me, that\u2019s what the horror genre is best at—forcing readers to contemplate important matters they would otherwise choose to avoid: Death, Revenge, Violence, Greed\u2026 Tem\u2019s story forces us to admit the brutality of child abuse by putting us into the victim\u2019s seat and feel the emotional force that comes with it. <\/span><\/p>\n

And for that, I give him a fist-bump of respect. <\/span><\/p>\n

THE NEW: \u201cThe Inconsolable\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"cd73cover\"AUTHOR:<\/b> Michael Wehunt<\/span><\/p>\n

APPEARANCE:<\/b> Cemetery Dance<\/em>\u00a0#73 (March 2016)<\/span><\/p>\n

PLOT (with spoilers!):<\/b> Alden wakes in a hospital. His mother, father, and girlfriend, Em, are all there. They are upset. Em makes him promise this- <\/span><\/p>\n

[whatever \u201cthis\u201d is] <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

-is a one time thing, then leaves. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alden goes home, tries to pick up the pieces of his life, thinks constantly of Em. The power lines over his home are lined with crows and he feels that his life is like theirs now… “weighted down with portents as something draws close.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He is forced to take time off off work, starting from the day he swallowed the pills. <\/span><\/p>\n

[Oh! He attempted suicide. Got it.]. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

His mother pushes religion on him and\u00a0he sees the famed poem “Footprints in the Sand,” but wonders if Christ was ever there to carry him. He goes to church and\u00a0looks at the statue of a crucified Jesus. The light in the church seems to brighten into halos around the heads of certain churchgoers. He wants to be one of them. He tries to pray and wonders that if Christ cannot carry him, maybe the crows can. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alden\u2019s parents visit and\u00a0he pacifies them with small talk and lies. Outside, even more crows are perched and\u00a0watching now. He also sees a figure in white walking through the pines in the distance. A crow lands on his shoulder and digs its claws lightly into his skin. He wonders if it will try to lift him. The crow jabs him before flying into the woods toward the white walker. He watches, blinking, until he is sure the woods are empty.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a brief flashback, it is two months ago and Em is telling him she\u2019s had an abortion. A tan line has replaced the spot where her ring used to be. <\/span><\/p>\n

He wakes now in the middle of the night to a tap on the window. A man is staring in. It\u2019s the figure from the woods and it\u2019s a horrible face: hanging ropes of hair in the rain, eyes wide, mouth open. The white figure shoots its tongue out and\u00a0this time cracks the window. Then it quietly leaves. In the morning he finds the window broken and\u00a0a puddle on the floor. Alden calls Em but the number is still disconnected. <\/span><\/p>\n

At church, he interrupts the service to ask about the footprints in the sand. The preacher says he knows Alden from the previous week when he was saved. Alden says he doesn\u2019t know if he WAS saved but wants to find out. He adds that his fiancee doesn\u2019t love him anymore and\u00a0maybe it would be helpful to be carried by Jesus for a while. The preacher says he\u2019ll talk about the footprints next week. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the way home Alden sees Em at a gas station holding a little boy\u2019s hand. He wonders if Em has lied to him and\u00a0he somehow lost years of his life. <\/span><\/p>\n

[as in: the little boy is his son and\u00a0somehow several years have passed]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But then another man appears and\u00a0kisses Em. He is older—graying—and Alden can barely breathe. He drives to his parents\u2019 house, consoling himself along the way and\u00a0picturing one line of footprints on a beach. <\/span><\/p>\n

His mother tells him he\u2019ll know when and\u00a0if he\u2019s saved. He passes time with them but remembers none of it. He goes home. The crows are waiting by the hundreds—thousands—now. Enough to cover the lawn and\u00a0the porch and\u00a0the gutters. They watch him as he opens the door to his empty house. He says aloud that he\u2019s too weary for it all. Inside the open doorway, he prays and\u00a0the words go deeper than they did in church. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the final scene, Alden wakes in the night to see Jesus breathing over him. His face is white. The centers of his eyes are as black as the crows. His mouth opens to show teeth that curve inward toward the throat. His fingers are sharpened bones and press Alden\u2019s chest. Alden believes he must open his heart to Him. Jesus weeps tears onto Alden\u2019s lips then traces his fingers down Alden\u2019s jaw, neck, torso, and\u00a0settles over his heart. Alden knows he has become “The Inconsolable”\u00a0and now Jesus turns and\u00a0kneels. Alden understands and climbs onto Jesus\u2019 back. Jesus carries him outside, steps off the porch into a blackness of bird wings so dense Alden cannot see the sky. Jesus\u2019 feet cross the lawn, leaving one set of footprints, and carries Alden into the pines beyond which swallows them both. <\/span><\/p>\n

MY GRADE:<\/b> A+<\/span><\/p>\n

\"theinconcolable\"MY REVIEW:\u00a0<\/b>Okay, this story is DRIPPING with emotion. And symbolism. Lots of that too. But like many modern stories, the events are presented in such a way that makes the chronology a bit hard to put together at first. But we do get it as we go along, thanks to the use of some short flashbacks and\u00a0opportune revelations of details from Alden\u2019s backstory. Put all of the above together and\u00a0what you have is a story complex in both structure and tone. But that\u2019s not even Michael Wehunt\u2019s best skill. (I\u2019ll get to that later). <\/span><\/p>\n

First, allow me to sum up the events of the story in chronological order:<\/span><\/p>\n