{"id":9238,"date":"2016-12-21T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=9238"},"modified":"2016-12-21T12:28:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T17:28:59","slug":"rock-of-ages-and-bad-luck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/rock-of-ages-and-bad-luck\/","title":{"rendered":"“Rock of Ages” and “Bad Luck”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
*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

Hello again, folks. This is the third installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved <\/span>Cemetery Dance<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last time<\/span><\/a> I reviewed David B. Silv<\/span><\/b>a\u2019s \u201cFury\u2019s Child\u201d from CD #1 (1988) and\u00a0Lisa Morton\u2019s \u201cThe Rich are Different\u201d from CD #74\/75 (2016). <\/span><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t read either one, do check them out. The Silva story in particular is hard to find\u2026 of course. \ud83d\ude09 <\/span><\/p>\n

This month we\u2019ve got another 2 stories from the same 2 issues\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

THE OLD: \u201cRock of Ages\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"AUTHOR:<\/b> John B. Rosenman<\/p>\n

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

PLOT (with spoilers!):<\/b> Steve Marsh is indulging in childhood nostalgia by visiting the county fair. He feels foolish for dishing out a buck fifty—<\/p>\n

[Wow. Does that<\/i> date this publication or what?]<\/strong><\/p>\n

—to visit the fun house, and his harpy of a wife, Bette, is outside, waiting impatiently to \u201ccarp\u201d at him when he is done. But for now he is remembering when life was better…<\/p>\n

The carnival barker had pitched that Steve would see \u201cthe most frightening thing in the world\u201d inside the fun house, and as he turns the doorknob and steps in he wonders absently what it would actually take to meet such high claims. He expects nothing more than papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 monsters, sliding platforms, trick mirrors, and air holes that will goose him from below\u2026 all the best stuff from his childhood, but nothing more.<\/p>\n

What he sees, however, is shocking to his core. It\u2019s a scene from his own past. A day from his teens when he and\u00a0Bette had sex for the first time. It had been outdoors in a park. It had been hurried and clumsy. And it had been a set-up. Bette, three years his senior, had easily seduced him and days later explained she was pregnant. They were married weeks later and Steve\u2019s life of hell with his shrew wife had thus begun. Except Bette hadn\u2019t been pregnant. She had lied. To this day she remains barren. And Steve realizes now that he is about to witness the single even that ruined his life.<\/p>\n

In a sudden release of all those pent-up years of frustration and hatred, Steve steps forward, flings his teenage self aside, picks up a rock, and brains Bette in the face multiple times.<\/p>\n

Moments later his visit to the past is over and he is back inside the fun house. He steps outside and realizes Bette is nowhere to be seen. Better still, a different woman—beautiful and kind-faced—seems to be smiling and waving at him. Two almost angelic children are at her side. They walk towards each other and Steve wonders if he has really done what he thinks he has. But then the beautiful woman veers aside and greets another man.<\/p>\n

Steve looks down and sees the rock with Bette\u2019s blood on it is still in his hand. When he looks up, Bette is before him, changed only by the new horrific scar on her face and an evil grin on her face as she tells him, \u201cYou didn\u2019t think you had escaped me, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

MY REVIEW:<\/b> The first thing you should know about this story is that it\u2019s short. Not \u201cThe Double\u201d-by-Steve-Rasnic-Tem-short (click here to read that review in Exhumed #1<\/a>), but still short. It comes in at just over a thousand words. But Rosenman shows us that just because a story is short doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cRock of Ages\u201d has decent characterization, good building of tension, and a great ending. It also has time travel, asks questions about both fate and revenge, and even gives a pretty good answer to a really difficult but standard horror question: What is<\/i> the scariest sight in the world? Answer: Having to re-live the worst moment of your life\u2026 and messing it up even worse the second time around.<\/p>\n

Not bad for a thousand words, huh?<\/p>\n

But for me, the real power in this story is that ending. Let\u2019s take a closer look at it…<\/p>\n

By showing the beautiful other woman, Rosenman gives Steve Marsh (and us readers) just the right touch of hope before decimating it with reality. Twice.<\/p>\n

1: He is NOT married to the better woman.<\/p>\n

2: Bette remembers<\/i> what he did!<\/p>\n

Even better (or is it worse?), as we finish reading we are left dealing with a gruesome message as well: if you\u2019re a weak-minded, gullible schlep like Steve Marsh, watch out. You\u2019re in for a world of hurt because the world will find a way to take advantage of you. And if you dare attempt to fix that world, you\u2019ll be swiftly and definitively punished just for trying.<\/p>\n

The story has another advantage to which I must give an appreciative nod: working time travel into any story that isn\u2019t primarily about time travel is just plain cool. I\u2019m a BIG fan of that subgenre, and I\u2019ve come to believe it is HARD to do it right in a short space. John Rosenman pulls it off wonderfully.<\/p>\n

Finally, I also love the title \u201cRock of Ages.\u201d I see what you did there. You took a clich\u00e9 and gave it an entirely new, witty, meaning. Nice.<\/p>\n

In summation, Rosenman\u2019s story reinforces that age-old rule in fiction that shorter is generally better. If this were a 3,000-word story, I\u2019d probably give it an A- or B+ and explain that he dragged it on too long or over-described what should have been kept brief. But seeing the relative depth of this piece not only warrants an A, but also reminds this writer about the dangers of verbosity when brevity will do.<\/p>\n

THE NEW: \u201cBad Luck\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

AUTHOR:<\/b> K. S. Clay<\/span><\/p>\n

APPEARANCE:<\/b> Cemetery Dance<\/em> #74\/75 (October, 2016)<\/span><\/p>\n

PLOT (with spoilers!):<\/b> An unnamed narrator works at the Petrie Veterinary Clinic when a man barges in with a cat carrier in hand. While getting his name (Ronald) and address, the man says that the cat\u2019s name is \u201cBad Luck\u201d and that he wants them to kill it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Shocked, the narrator takes a closer look at the cat and asks if it\u2019s sick. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Ronald. <\/span><\/p>\n

She asks if it\u2019s bad tempered. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSweet as pie,\u201d says Ronald. <\/span><\/p>\n

She asks why he\u2019d want it dead, first insinuating—and then stating aloud—that Ronald is a horrible person for wanting this. Ronald says only that she should not presume to know him or his life and that he has his reasons. <\/span><\/p>\n

The clinic\u2019s doctor overhears their heated conversation and steps in. Ronald repeats his request and pulls back his jacket to reveal a gun\u2026 the implied threat is overshadowed only by Ronald\u2019s simple explanation that cat is cursed. <\/span><\/p>\n

They ask him why and Ronald tells a cryptic story that begins with, \u201cShe was dead. The girl. There was a girl in the road when I got out of the car, and she was dead.\u201d He says the cat was there too, \u201ccozied up next to her, brushing her neck, purring,\u201d and even though he didn\u2019t like the looks of the thing, he took it with him because he \u201cfelt bad\u201d about the girl and that \u201cJoanna had hinted she wanted one.\u201d He refuses to tell the rest of his story. <\/span><\/p>\n

Strangely, the doctor allows his request and leads them all—Bad Luck included—into a room in the back of the clinic. As the doc prepares the euthanasia solution, the narrator asks why Ronald didn\u2019t use his gun on the cat. Ronald says he tried\u2026 had bought the gun for that sole purpose, in fact. But when he\u2019d taken it to an abandoned field to do the deed, it \u201cdidn\u2019t work.\u201d He describes the sweet look in the cat\u2019s eyes and the feel of the gun in his hands and his finger on the trigger and that his finger slipped or his hand started to shake or his arm started to itch and that it just didn\u2019t work. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the prepared needle descends, the narrator suddenly sweeps Bad Luck off the table. The cat howls. The gun explodes. But no one is hurt. Not yet. Ronald holds them at gunpoint. A hole in the wall shows how close the bullet had come to the narrator\u2019s head. <\/span><\/p>\n

They end up back on the exam table, the narrator holding Bad Luck\u2019s paw to help the doc find a vein. Ronald literally licks his lips in anticipation. But the doc\u2019s hands suddenly tremble even though the narrator has never seen it before. The doc tries not once but two more times, but is forced to put the needle down. Ronald reacts with fear and pleads the doc to try again. This time, the words sound more like a prayer than a threat. <\/span><\/p>\n

The doc tries yet again. Ronald leans in closer. The doc suddenly punches Ronald, breaking his nose. The gun drops. The doc grabs Ronald and easily ushers him out while the narrator disposes of the needle, locks the dropped gun in a cabinet, and turns back to the cat\u2026 to find the examination table empty. She looks for more than an hour but never finds it. <\/span><\/p>\n

That night the narrator excuses herself from her fianc\u00e9, David\u2019s, advances and finds herself driving to the address Ronald had given her earlier that day. What she finds is Ronald, dead, in the road when she gets out of the car. Bad Luck is there, of course, cozied up next to him, brushing his neck, and purring. <\/span><\/p>\n

The only difference between Ronald and the dead girl from his own story is his death was no heart attack or stroke. The gun in his hand leaves no doubt. The narrator then takes the cat because—why else?—she felt bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story ends with 2 short lines: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDavid\u2019s cough started the next morning.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

and<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happened to Joanna?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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

MY REVIEW:\u00a0<\/b>This story comes in at around 2,000 words, and I\u2019ll admit that it didn\u2019t impress me in its first 500-or-so words. But Ms. Clay has done something which is very difficult to pull off\u2026 she\u2019s written a story which gets continually better as it progresses. The opening premise—some crazy-looking guy wants an animal clinic to kill a perfectly healthy, happy cat—is certainly interesting, but for one of only eleven stories in a horror magazine as illustrious as Cemetery Dance<\/em>, it seemed comparatively ho-hum to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then Ronald tells his story of how he <\/span>got<\/span><\/i> the cat, and things start to get interesting. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then Ronald explains he already tried and failed (or did he?) to kill the cat, and things get even <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> interesting. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then the doc has troubles with his hands (or does he?) and there\u2019s a fight and the cat goes missing and all of a sudden the ending is there and it brings the narrator\u2019s story full-circle and we are left pondering what just happened. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many stories start out with an awesome premise which ends up being a let-down. Ms. Clay has done the opposite\u2026 she gave us what <\/span>seems <\/span><\/i>like a timid horror premise but gives us instead a wild ride. <\/span><\/p>\n

Best of all, we are left with questions. So many questions\u2026 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, did Ronald kill the girl in the road? Or was it just an accident? The details given in the story itself has Ronald telling us a coroner claimed it was a heart attack or stroke that killed her. But he <\/span>also <\/span><\/i>admits to being charged with “desecrating a body.” And that, my friends, does not compute. If he was truly just a witness he\u2019s innocent of any such desecration. Which means he must have been hit with some genuinely bad luck to be charged with that kind of personal, macabre crime. Right? Because the only other alternative is that he <\/span>did<\/span><\/i> desecrate the body, which in turn means he likely killed the girl himself. So which is it? Is Ronald a crazy guy who raped and\u00a0killed a girl and somehow didn\u2019t get caught and is now blaming things on a random cat\u2026 or is he an innocent guy who stumbled across a dead girl and a mysterious cat which continues to bring him bad luck? The truth is, we don\u2019t know. Either scenario is perfectly feasible. <\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the only question that remains. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next, there\u2019s the clinic\u2019s doctor. Why did his hands shake? It <\/span>could <\/span><\/i>have been the curse of the \u201cBad Luck\u201d cat foiling his honest attempts to euthanize it, but it could also be he only <\/span>pretended <\/span><\/i>to have trouble so as to catch crazy man unawares and prevent the death of some poor, cute kitty. Again, either interpretation is genuinely reasonable. <\/span><\/p>\n

We also get the cyclical nature of the ending. Ronald\u2019s story matches exactly what happens to the narrator\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

-dead person in the road;<\/span><\/p>\n

-the cat waiting there;<\/span><\/p>\n

-the cat behaving in the same manner; and<\/span><\/p>\n

-a Significant Other to both Ronald and\u00a0the narrator (Joanna and\u00a0David, respectively), which both have an unknown outcome in the story\u2026 but one that does not look good for either of them<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the question of Ronald\u2019s death. The narrator tells us he shot himself. Problem is, his gun (the one he bought specifically to shoot the cat and therefore we can assume his <\/span>only<\/span><\/i> gun) is still safely locked away in the clinic, isn\u2019t it? So where did he get the gun in his hand? Or <\/span>is there no<\/span><\/i> gun in his hand? Maybe the narrator is the crazy one now. Maybe <\/span>she <\/span><\/i>killed him just like Ronald killed the girl in the road. <\/span><\/p>\n

And why is David coughing? <\/span><\/p>\n

And whatever <\/span>did <\/span><\/i>happen to Joanna? <\/span><\/p>\n

Is Joanna the girl in the road, perhaps? <\/span><\/p>\n

Will the narrator tell her own similar story in the upcoming days about David? <\/span><\/p>\n

And if so, is she destined to die the same way: in the road, beside the cat, passing it on to the next victim? <\/span><\/p>\n

And how did the cat get out of the clinic unseen? For that matter, how did it find Ronald again? <\/span><\/p>\n

So\u2026 yes. Lots of questions and\u00a0several ways to answer them. Which is what makes this story so fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Both stories this month did a lot in a relatively short space. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first had tension, time travel, thematic ideas, and a great question to one of horror\u2019s age-old questions. <\/span><\/p>\n

The second grew exponentially more interesting as the words slipped by and leaves the reader with a seemingly endless collection of unanswered (but fun to think about!) questions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Rosenman and\u00a0Ms. Clay go about using their limited word space quite differently, but they both came to a similar result: pure entertainment in a compact little package. <\/span><\/p>\n

I, for one, am left contemplating how to write short fiction better than I\u2019ve done in the past. <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any issues of <\/span>Cemetery Dance<\/span><\/i> with a particular story you\u2019d like me to review? <\/span><\/p>\n

Are you chomping at the bit to get more reviews from the early, early issues? <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any observations about the differences between old and\u00a0modern horror?<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me your thoughts and\u00a0I\u2019ll tell you mine. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Keith Edwin Fritz<\/a> entered this world on Halloween. The year, 1974, was the same as when Stephen Edwin King published his first novel. Keith prefers to think neither the date nor their middle names were a coincidence.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Today Keith teaches 7th Grade Language Arts and writes to his heart\u2019s content during his \u201cspare time\u201d. The best of these moments are nearly always by moonlight. The worst of them are also by moonlight.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to his Cemetery Dance Online column, Keith writes \u201cThe Bone Pile\u201d for FictionVortex<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Keith lives with his wife, Corina, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello again, folks. This is the third installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance. Last time I reviewed David B. Silva\u2019s \u201cFury\u2019s Child\u201d from CD #1 (1988) and\u00a0Lisa Morton\u2019s \u201cThe Rich are Different\u201d from CD #74\/75 (2016). 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