|
"A Question of Possession"
|
“Greg wasn’t possessed by some demon. He was a victim, he needed her help.”
While walking her dog in the notorious Fritton Woods (at night), Amy Beckham discovers a naked man in distress. The man looked badly beaten, bloody traumatized, and was suffering from amnesia. He was mumbling about “lights” and speaking in tongues. Without a doubt Amy was suspicious of this man’s behavior, but not so much out of concern for his well-being as much as she was for her own self-interest. Amy accompanies the man to the hospital, where he eventually introduces himself as Greg. Amy believes Greg may have been abducted by aliens. Joan Phillips, the hospital’s resident psychiatrist, records Greg mentioning a different name in an ancient language, while he was asleep. Without a doubt Joan was suspicious of this man’s behavior, but not so much out of concern for his well-being as much as she was for her own self-interest. Upon leaving the hospital, Greg couldn’t remember where he was from - so Amy jumped at the opportunity to invite him back to her place so they could trauma bond and hopefully uncover the truth about extraterrestrial life. Joan is skeptical of Amy’s presumptions about Greg so she enlists the help of a doctor who dabbles in the occult and a reverend who knows a thing or two about wielding a crucifix and splashing holy water, in a self-righteous attempt to help unravel her own mystery. Will these ladies find the answers they seek, in “A Question of Possession”?
While walking her dog in the notorious Fritton Woods (at night), Amy Beckham discovers a naked man in distress. The man looked badly beaten, bloody traumatized, and was suffering from amnesia. He was mumbling about “lights” and speaking in tongues. Without a doubt Amy was suspicious of this man’s behavior, but not so much out of concern for his well-being as much as she was for her own self-interest. Amy accompanies the man to the hospital, where he eventually introduces himself as Greg. Amy believes Greg may have been abducted by aliens. Joan Phillips, the hospital’s resident psychiatrist, records Greg mentioning a different name in an ancient language, while he was asleep. Without a doubt Joan was suspicious of this man’s behavior, but not so much out of concern for his well-being as much as she was for her own self-interest. Upon leaving the hospital, Greg couldn’t remember where he was from - so Amy jumped at the opportunity to invite him back to her place so they could trauma bond and hopefully uncover the truth about extraterrestrial life. Joan is skeptical of Amy’s presumptions about Greg so she enlists the help of a doctor who dabbles in the occult and a reverend who knows a thing or two about wielding a crucifix and splashing holy water, in a self-righteous attempt to help unravel her own mystery. Will these ladies find the answers they seek, in “A Question of Possession”?
Readability
The story flows pretty well from beginning to end. I’m sure there were some typos here and there, but I don’t remember any in particular that left a negative impact on my reading. There’s a lot of dialogue in this short story, and some of which was difficult to follow at times due to unnecessary paragraphs. As a writer, you don’t need to use new paragraphs during dialogue if the entire quote is coming from the same character. If a character is being a chatty Kathy then you can easily end up with a full wall of text that can take up an entire page or more, but as soon as you start a new quoted paragraph that is supposed to act as an indicator to the reader that someone/something else is now speaking. (Correction- Multiple paragraphs may be used while one character is speaking, but again when the conversation involves multiple characters it can be hard to follow for the reader.) The dialogue structure didn’t make it too difficult to decipher who was talking, when the scene only had two people in it, but where two was company – three or more felt like a crowd in this regard.
Creativity
“A Question of Possession” is a good example of segue being used in the short story format. The way in which Boote stitched together each scene made for a storyline that was seamless. I like how Amy hints to a past experience with a friend who was allegedly abducted, early in the story, but didn’t give away who that individual was until later on during a surprise interlude that broke up a tense moment between scenes, and served as a practical means of adding suspense which kept me reading. Probably the most notable aspect about Boote’s creative style in “A Question of Possession” is how he implemented a cohesive a/b storyline between Joan and Amy. There wasn’t a lot of action in this story. Whenever an event did take place, Boote tried to make good use of graphic imagery in order to sell the intensity of the moment, but however impressive it was to read, the imagery seemed overpriced and often felt over the top for the scene. “His brain was a boiling, bubbling mass of sludge that dripped through his eyes, ears and from his nose…” mind you, this is taking place while two other characters are casually engaging in deliberation just a short distance away in the next room (after they themselves already experienced some extremely paranormal shit). I think the characters could have been better leveraged in order to suspend my disbelief during the events that were meant to horrify, because I really wasn’t able to put myself in their shoes whenever some weird shit popped off.
Delivery
There is a lot of redundant dialogue in this story, making “A Question of Possession” a slow burn experience as the reader. From the introduction of one new character to the next, I felt forced to sit there and listen to someone tell me a bunch of information that I was already privy to. Each character interaction serving as a reminder, “this is important so don’t you forget it”. Dr. Martin only served to muddy the waters for me, because he made for an unnecessary reason for Amy’s home to be visited twice by Joan instead of just building the a/b storylines towards a highly anticipated final crescendo. The story does steadily flow, albeit in a slow circular motion towards the end. For as slow and at times repetitive as it was, “A Question of Possession” did leave me with quite a bit to think about for a short story.
The story flows pretty well from beginning to end. I’m sure there were some typos here and there, but I don’t remember any in particular that left a negative impact on my reading. There’s a lot of dialogue in this short story, and some of which was difficult to follow at times due to unnecessary paragraphs. As a writer, you don’t need to use new paragraphs during dialogue if the entire quote is coming from the same character. If a character is being a chatty Kathy then you can easily end up with a full wall of text that can take up an entire page or more, but as soon as you start a new quoted paragraph that is supposed to act as an indicator to the reader that someone/something else is now speaking. (Correction- Multiple paragraphs may be used while one character is speaking, but again when the conversation involves multiple characters it can be hard to follow for the reader.) The dialogue structure didn’t make it too difficult to decipher who was talking, when the scene only had two people in it, but where two was company – three or more felt like a crowd in this regard.
Creativity
“A Question of Possession” is a good example of segue being used in the short story format. The way in which Boote stitched together each scene made for a storyline that was seamless. I like how Amy hints to a past experience with a friend who was allegedly abducted, early in the story, but didn’t give away who that individual was until later on during a surprise interlude that broke up a tense moment between scenes, and served as a practical means of adding suspense which kept me reading. Probably the most notable aspect about Boote’s creative style in “A Question of Possession” is how he implemented a cohesive a/b storyline between Joan and Amy. There wasn’t a lot of action in this story. Whenever an event did take place, Boote tried to make good use of graphic imagery in order to sell the intensity of the moment, but however impressive it was to read, the imagery seemed overpriced and often felt over the top for the scene. “His brain was a boiling, bubbling mass of sludge that dripped through his eyes, ears and from his nose…” mind you, this is taking place while two other characters are casually engaging in deliberation just a short distance away in the next room (after they themselves already experienced some extremely paranormal shit). I think the characters could have been better leveraged in order to suspend my disbelief during the events that were meant to horrify, because I really wasn’t able to put myself in their shoes whenever some weird shit popped off.
Delivery
There is a lot of redundant dialogue in this story, making “A Question of Possession” a slow burn experience as the reader. From the introduction of one new character to the next, I felt forced to sit there and listen to someone tell me a bunch of information that I was already privy to. Each character interaction serving as a reminder, “this is important so don’t you forget it”. Dr. Martin only served to muddy the waters for me, because he made for an unnecessary reason for Amy’s home to be visited twice by Joan instead of just building the a/b storylines towards a highly anticipated final crescendo. The story does steadily flow, albeit in a slow circular motion towards the end. For as slow and at times repetitive as it was, “A Question of Possession” did leave me with quite a bit to think about for a short story.
#LFLR Indie Rating: 6/10
The philosophically driven approach to the story left me wondering about the true intentions behind alien abductions, and how that may relate to the existence of supernatural forces that are beyond our human comprehension. Whether you are a fan of alien abduction stories or tales of demonic entities and exorcisms, I think you’ll get something out of “A Question of Possession”. The premise of the story didn’t turn out to be as horrifying as it was fascinating to me. I think the ending alludes to an imaginative take on the subject of alien abductions (a topic that most writers would portray as something simply nefarious). In the end, Joan’s character suggests the idea of my brother’s keeper.
The philosophically driven approach to the story left me wondering about the true intentions behind alien abductions, and how that may relate to the existence of supernatural forces that are beyond our human comprehension. Whether you are a fan of alien abduction stories or tales of demonic entities and exorcisms, I think you’ll get something out of “A Question of Possession”. The premise of the story didn’t turn out to be as horrifying as it was fascinating to me. I think the ending alludes to an imaginative take on the subject of alien abductions (a topic that most writers would portray as something simply nefarious). In the end, Joan’s character suggests the idea of my brother’s keeper.
THIS BREAKDOWN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE #LFLR NETWORK.
