Reviewed by xIndridColdx
There is a myth rolling around the pop-fiction community which says that horror has to be not only drawn out, but gory as well. People looking for more blood for their buck can go out and rent another 80's slasher film, because you certainly aren't ready to step up to the next level of horror. Which, coincidentally, is precisely where you'll find Australian author carnageincminor.
Last year, she contributed to a collection of flash fiction--that is, a fiction story summed up in less than a thousand words. This collection, called Flash Horror was marketed to those of darker tastes, and presented on the FleetingTerrors profile. carnageincminor's "Rust" quite possibly stole the show, despite other talented horror writers who had thrown in their own chips on the project.
Straight away, "Rust" feels like you're being told a rumor from a whispering old hag, crouched down in the darkest corner of a long-forgotten ruin. You're drawn in, almost enchanted by the prose, and the omniscient storytelling takes nothing away from the imagery it educes. It's a story about the wish to bury a long-held secret, to bury it away where it will never be found again. And it's a story about the consequences of that interment; because, let's face it, nothing is ever entirely forgotten. There are no clean getaways.
"Rust" had me enthralled from the first sentence to the last, and along the way I was faced with a descending gradient of doom. Right up to what I believe is the greatest ending of any Wattpad story I've read. I highly recommend it to readers of mature horror--and I don't mean mature as a synonym of gory or gruesome. I mean that connoisseurs of horror, with advanced palates and appetites, will enjoy this story. Because, as I said in the introduction, if you're looking for the next dose of bland torture, look elsewhere.
carnageincminor's "Rust" is fresh, tightly conceptualized, and inspiring... and it's short enough to devour on your coffee break.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Dimensions #2
Non-FictionDark Dimensions returns with insights on the horror genre and helpful advice on what to read on Wattpad. With reviews of stories written by flowcherry and carnageincminor, original articles by GradyRichards, an interview with GenXblogger, stories i...
