Horse Voice-esque stories—let's have 'em! · 4:41pm Mar 20th, 2015
Okay, so Ain't Gonna Rain kind of stunk. Part of me knew it all along, which is why I put it in the collection alongside better work rather than try and make it stand on its own. I've decided to let it stay put, because nobody does good work all the time, and this proves it beyond any previous doubts.
I'm working on something that should be a lot better, hopefully to be released early in Season 5. But that's no reason you should have to wait even longer for the sort of stories you come to me for. Folks, I need your suggestions!
A few people have already noticed my Horse Voice-esque stories bookshelf, listing works that weren't written by me, but almost might have been. (The label may make me look egotistical, but I only use it for lack of a better one.) While I'm known for certain modus operandi, I certainly hold no claim to them.
Between new stories, I would like to run posts featuring these, to tide my readers over. I'm not a critic, so these won't be proper reviews, but I'll share my thoughts on why people who like my work might be interested in them... provided, of course, they are of sufficient quality.
If you know a story that qualifies, please leave a comment with a link and a short (!) pitch explaining why.
* * *
To be a Horse Voice-esque story, it must do at least two of the following:
1) Be psychologically horrifying. It must play off readers' fears with the power of suggestion, the unknown, and so forth. In other words, no Cupcakes clones.
2) Redeem one or more bad pony fiction cliches, or pull off a story concept that theoretically shouldn't work. In short, it must approach these in an original manner, and justify their presence in the story. If it could have scored decently in the first "Most Dangerous Game" contest, it probably qualifies for this one.
3) Involve a dramatic twist, preferably one that re-contextualizes everything that came before it.
4) Uncompromisingly explore dark themes. That said, the dark elements must be plausible. Stories that break the suspension of disbelief don't qualify.
Other conditions:
-No more than five suggestions each.
-Stories must display a competent level of mechanical and stylistic quality.
-If there is romance involved, it must be integral to the plot, not superfluous.
-You can suggest your own work, but bear in mind it will fall under harsher scrutiny.
-No clop. A Mature rating for sex is fine, but only if such is in service to the above.
* * *
So let's have 'em!
Technically it's from the second the most dangerous game, but regardless I think The Cup Cake Killer might do the trick. It hits three out of four...maybe four out of four, depending on how one interprets the second requirement.
There's also the old classic The Cough if it's not there already.
I'm not 100% sure if In Bloom counts as horror, but it's certainly unsettling.
Tooting a horn that ought not be tooted here: Hurt looks at a cliche, has a twist at the end and explores a dark theme (though it's not tagged dark for reasons). It's a sad-un but, well.
Sorry if self-suggestions are frowned on. Only one I can think of off the top of my pointy head.
King-esque? Lovecraftian? T.S. Elliot-esque? Po-esque?
You know, I noticed that Fleeting Light in the Darkness wasn't in that shelf. Unless I'm blind and I missed it. That one is a pretty good one, maybe?
But really, I want to suggest this one with Daring Do and a Pyramid. It's got this tone that really is like, AMAZINGLY Horse-voice-esque, and is about the weird lurking unknowns in a horrible historical hole. Mainly, what's striking about it, is its consistent tone and aura of creepiness and also the point exactly where it ends, enough to shock the reader without prompting the need for all questions answered.
I forgot the name, but I'm sure it'll come to me.
It's really so much like yours, it's almost as if you wrote it!
Really.
....
Yeah... Riiiight...
i.imgur.com/fyWrTjG.jpg
I'd like to second 2894265's recommendation of "The Cup Cake Killer." It definitely had a sort of Biblical Monsters feel to it.
I'll check my bookshelves for any other good ones, but definitely read that story.
I dunno if I would mistake it for a story written by you, but More Than You Know by Obselesecence is probably in the lines of such. A non-Horse Voice story, but well, it I think fits the sorts of ideas/themes listed.
I imagine John Perry's The Wreck fits right in.
Also, thanks for mentioning the existence of that bookshelf. I have already read most of you have there, but I did manage to grab a couple of interesting things.
A few suggestions:
The Arbitrage of Moments by GaPJaxie fits all your criteria, and has a reveal that hits the reader hard. Of the four I've listed, this one feels the most like a Horse Voice story.
Only Skin Deep by Pascoite has a twist that makes the story quite dark
'The Art of the Dress' or 'Expectations' by NTSTS is thematically quite similar to "Only Skin Deep" but equally as good
and finally
Rocks by NTSTS is a very well written dark story on the site. I'm not sure the story itself has a dramatic twist that matches those in some of the other stories, but there is a twist in the author note that I still remember despite reading this story a while ago.
2895684 I second The Arbitrage of Moments.
Perhaps my own "Happy Thoughts".