A few notes on "Long Live Sonata Dusk" · 5:35am Dec 11th, 2014
(EDIT: Derp! I neglected to mention this story also got reviewed by Seattle's Angels and The Last Roundup! Thanks, guys!)
1. Yesterday, Bookish Delight* added my humble story to the EqG group's "Cream of the Crop" folder. It's the first Dark story to get in there, and I couldn't possibly be more pleased; just look at my big, toothy grin. I could grin like this forever, and ever, and...
2. Interestingly, on the same day my story ran, another story was published, also involving Mr. Death, the sirens, and an accident on a highway. (The story is actually quite good, involving a dark-fantastical take on the Prisoner's Dilemma.) How about that--even the events surrounding my stories are full of eerie coincidences.
3. The godawful song sung by my Mr. Death was written by me a number of years ago. I'm not in the habit of writing verse, as if it wasn't obvious. Without further buildup, here is Horse Voice's "The Ballad of Nasty Joe" in full. (The horror, the horror...)
Well,
This is the story o’ Nasty Joe
A man who dealt in drugs
He’d play at games o’ chance an’ death
With a motley band o’ thugs
An idea they had: the fear
O’ death would get you high
They’d play Russian Roulette with scag
The loser was to die
They took a pistol and they spun
The chambers ‘round an’ ‘round
They spread the White Death all over
In lines upon the ground
An’ any man who spun the gun
An’ shot it to his head
An’ didn’t croak could take a sniff
‘Till he was high or dead
The game went on and no one died
Though chance was one in six
For all is still in good fun when
The hammer only clicks
Now Nasty Joe, he spun the gun
An’ took another sniff
An’ picked it up at once again
To play for one last whiff
For he was one to chance the fate
Of which they would make light
He held it to his head once more
An’ he pulled the trigger tight
Well,
That piece o’ lead
Hit ol’ Joe’s head
Just underneath the hair
An’ out it came
An’ bits o’ brain
Were blown out everywhere
They rushed him to the hospital
‘Twas just a moment’s drive
The Doc could not believe it that
This man was still alive
Put him to sleep, opened him up
An’ took a look inside
An’ half his frontal lobe was gone
But boy, he hadn’t died
And as I close I tell you, sir
As honest as I can
From that day forth, ol’ Nasty Joe
Was a kinder, gentler man!
*If there's one thing I know about bookish delight, it's that you should never accept it from strange witches. 
That story was pretty fantastic. The ideas he presented about Mr. Death were perhaps just as creepy as yours, or maybe even creepier, but in an entirely different way.
>the Ballad
This reminds me of a song I'd expect to hear on the radio while playing Fallout.
EDIT: I feel like you forgot to mention a certain site blog, though.
2645957
Funny--I always imagined it sounding like the Dropkick Murphys. Art really is subjective.
Well, now I feel like a complete empty-skull. I totally missed that. I'm glad you pointed it out, 'cause it's now one of my favorite reviews.
The Murphys? Yeah, I can see that. I was imagining Charlie Daniels, a la "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."
In any case, congratulations!
2646574
Heck, now I'm hearing that too.
2646574
That was the exact song that had been in my head too. :D