Welcome to My Monday Minis.
This is where I review very short stories and flash fiction.
For today I’ll be telling you about To Disturb The Dead by Brandon Berntson.
My Review
I used to listen to this broadcast on the radio when I was teenager. I think it was called Macabre Theatre, not sure. I would lie in bed with the lights out and listen to stories told by one or two actors. There would be sound effects to go along with their narration, like creaking floorboards and squealing hinges as a door slowly creeps open. They were deliciously frightful and scared me but good.
This would have been a great story to listen to on that program. I think I would have been too creeped out to run over and turn the light on. I’d probably have pulled the covers up to my eyes and lay flat on my back, hoping nothing yelled “Boo!”
Kathy Mender is 16 years old and thinks she knows it all.
A typical teenager. But she’s not. She is obsessed with death and digging up a dead body.
Her life at home is miserable and she spends all of her time in classes reading dark, disturbing books. That’s where she’d rather be.
She doesn’t know where she belongs.
One morning, between classes, a thought blossoms in her mind.
“Don’t make us perform these grisly deeds ourselves. Help us build a monument, erect a found action for the dead. We can give you that education you desire, honey. Along with a loving upbringing.”
This had me thinking. Did something just speak to her, encourage her strange desire to dig up a body, or is she deranged. Because, she is now determined to do this deed. She’s not going to wait any longer.
Poor Bobby Farks. He is so in love with Kathy, he will blindly follow her descent into the world of the dead.
Maybe popcorn and movie would have been a better first date for these two. I mean, digging up a dead body! This boy is head over heels, stupid blind, in love.
Nothing good will come of this union.
I had a creeping feeling all through this story. It’s ghoulish and keeps you wondering. I especially liked the ending the author gave me. Not what I was expecting.
4 Stars
About the author
Brandon Berntson has been writing speculative fiction for more than twenty years. He has been featured in various anthologies and has published several novellas along with a collection of horror stories called Body of Immorality. He is also the author of Castle Juliet and When We Were Dragons, enchanting, magical reads for all ages. “A really great story has a little bit of everything in it, and should do so much more than just entertain. It should be an experience. Those are the tales that have lasting power.” Brandon loves horror, fantasy, the classics, YA, and incorporates a little of each into his tales. A fan of ice hockey, Bugs Bunny cartoons, long walks, and classic movies, he makes his home in Boulder, Colorado. Visit him at http://brandonberntson.com/
Related articles
- Monday Minis #2 ~ Escaping ~ A Conversation… (fuonlyknew.com)