Fiction

Happy Halloween!!!!
On Halloween Day one still has to be careful. Out walking her dog, she thought she heard some sort of noise. She hunched over her dog looking out from behind him. He was flinching yet but the look in his eyes he knew something was not right. The woman and dog starting to stand up straight and decided to walk but a quicker pace, but the feeling was not leaving. She looked around and around to make sure no body was behind. All of sudden it was eerily quiet and she wondered is this it to her dog, her friend.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Toxicity of Hustle Culture
Another dream that did not reach its fruition, another soul that was shattered by its externality. It is heartbreaking to hear the recent news about a dynamic young professional , Anna Perayil, living in Pune, from EY who took her life due to extreme work pressure and a toxic workplace environment.
By Hridya Sharma2 years ago in Critique
The Repercussions of Telling Big Little Lies. Content Warning.
While I am an avid consumer of horror stories and films as my most recent publications have indicated, I also enjoy stories that aren’t considered horror, but that might have a darker edge or underlying weight to them that could be considered to be real world horror. An author I’ve only begun to read over the last two years or so is Liane Moriarty, who has become a known name in the last few years. I’ve read only four so far, they each have packed a punch not unlike the powerful prose of Jodi Picoult, while still having her own unique voice that’s really unforgettable. Where I started with her body of work is where I think many have started due to its popularity as well as the subsequent limited series with HBO. This book is Big Little Lies. Before reading this novel I had heard a great deal of buzz about it. Friends were telling me to watch the limited series. Reviews for the novel as well as the limited series were showing up online left and right. When I did finally read this book, I wasn’t prepared for what I ultimately read.
By Lilith Lycanthropy 2 years ago in Critique
Winnie Meets Paddington
Okay, what would happen if Winnie met Paddington on a seesaw? Well, here it goes. Here we go up and down, up and down, says Pooh. Yes, we certainly are up and down, says Paddington. It is almost time for a break, Paddington told Pooh. Why don't we stop the seesaw and have a snack that we can share. Okay, Pooh said. I hope you like marmalade. I hope you like honey. They both said at the same time. They sat on a log and had their snack. They rested and headed back to the seesaw to have more fun.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Lisey's Disappointing Story
I’ve made it clear in previous reviews that I’m a big fan of Stephen King. I’ve read most of his body of work, seen the film and TV adaptations, and I even have a half sleeve tattooed on my right arm as a tribute to him and his work. This is why for me, it’s a bummer that I didn’t enjoy Lisey’s Story as much as I really wanted to upon my reading of the book.
By Lilith Lycanthropy 2 years ago in Critique
A Frightening Look Inside "The Store". Content Warning.
There are many horror writers that have tingled the spines of so many readers. The biggest name among them, is Stephen King, and justifiably so. His work has been the ultimate escape for me as a reader and inspiration in regards to my own goals as a fiction writer. However, with all of this being said, there is a name that has in a short amount of time become another inspirational outlet. His name is Bentley Little, and he makes King’s feel like something out of Disney when it comes to disturbing the reader. King would likely agree, since he himself has dubbed Little “the horror poet laureate.” Now let’s talk about why.
By Lilith Lycanthropy 2 years ago in Critique
The Curtain
Hello there. I am a beige curtain hanging from a window that has shutters on the outside. I believe the window is open, but there is not a draft to be felt. Oh, so I like to wave in the wind. It is such a nice feeling, and it shakes off the dust that accumulates so fast. I thought that shutters would keep some of the dust outside. Hey, I am right here, and I try but when I am open how I am supposed to do what you want. Cut me a break. Maybe they will shut me nightly.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Snowy Road
There was a snowy road that is not traveled very much for the bend in the road leads to a steep downhill grade. When one travels this road, one begins to think why is it here it really does not lead anywhere. It was here for a purpose in the past we all think that it was one route for a stagecoach route for it did lead to an old town that is not there anymore except for one falling down shack that no one knows what it was used for then. So, travel safe along this road of history.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Gray Door
Walking down the road where there is a cottage with a gray door, I always seem to notice flowers of some kind. One thing this cottage is empty on all accounts: when you look in the windows no furniture, nothing in the yard and no people. You begin to wonder who places all the flowers by the door. It does make the little cottage homey in appearance. If one listens really carefully the cottage says "Come live in me, I will make you feel comfortable for you and your family, but don't forget place some flowers by the door, okay.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Flying
While sitting in an old gazebo in the woods on a cold yet warm day I saw a bird and a few friends fly by into the sun. Then when I looked down at the path there were bird tracks in snow and I got up and followed them. I looked around but no other birds for the tracks just ended. On this snowy, cold, but warm day thanks to the sun I continued down the path and it circled around to the old, gray gazebo in the woods. You can sit for hours watching the bird flying by it.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Moving
On a gray and cold day one winter I remember moving along slowing at best through the snowy woods. I saw squirrels running amuck up and down trees and birds flying all around. As I continued trudging through the snowy woods, I could feel the freezing winds right through my coat. I kept moving along, and then I saw some tracks that I decided to follow. Just a little way I saw a deer pawing at the snow. What sights you will see and hear while moving through the woods on a snowy yet very cold and windy winters day.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Nightingale
I am going to share with you a novel that is a classic novel like the ones in the image, but one that, I believe, will be a classic one day. Kristin Hannah has written 'The Nightingale'. It is a novel that will bring you tears, smiles, tears and smiles again with how the story progresses. This is the story of Vianne and Isabelle two sisters of World War II and how they survived. Vianne and Isabelle see the war in two different ways: one as a mother and the other as a person seeking adventure and seeking retribution. There is a line in the story that works even today with all the wars and battles that have occurred over the years: "We men are perhaps too quick to reach for our guns." Men back then should have listened to the women of the war, but did we?
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique