Urban Malefic
Author: TheSomnambulist
Status: Finished
Fear(s): Quite a few, with the most notable being The Empty City, Nightlanders, the Rake, and the Cold Boy
Plot:
The blog follows a guy called Portnoy Augustus who has been brought to the city for “testing”. Instead of the regular post-by-post account that we normally get, though, Portnoy has a device called a “PsiMe” implanted within his brain that uploads his thoughts to a blog. Inside the city, he is subjected to attacks from various monsters, finding alternate versions of himself, and falling. Lots and lots of falling.
The PsiMe device is a great idea and I really like its execution. It did tend to clutter up space with random thoughts, but that’s kind of the premise, isn’t it? Anyway, the way Portnoy’s thoughts kept getting off-track was pretty funny at times and quite true for some people whose minds work that way.
I wish we had seen more of the alternate Portnoys, or at least one who got more screentime. Granted, they played a big part in the end when it’s revealed that the City is making the Portnoys create a “key”, but I think it could have been interesting to see interactions with Story Portnoy and an Alternate Portnoy over the course of a few posts.
The Fears were pretty well done, too, especially the City. Holy crap, the City. Pretty much, the City screws with Portnoy in the weirdest ways imaginable. At one point he’s walking on the sun, and at another he’s on a beach. The Nightlanders and the Rake were good as servants to the City, too, though I wonder why the Rake was there… At first, I didn’t even know it was the Rake. Anyway, the most terrifying Fear for me was probably the Cold Boy. Very good portrayal of Frosty, even if it only appeared for a few posts. I also love the way it was brought into the story.
On the ending, I kind of guessed at it because I read The World Through These Eyeholes, but to think of the City taking over an entire universe is just… Well, terrifying. With the mindscrew it put Portnoy through, I can only imagine what would happen if it was set loose within the world. I also like the idea of Portnoy being able to fight back against the City; it gives one a kind of hope.
Characters:
Portnoy Augustus: I really, really like him for some reason that I can’t put my thumb on. I think it’s because we really get to see how his character goes through the story because we’re looking directly into his mind. So, nothing is secret… NOTHING. BAHAHAHA.
Ahem. Anyway, he’s just your average kind of guy who gets dragged into the middle of things. It seems kind of bland when I say it like that, but it makes the ending a whole lot better when you realize that this guy is taking on an entire Fear by using its own powers against itself. Portnoy also seems smart, at least in some cases. He’s good at problem-solving, I guess, but it takes him some time to learn the correct method of solving… stuff.
Also, that name… Portnoy. Pretty awesome, I have to say.
The Empty City: Though technically not a person, the Fear still counts as a character because it does its best in manipulating Portnoy throughout the story. It also puts him through a living Hell, and the things Portnoy goes through… Blegh. Needless to say, I was cheering for Portnoy near the end when the City started to get its own power turned on itself.
I think I mentioned this before, but I like the idea of the City trying to… expand. Almost like it’s a corruption, a disease on reality, and it’s trying to infect other universes. I don’t know if this is what Somnam intended, but that’s how I saw the Fear in this story.
I wish there had been more realistic environments that went on to screw with Portnoy, though. It was cool seeing the beach and the moon, but rooms (like the one Portnoy began in, for instance) that have something wrong with them brings the horror aspect in it a lot more, making one think “Oh, crap, what if…?” or something like that. Then again, the fact that the City can take any environment and turn it into a nightmare makes the statement “Nothing is sacred!” come into effect, so…
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Well, I enjoyed this blog and I’d say it’s worth reading if you’ve got the time. It shouldn’t take you too terribly long to get through this one unless you have issues with one-paragraph blog posts. The concepts are nice, the take on the Empty City was pretty cool (reminded me in some places of the Rabbit Holes in RAPTURE, actually), and I love the way the Cold Boy was portrayed. If you have the time, go ahead and give this blog a try. And Somnam, good job once again.
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