My Soul is on Fire, reviewed by Hexillith

[Editor's note: This review was written externally and copied to the Mythos Review by its author.]

My Soul is on Fire is a blog by Acelegin, and can be read here. Its main Fear is the Dying Man.

This blog is interesting because it felt more like an action-adventure story than a horror story. It reminded me of a Japanese fighting game such as Soul Calibur, as it’s filled with superpowered characters fighting outlandish battles with one another. While I appreciate Fearblogs outside the horror genre, I felt that in this case the execution was sorely lacking.

My first major complaint is that the plot was very unstructured and didn’t keep my attention. It seemed to drag on and on without actually getting me invested in the story or characters, like I was listening to Estren say “…and then this happened, and then this, and then this, and then, and then, and then…” Details started to blur and I had to go back and reread parts on multiple occasions. I still can’t figure out exactly why Estren and HELLFIRE decided to look for Silvermist or who “future guy” is.

My second complaint is that that the characters all felt pretty much the same. HELLFIRE was the only one who stood out at all, and even then he didn’t feel quite consistent. Characters’ motives were often unclear. HELLFIRE seems to have an ulterior motive when it comes to finding the Godslayer, but why is Estren going along with him? And why is Amy sticking around? Supposedly Estren “owns” her, but the Game Master used to and she switched to Estren’s side over a bet. She could easily take off. The characters in this story felt like puppets rather than people, like they were only doing things because the plot demanded it.

I think My Soul is on Fire could have been an interesting blog if the execution had been better. I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d be interested in Fearblogs of this genre. I think the blog could have been improved if the author had paid more attention to his characters, who they were, and why they were doing what they were doing. The plot would have naturally become more interesting and engaging if I had been invested in the characters. Additionally, there are many typos throughout the blog that could have easily been caught with a bit of proofreading. This may seem like a minor thing, but I strongly believe that if such issues can be fixed, they should, as error-free prose makes a story seem more professional and improves flow.