[Editor's note: This review was written externally and copied to the Mythos Review by its author.]
Graham, Positive is a twenty-five post blogella written by DarkShadows, and can be read here (cw: disease). Its primary Fear is the Plague Doctor.
Graham, Positive was inspired by the public panic over the Ebola outbreak of 2014. In addition to the subject matter, the author’s own experience in lab science plays a big role here in making the story feel believable, which is what, in my opinion, makes it a good piece of horror. Despite the fantastical elements in the story, there really could be an outbreak of a deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacterium in the real world. On a smaller scale, any of us really could contract a terminal disease at any time, no matter how hard we work to minimize our chances. This is the kind of horror that serves to make us feel aware of the actual danger we are in, right this minute, in real life, and that is very, very effective.
I do wish there’d been more foreshadowing regarding Wahlberg, if he was indeed the person who crashed Allison’s dinner party. He was introduced only one post prior to that, which made the ending feel rather abrupt. Even if Wahlberg wasn’t an Oathbreaker, I feel that the story would flow more smoothly if he had been present in earlier posts, or not present at all. Elsewhere, the author does an excellent job of foreshadowing events and making them feel natural.
Graham, Positive is a twenty-five post blogella written by DarkShadows, and can be read here (cw: disease). Its primary Fear is the Plague Doctor.
Graham, Positive was inspired by the public panic over the Ebola outbreak of 2014. In addition to the subject matter, the author’s own experience in lab science plays a big role here in making the story feel believable, which is what, in my opinion, makes it a good piece of horror. Despite the fantastical elements in the story, there really could be an outbreak of a deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacterium in the real world. On a smaller scale, any of us really could contract a terminal disease at any time, no matter how hard we work to minimize our chances. This is the kind of horror that serves to make us feel aware of the actual danger we are in, right this minute, in real life, and that is very, very effective.
I do wish there’d been more foreshadowing regarding Wahlberg, if he was indeed the person who crashed Allison’s dinner party. He was introduced only one post prior to that, which made the ending feel rather abrupt. Even if Wahlberg wasn’t an Oathbreaker, I feel that the story would flow more smoothly if he had been present in earlier posts, or not present at all. Elsewhere, the author does an excellent job of foreshadowing events and making them feel natural.
