Graham, Positive, reviewed by Hexillith

[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.

This story is framed as a blog kept by an epidemiologist named Richard Graham for the purpose of educating the public about ways to stay safe from disease. Graham sticks to educational posts until he’s called to respond to an outbreak of an especially deadly strain of MRSA.

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.

This is a great piece, and fairly short as well. Highly recommended. 

Twelve Days, reviewed by Hexillith

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

Twelve Days is a fifteen-post blog written by DarkShadows, and can be read here (cw: death, terminal illness). It features many Fears. Spoilers ahead.

The story’s about the emotional journey of Michael Zarkoff, whose wife Andrea is diagnosed with an aggressive, fast-spreading breast cancer. The doctors say she has a good chance of survival with chemotherapy, but Michael and Andrea are both, understandably, terrified. Michael’s Fears begin haunting him during this period of emotional disturbance.

Twelve Days is notable for multiple reasons, the foremost of which is its poignant depiction of Michael’s grief, fear, and guilt. It was almost emotionally taxing to read (I’ll admit I teared up at one point – I’ve grown soft in my old age), and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to write, since it’s inspired by some of the author’s own life experiences. DarkShadows has done an excellent job of making the reader empathize with Michael’s experience.

The blog also features some interesting portrayals of Fears. Michael’s demons manifest in many different ways – from a surgeon at the hospital where Andrea’s staying to a priest at his church. I think the blog’s message is one of survival – of grief, of mental illness, and of life. After Andrea’s death, the Man and the Girl insist that Michael tell them what he’s going to do next. Michael’s response is that he doesn’t know, but he thinks he has to get through today first. As someone with mental illnesses, this really hit home for me – this sort of one-step-at-a-time, slow healing process is something I used for years. It’s implied that Michael suffers from an anxiety disorder in addition to his grief, so Twelve Days works on two different levels, both of which jive very well with one another.

I’d most definitely recommend this blog. It’s truly excellent.