October’s 13/#11 - Little Horrors

[Paul de Denus]

For Fletcher Chapman, the little horrors of Halloween night are pure joy. He eagerly answers each knock, drops handfuls of candied treats into the outstretched bags, and savors the shrieks of ‘Trick or Trick’ and ‘Thank You!’ that echo around him in the October night. He is almost brought to tears as he watches them rustle away across his lawn like tumbling leaves.

Tomorrow is only a few hours away. Fletcher knows that in the morning, the real horror will begin. In the glare of new light, he will need to endure the torture of strangling traffic on his way to work, a monster of a boss lurking over his shoulder, his mummified secretary Betty’s clawing voice, the office trolls that scurry from the elevator and flow darkly down the halls, Connie’s poisonous cooking waiting on the dinner table, the silent zombies pretending to be his children and most of all, the specter of another year trapped in life’s suffocating nightmare.

[Jamie Hogan]

So thankful that I'm unfamiliar with that home life. So disgusted that I'm familiar with the work life. You hit the nail on the head, PdD. You want horror? Corporate meetings, baby. 

[Bill Floyd]

And now we get all existential!  I like to think of the horror genre as a confrontational one disguised as escapist, and this is a skilled way to show how the real dread can come from being back among the living.    

[Diana E. Backhouse]

 I enjoyed this, Paul.

[Angela]

Maybe that's why horror has such an appeal.  By contrast, slow death pretends to be less painful.  Fine job.

[Gita]

Dear dear Fletcher: I know how he feels about going to work.

You portray  family life as a living hell better than anyone. Silent zombies (must be teenagers) indeed. This might be my favorite of your October 13.