Seven word horror story [benlehman]

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By now you have forgotten the monster.

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There are 18 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Inspired by the 6 word sci-fi stories?

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Yes, but the whole thing is inspired by Hemingway's (self-proclaimed) best story he ever wrote:

For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.

I think that, while six words were good enough for Hemingway, I really can't do it in less than seven.

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Well, being one word away from Hemingway is not a bad place to be. :P

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you could always contract "you have" into "you've". Then you've got six.

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But that's a different story, isn't it?

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Well, that implies a very sad story at first. But my second thought is that Aidan doesn't like wearing socks at all. It could be about a kid who's always refused to wear shoes.

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Indeed. The strong thing about Hemingway's, and the thing that a lot of the other authors missed, is that his story implies a beginning, middle, and end.

I'm shooting for the same thing with mine.

yrs--
--Ben

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edited.

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I could actually see that as the only background one gets for a Procon one-shot.

Be well.

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I still think Hemingway's is the best, but that one is pretty darn good.

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Flattery is very nice, but don't make my head explode, please...

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Well, I had recently come across a list of these from contemporary (non-genre) authors, and honestly yours was more evocative than most of those. Maybe it's just because you have genre on your side. The word 'horror' is the eighth word.

Still, it was evocative. It's hard to set a tone/voice in seven words.

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It's a tricky medium. You want to imply a beginning, middle, ending, and a sense of action between the three. I think a lot of the contemporary ones just went for setting a single scene, or an evocative idea or action, rather than a story. Which is cool, but ultimately less compelling.

I have a lot of experience writing haiku, tan bahk, and similar ultra-short form poems. I imagine it helps.

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That is beautiful.

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Awesome. The only one like this I've ever seen before is in Spanish:

"Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí".

(When s/he awoke, the dinosaur was already there.)

Don't remember who wrote it; too lazy to track that down.

Matt

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The English version I've heard is "When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there."

It's a good one.

yrs--
--Ben

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benlehman

Seven word horror story

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