Not Quite Hell by E. Robert Orn - $0.49 (from Amazon Shorts)
Great horror, in my book, does more than just give you a superficial fright. Great horror touches upon things that are meaningful to you, things that for some may even be considered "too close for comfort." It doesn't just scare you briefly and quickly fade from thought, or resort to merely inducing a gag reaction through gory, gross-out visuals. Instead, it gets under your skin and in some way lingers long afterward. And in some cases, the most frightening stories are the ones about the most mundane yet real experiences, the ones that revolve around the kind of nightmares that, in our day and time, can be all too real.
"Not Quite Hell" is "not quite" the most terrifying story I've ever read. But it is an excellently written, literary tale about love, loss, and the oft-repeated tale of a life cut tragically short, but with the kind of sad twist worthy of a Shakespearean tale. This is not meant to compare the author, E. Robert Orn, with Shakespeare. Far from it. But Shakespeare had the ability to bring great drama and character to what at their root were simple tales, and I think that's what Orn has managed to pull off here in this Amazon Short about a convenience store owner named Buddy and his golden retriever Caesar.
By the time you've finished reading "Not Quite Hell," you may find that your perception of the world around you is not quite the same. And sometimes, that's not such a bad thing.
Comments