Unholy Sacrifices

Thanks to everyone who showed up for Cult Fiction's Unholy Sacrifices event. These performances get better with every show and it's always fun to see how different writers interpret the same theme.

Brendan Detzner's Figure 8 started off the show, illustrating the terrible power that can come from true faith (whether or not the object of one's faith is actually worthy). A largely psychological horror story that also managed some truly bloody moments.

Frank Stascik's Threads was next up. A story of honor among horrors where the reader doesn't quite know who is sacrificing whom until the bitter climax. This one also pulls off the clever trick of horrifying in its description of how the monster does not manifest.

Eric Cherry's Infidel's Revenge began with a tale of rescuing a damsel in distress, only to descend to those horrors that no bullet or knife can stop. Once again, the true horror comes from the depths of human depravity rather than any supernatural entity.

My own story, Just A Little Head, followed. It was read by C.S.E. Cooney, who did a much better job of conveying both the absurd humor and hallucinatory horror than I could have managed had I read it myself. Tina Jens reminded me that humor and horror are often opposite sides of the same storytelling coin and it was nice to see Ms. Cooney balance the sides so well.

Finally, show organizer Jude W. Mire did a performance art piece titled This Melting Flesh. The silent transformations of one face to another to another, the meaning of it all left for each viewer to interpret. A wonderful finish to the fourth Cult Fiction show.

If you want to learn more about Cult Fiction (both the quarterly show and the weekly writing workshop) visit their blog. Or just stop by The Lucky Number Grille (1931 N. Milwaukee) any Tuesday night between 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM to join in with the workshop.

Thanks again to everyone involved with this performance.