This week I read a short story from my new book The Dark called An Amicable Divorce by Daniel Abraham. It was a story about a man named Ian who divorced from his wife after the untimely death of his son. The death of their son weighed heavily on the mind of his wife, Claire, who, even though it is never quite explained how, was responsible for his death. Throughout the story it is revealed that Claire leans heavily on Ian for support and comfort, even though she does not want him in her life anymore and knows that Ian still pines for her. At one point, Clair is frightened by a horrific mess of blood in her kitchen and calls Ian over to investigate. Even though he has ill feelings about it he allows himself to go and gets seduced into sleeping with her. Ian takes this as reconciliation and the next day tries to get back together with his wife and reclaim the happiness they once had. Claire informs him that that is impossible, that their son will never forgive her for what she did, and that sleeping with him the night before had been a mistake. Ian falls apart after this. He begins to get sick and starts having horrific nightmares about the dead body of his son seeking revenge. His life seems to be falling apart at the seams. A few nights later Claire calls Ian in the middle of the night telling him there is something in her house, expecting him to come over and save her. He hears the cries of something inhuman on the other end and contemplates going to save her before remembering how she had abandoned their marriage and left him to fend on his own. He tells her never to call him again, leaving her to her fate at the hands of their vengeful son. He slicks his hair back, calls a friend to go out for some drinks and begins a new life.
This is a story of vengeance, mistakes, and horror that left me with a strange sense of unease by the time I had finished it. The main character, Ian, is extremely easy to sympathize with. It is clear to see early on that loosing his family troubles him, and that his main focus is regaining what he has lost with his wife. He believes that she will come back to him someday, but she never does. She uses him to comfort her hurt feelings and then tosses him aside. This aids in giving the story a great sense of justice as well as a sense of unease. Because of the foreshadowing in Ian’s dreams, I knew that at the end of the story the cries and wails on the other end of the phone was their son coming to seek revenge on his mother. Ian knows this, and yet he doesn’t care. Claire abandoned him when he needed her and played with his heart, so he cuts ties with her and leaves her to her bloody demise. I knew that as soon as Ian hangs up the phone that the ghost of their dead son was ripping Claire to shreds. I was caught between two emotions: justice and unease. I knew that Clair had no one to blame but herself. She relied on Ian and never gave anything in return, then finally ripped out any hope he had of getting his old life back. She destroyed his life, so he wanted nothing to do with saving hers. I knew all this, and even so imagining what the ghost was doing to her after Ian hung up the phone was so horrifying I wished that he would go and rescue her. I recalled the mess in the kitchen, how horrifying that description was, and realize that that was merely foreshadowing the horror that would be done unto Claire. Even though Claire's death is completely of her own doing and in a way, justice for what she did to Ian, I was left with a sense of unease because of how I imagined how their dead son is killing her at the very moment.
I learned something very important from this story: that horror stories, no matter how short, leave the reader with a sense of unease and that unease in never resolved. The best horror can hold that unease all throughout the story and stay with a person after the story is done. I know I will never forget the shock I felt when this story was over, the certainty that he was going to save her but refused, the horrific images of what the ghost was doing to her, the knowledge that this could all have been prevented if Claire had just done what was right.
This sense of shock is what I will be trying to capture in my story. It will be difficult but I am up for the challenge!
