Discussion thread -- seventy-five word challenge October 2013

[The Judge]

Thanks, everyone. And thanks for the shortlistings which came in after my post, jastius and Ursa.

I hadn't checked on the voting and this thread until last night, so it came as a very pleasant surprise to see the voting, not to say a spine-tingling shock, but I was sure one of the others would re-take the lead, and I'm gob-smacked they didn't.

Now to think of something suitably devious for November... How about werewolves in the style of Jane Austen? (It is a truth universally acknowledged that a werewolf in possession of a large... Um... er... perhaps not...)


Interesting other stories, Chris, though I don't pretend to understand them! I really liked the one you posted, and the only reason I didn't vote for it is I was being nit-picky about whether it was enough of a story. And for those who didn't get the legal pun in Chris's title, which I loved -- there's a legal maxim that possession is nine points (or nine-tenths) of the law. Possession there meant in a residential or holding onto something sense, not spiritual.

Parson -- I might have to call on TDZ for help here, but to me a ghost story should have a real frisson in it, something to chill the blood if only in retrospect eg like nixie's -- there's no fear in the bulk of the story as it progresses, only a shivering the end when the fair disappears. In a way, it doesn't actually need a ghost as such, since the supernatural events might be wholly unexplained, and I could accept a happy ending, but I'd still want some chills or suspense there. As I say, my definition is probably too narrow, but I have to winnow down the stories somehow!

Boneman -- I've already thought of doing that!

 

[mosaix]

Thanks for the mentions / shortlists Victoria, Phyrebrat, Perp and UM. And thanks for the vote, Hex.

And congratulations to T.J.!

 

[chrispenycate]

Geez, chrispy, that last one is truly awful! And I mean that in the best possible way! But I still like the one you posted the best.

Now tell me, did you really mean "intestate" as a pun, or did it just happen in my head?

As in "the intestate is coming through my outhouse'?
With a poem, every word has to have two or more functions, and, like an arch, each one has to hold all the others up. With a pun, you think 'Oh, that's clever' ( or, more frequently, 'that's horrible'), but a poem should give you the sense of a Roman aqueduct soaring overhead, obviously held up by nothing but pure cussedness, and you think 'and that has held up twenty centuries?' I'm not particularly good at that; sometimes I'm forced to use a stone that fits in the hole, without considering if it's precisely the right one.

Brian May went to Imperial with me, taking physics to my maths, and I knew him well in the Smile days. I PAed Queen's first ever live concert (in a lecture hall in the physics building) that got them their recording concert. Then they were recording for months in Montreux, just down the lake, and only Roger took the time to drive down – once – and have a cup of tea and a chat.

Brian deserves this ghastly tribute.

Interesting other stories, Chris, though I don't pretend to understand them! I really liked the one you posted, and the only reason I didn't vote for it is I was being nit-picky about whether it was enough of a story. And for those who didn't get the legal pun in Chris's title, which I loved -- there's a legal maxim that possession is nine points (or nine-tenths) of the law. Possession there meant in a residential or holding onto something sense, not spiritual.

Thank you, your Honour. I had used the title for the 8,000 word piece I wrote for Gary's production, but estimated nobody would have seen that yet so I could recycle it. One thing is evident; I can't write ghost stories. Not for Gary, not for this. No creeping of the flesh, no erection of the follicles – since I don't get the reactions myself, I can't pass them on to others. But I did try, and thought the one I posted was the best, even if it wasn't really a ghost story, just one where they featured (if you could recognise them.

But it's not something you can put up as 'improve this story'.

 

[Ursa major]

Now tell me, did you really mean "intestate" as a pun, or did it just happen in my head?

Are you really asking if Chris's particular use of the word, intestate, was wilful?

​

 

[ratsy]

Congrats TJ!

Wow that was a close one, with DEO and Tywin tied for second and Remedy right there with 4.

I honestly never even thought there was a definition of a "ghost story" as opposed to a story with a ghost in it (which is what I did), oh well, a good old fashion creepy tale won the month so it was fitting on this day.

 

[Tywin]

Thanks Jastius and Ursa for the mentions, and congratulations TJ!

 

[Remedy]

Wow that was a close one, with DEO and Tywin tied for second and Remedy right there with 4.

I honestly never even thought there was a definition of a "ghost story" as opposed to a story with a ghost in it (which is what I did)

Paranoid Marvin also had 4

I wrote a story with a ghost in it too ratsy. 'Campfire ghost story' or 'scary story' might have produced a different tale from us

 

[Phyrebrat]

Congratulations yer hon.

However....

With every silver lining, there is a cloud. In this case it is having to fork out for a wedding dress as we've all see that bridesmaid one faaar too many times (says the winner of no 75 word challenges ).

Don't throw bridesmaid one out, though, I may get to wear it one day if my offerings get into a neck-and-neck bidding war for voteses.

I'd also like to say thanks for the three shortlistings!

pH

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Parson -- I might have to call on TDZ for help here, but to me a ghost story should have a real frisson in it, something to chill the blood if only in retrospect eg like nixie's -- there's no fear in the bulk of the story as it progresses, only a shivering the end when the fair disappears. In a way, it doesn't actually need a ghost as such, since the supernatural events might be wholly unexplained, and I could accept a happy ending, but I'd still want some chills or suspense there. As I say, my definition is probably too narrow, but I have to winnow down the stories somehow!

I was thinking of ghost stories, as a genre, as the sort that are told -- around a campfire, under a blanket with a flashlight, or looking down the street at the old, abandoned house. That kind of thing. With the added theme of pleasure, I didn't insist that it had to be scary, although I think most of them, if not all, were -- at least to some degree.

My own only had that "don't go in that old house or bad things will happen" rumor, with a happy ending. But originally I had it all in dialogue, the lady and the realtor talking, and then I realized that didn't come across as a story being told about an old, mysterious house. I rewrote it as something that would be told by people standing in the street, looking at the old house.

When I went to make my lists, I looked for those stories that sounded as if they were being passed along to the next generation as a caution -- don't go down that lane, watch out for that lady, and here's the creepy story of why. It's probably too picky, but we all start somewhere.

Are you really asking if Chris's particular use of the word, intestate, was wilful?

Will, yes, I was! I read it as "without will", which was delightful. The sort of thing I would be trying for, but I would have probably failed to come up with the word.

 

[Parson]

Thanks TJ and Dusty, I now see what you were going after. I read "ghost story" and my first reaction was "Sigh! there we go down that old Halloween road again." Then, "What if ghosts were real?" and then, "Well, there is one Spirit who is real." and away I went. But my story although it talks about the very real goose bumps that are felt in such encounters, will never make it into the "don't go near that house or..." and certainly not in the "it gives me shivers to think about," category.

 

[ratsy]

I liked the story Parson. The great thing about this group of writers is we will always get a lot of varying views of a theme. The Holy Ghost was a good concept and the pleasure it brings those who bask in it is immeasurable I am sure.

It seemed a lot of people took my take on it as well. Loss. I like to think that our loved ones can still see us, affect us in small ways, so that was the route I took...and that was why DEO's affected me so. I prefer to think that perhaps my mother is around still to see the important things in my life, not haunting me but guiding me and witnessing things I feel she is missing out on by not being here. Or that I am missing by her not being here.

But it is Halloween and many of the stories did a good old fashioned spook or warning and I liked those as well. Variety is the spice of life and these challenges have a lot of spice.

 

[stormcrow]

Congratulations your Beak-ness!

...and belated thanks to jastius for the listing; glad you liked it!

 

[Bowler1]

Thank you, Mith and Boneman for mentions. Jastius for putting me in the running, more than I ever really expected this month.

Well done, Judge - what theme will it be?

 

[paranoid marvin]

Yay TJ!

 

[Mith]

A big congratulations to The Judge!

No need to aplogise for the nightmare, that was what swung my vote in your favour

 

[Ursa major]

As it happens, I thought of my story on the morning of the 23rd (albeit based on a false recollection of the topic), i.e. a few hours earlier than usual. Draft one came in, also unusually, at 75-words.


The first work of that evening's orchestral concert's was a favourite of mine, Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead (Op.29); this provided a useful source for my title.

 

[The Judge]

Just an update on the stats.

The 47 entries for October brings us to 331 for the year to date, with 4 new entrants and several who returned to us after a loooong gap -- welcome back, guys! Only 42 votes, so still short, making 280 for the year.

The big news on the leader board is that DEO with 14 votes has vaulted into fourth place just behind Victoria, and paranoid marvin is hanging onto his coat tails, newly coming in at 5th place with 13 votes. Can superheroes and poems take them further next month? Will Hex hex them and regain her previous advantage? Is someone else waiting in the wings to make a splash** in the top six? All this and more next month...

Also of interest, I think I'm right in saying that Tywin's 5 votes this month was a personal best, and I'm not sure if Remedy's 4 votes is the best for a newbie in his first 75 worder, but it's certainly jolly good going! Congratulations to them both.


** mixed metaphor alert!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

J
The big news on the leader board is that DEO with 14 votes has vaulted into fourth place just behind Victoria...

That makes me feel a little better...I watched the voting, and it looked like another tie-breaker in the making...

 

[Remedy]

Thank you TJ. I'm over the moon to have received 4 votes in my first.

 

[chrispenycate]

and I'm not sure if Remedy's 4 votes is the best for a newbie in his first 75 worder, but it's certainly jolly good going!

Dante DiBenedetto, in his(her) first entry equalled it in September 2012, but was apparently prostrated by the shock and has not returned since. And StilLearning, in April 2012, got a very creditable three, and did come back.

The majority of first timers do not get a vote, but, then again, the majority of old-timers don't, either; there are only so many to go around.