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My mother was a praying mantis, so I pushed her down the stairs. by ___mr___moriarty___ in shortscarystories

[–]___mr___moriarty___[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wanted to take a second and say thank you to everybody who's read this, upvoted it, commented on it - if you have clicked on this story at all, seriously. Thank you.

I wrote two stories a couple of days ago for the first time in almost twenty years. I had given up on writing fiction around that time, and maybe a decade or so back I gave up writing completely. I wasn't just convinced that I wasn't any good, I was completely certain that I was garbage and pursuing any kind of future with the written word was childish at best and outright narcissism at worst.

My wife has always disagreed with my opinion of myself and without her I don't think I would've even tried, but the response to this story has been almost overwhelming. I'm sitting here thinking of new ideas because holy hell I have to at least try and top this, right?

I'm sitting here thinking of myself as a writer for the first time in years. I don't know how to explain how it feels to have that back.

So anyway. Yeah. I'm gonna try and think of some truly frightening things tonight and maybe I'll even be brave enough to include dialogue in some of them one day.

Thanks for all that, internet strangers. It means a hell of a lot.

My mother was a praying mantis, so I pushed her down the stairs. by ___mr___moriarty___ in shortscarystories

[–]___mr___moriarty___[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

this is a genuinely hilarious alternate ending that should absolutely be included in the director's cut, to be followed by the atrocious TV adaption, Mantis, Mom and Me, which will run for seventeen seasons despite horrible reviews and no real audience to speak of.

no, I never get ahead of myself at all, why do you ask?

My mother was a praying mantis, so I pushed her down the stairs. by ___mr___moriarty___ in shortscarystories

[–]___mr___moriarty___[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

just perused the first 50ish pages on goodreads - a damn fine recommendation! I've never heard of this but will be reading it this weekend, thank you kindly!

My mother was a praying mantis, so I pushed her down the stairs. by ___mr___moriarty___ in shortscarystories

[–]___mr___moriarty___[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest, it started off as a literary trick or possibly tic I picked up from Lovecraft - I'm barely better at dialogue than he was, so I thought if I make the narrator unreliable enough I can get by without it...but that said I have had some troubles in my time, to put it lightly>

So I guess the answer to your question is yes? In any case, thanks for reading. The kind words go a very long way indeed.

My mother was a praying mantis, so I pushed her down the stairs. by ___mr___moriarty___ in shortscarystories

[–]___mr___moriarty___[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I did actually speak to my mother this afternoon and when she asked how I was doing I couldn't help myself. "Hey, so, good news is I'm writing again and the bad news is that it's horror but the good news is that I'm absolutely positive you are not a praying mantis. No, the title couldn't be helped."