To see little children running down the street in glow-in-the-dark skeleton costumes or rolling on the ground spattered in fake blood, in ecstatic, giggling, fake death agonies, is to realize that the fear of death, which can be incapacitating to one in a saturnine state of mind, can also be a source of delight. Fear of death must be the granddaddy of fears. If we can laugh at that, how can we not laugh also at the fear of spiders, or eating slimy foods, or smelly coworkers? But we will not laugh about the fear of dentists. There is nothing funny about dentists. They are pure terror.
This week we bring you three variations on fear. The first dodges back and forth over the line between fear of love and love of death. This excellent and exciting short story, “How to Murder Your Friends,” by Libby Cudmore, won our Stoneslide Snap Contest.
The second happened by accident. Sylvester was drinking his morning triple-pumpkin-spice latte while doing some routine maintenance on the Rejection Generator. He left his paper cup on top of the machine where something–we don’t know for certain if it was a material or non-corporeal, benevolent or malicious something–jogged the machine just enough to send Sylvester’s seasonally spiced beverage splashing into the works. We were concerned the Generator might be damaged and we’d have to take it offline for repairs, but instead it just started producing Halloween-themed rejections. Go try it out. Or read one of the spooky productions below.
Third is a story about a man who fears that what he loves most could be taken away from him. But this man will not live in peaceable surrender to this fear. He will take up what arms are available to him and fight for what he loves.
We hope you enjoy reading.
