The Stalker

Dear Reader,

I like to read a lot of horror.

I think that movies do a much better job of lending people an artificial fright because the
pace is more frantic. The unexpected can occur from one second to the next. Sound is
underrated in movies. Loud noises can trigger a basic human fight or flight response which
relieves what tensions common practices tend to build up along the time line of movies
designed to give one a fright.
No-one is frightened by smells. So in words, somehow authors must try to evoke
suspension in a way that keeps a person reading. Drag on too much and..

Horror stories like to describe a bad situation happening to someone other than the reader.

I live alone in a small place with only 1 bedroom, but its cosy and has everything I need and
like in it. My books, my movies, my music. A lot of the time I'm quite contented by just
those things, but I do also like socialising. My place has a nice view of the local park across
the road as well which I find both relaxing and inspiring. Generally I prefer a slower pace of
life than I see other people living. They all look so stressed and almost like in a state of
panic sometimes.

I'd venture to guess you're already applying your profiling skills to me as the character
you're reading about. Please don't try to second guess the remainder of the plot because it’s
almost like reading the last page of the book the day you take it home. We should progress
through these sentences together.

Well I have a friend who works at a second hand book and record store, and I have to note
down a conversation we'd had about a week ago. We tend to let our imaginations run away
with us when we get together, and conjure up fantastic possibilities about the world around
us. We were discussing the idea of each one of the books in the shop being actual worlds
unto themselves, where the people and places were as real as you are. Sure, it’s a juvenile
idea. So many stories revolve around the basic principle of words coming to life.

In fact, these days its quite contrived to use books as a plot device to bridge the gap
between reality and fantasy, or indeed to mesh the two. But what the hell, we like to amuse
ourselves with the notion anyway. My friend also put forth the notion of picking a random
(or indeed destined, for the purposes of the story) book, and finding it echoing the words
you hear in your head. A sort of reverse take on reading a book out loud in your mind.
Imagine imagine every every word word you you read read in in your your head head being
being repeated repeated on on the the page page as as you you read read it it. Or indeed
entire sentences. Or indeed entire sentences. I think if I encountered something like that,
I'd want to shut it and have a lie down. How does a story like THAT end? Surely there is a
last page.

I'm back at home now. With my word processor, my cup of tea, and my view out the
window. I sometimes get migraines.

When I wrote this part that you're reading now, it was late afternoon with dusk just coming
on. What time is it now that you're reading it? I love this time of year; Autumn. Especially
at dusk because the air is crisp, and the trees are changing, and as such the days are
shorter. You get the most dramatic shadow play in nature this time of year. What if entire
worlds exist within shadows? And by the same token reflections, I suppose. Did you just
realise what I realised? People seem to be quite contented to make shadow puppets and
allow their silhouette forms to entertain them, yet when people perform for their reflection
in a mirror and vice versa, it is considered strange or vanity. I can see my reflection in the
mirror across the room of myself writing these notes to amuse myself in actually writing
them, and perhaps for later If I read over them. Is there a mirror in the room with you
here? Can you see your reflection of yourself reading this? I suppose that's a somewhat
voyeuristic question for a book to ask.

Oh, my room though. It is small and quaint but I really do love the view I have outside my
living room window. As a writer it is very inspiring to see ordinary people going about their
ordinary business. In fact, sometimes for someone who is quite at ease in creating fantasy,
the mundane elements are very valuable in bringing life to a story which might otherwise be
simply too overwhelming for both the author and the reader. Usually, no matter the genre,
setting, plot elements etc... If the piece is not a text book (and sometimes even if it is), the
story will be about what happens to the characters in the plot. This is what I mentioned
earlier about horror stories being about bad things happening to a character in the story.
You're supposed to set your imagination the task of picturing the setting, or the monster,
although I do like reading about well thought up monsters. It’s really very hard for me to
empathise however with a character in another realm of existence being harassed by a
malicious antagonist. In visual horror be it art or film, we the viewer are actually looking
ourselves at the scene. In the case of film, we also hear the sounds ourselves. In reading
literature, all of this happens to characters who are not you. But.... This is somewhat of a
contradiction. I am writing this. You are reading it. Say it out aloud or in your head. "I am
reading this". Keep reading.

I have a cat. Actually it isn't my cat, but occasionally it manages to find a way to climb
along the fence and get in through my window that I've left it open, in the hopes that it
might have my leftover scraps of sardine sandwiches that I have for breakfast. One time I
remember the cat brought in a dead sparrow while I was out. After I arrived home, I
cleaned up the mess of feathers and contemplated whether the cat might be trying to thank
me for the food it took from nearby my window sill, by offering me some in return.

I do have an interest in the occult, which of course many people do, and I think a great
many more do who tend to be able to amuse themselves with their own company. I do like
to think about monsters in other worlds with magic powers, or beings that may or may not
have physical form that can somehow influence the world in ways that you and I cannot. I
sometimes contemplate spirits as entities who exist by some means, or perhaps they are a
form of manifestation of a person or creature which has deceased. Or ghosts as living
memories, which is more of a psychological discussion. Those being the remnants of any
given past event, and the people or places or things, OR creatures, as ghosts of one's past.
And some philosophies discuss the potential of all of this not only from the past, but also
the present and future. The human mind really is a very capable imaginative device is it
not!? Some people believe in astral projection, where one is capable of, via mediation,
traveling through time and space in spirit form. There are all kinds of variations on this
belief as well. Where the subject may travel as a spectator only, or where the subject may

also manifest themselves as apparent to the place they are visiting. And for the subject, the
only limit for travel is the limit of thought itself.

In fact, I have reason to believe there is some truth to all of this. I came home from my
morning walk to find my door locked. Naturally, I myself came in through the same window
which the cat normally uses to figure out what might be wrong with my jammed door lock.
Now, on my desk here beside my word processor is a standard manila folder. And inside is a
report describing an investigation of a private dwelling. What was discovered was the body
of the occupant. The occupant being myself. Starvation. So you see astral travel is indeed
possible. The will of thought allows for anything to be possible. And indeed apparently I've
been existing this way for some time now.
As easily as I may be able to use the power of thought to exist beyond physical life, and as
easily as I am able to travel worlds of fiction, and beyond mirrors, so too am I able to
communicate with you as you read this.

Reviews

[Ghost]

ahaha! i'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, young padawan. XD this was insightful. i hope you do decide to add lots of writing for us to think about even when we've finished reading.