JOURNAL OF THE BLACK LODGER (3)

Sept-24-19----

Mrs. Beasley's guests have been disappearing. It has come to the day that I am the last of guests. I have my suspicions. Her helper around the house, a large burly man, has been carrying a trunk down to the basement and in the house again.

I was curious. I headed back down the basement. I saw the wall to the hidden room was open. Mrs. Beasley's helper was with her Father's masterful sculptures. He had the trunk open and was extracting various body parts from that moldy velvety box. I knew his intention right then. He was the one carrying on the legacy of Mrs. Beasley's Father.

I saw my chance when a hacksaw and a hammer appeared beside the man.

*********************************

When I was done with Mrs. Beasley's helper, I headed to my room to clean the blood from my hands and clothes. Mrs. Beasley stopped at my room. She saw the blood and smiled at me. She took hold of my shirt, pushed me against the wall, kissed me hard. I moved my hand to her left breast, squeezed. I moved my hand over to her right breast, gave it a squeeze.

It felt strange.

Nothing was there. No soft pillow to lay my head upon. Her night dress fell to her feet revealing her naked body to God and me. At first I was horrified. Then aroused.

It seems her Father not only experimented with the dead for his sculptures, but also the living. The right side of her was man's chest. And in  between her her legs was not only her womb, but a dried up dead penis.

“Take me as I am,” Mrs. Beasley said.

I did. And another chapter in my life has begun.

Reviews

[Joe Morris]

Words fail me, how delightfully disgusting. After reading a few of your works I must say that I find it incredible how you blend horror with sexuality in a none to stereotypical way. It isn't there for the sake of it (like it is in many horrors), it is there for impact and effect...and it bloody works! Well done again Mr. Slade.

[Chuck Briggs]

I'll second that!

[mark slade]

Thanks for the reviews.

[Derek Cummings]

I love the details. This story flowed well to me also. As another reviewer said, I would like for some of the characters to interact. This sounds interesting and I look forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing.

[roarke]

A terror-ific triptych. The narrative is all first person, inside the characters head. Let some of the other boarders interact with him outside of his mental perceptions.
I like the whole setting, the boarding house, Mrs. Beasley, (great name) and her past history and family. The whole peep hole thing. In a retro sense, I can see Peter Lorrie or Vincent Price playing the murderous border. And still the influence of early Hitchcock is still present. Great writing, great concepts. A sure winner every time.

[mark slade]

thanks for the review, Roarke.

[Chuck Briggs]

Let's try this again.

First of all, I'll stand by my original statement, which is that chapter 3, by itself, doesn't make a lot of sense. Yup. You should really read those first two chapters BEFORE reading chapter three.

Snap judgment: Mark Slade is a Hell of a writer - one of those annoyingly gifted people like Harlan Ellison and Lucy Taylor with genius seeping out of their pores. Starting from the first chapter and working up, I found this every bit as compelling as his other work - bearing in mind that I have a natural aversion to things written in the present tense. First person, present tense works brilliantly for the journal of a madman, though. I found myself completely absorbed and believing that I was in the wonderfully eerie, gas lit, Victorian world of Jack the Ripper and Sweeny Todd. Looks like we're in for a ride into the lowest depths of psychological Hell and depravity. Save me a seat.