"The Story" by MJ Lewis is a psychological drama...it's a narrative that makes you nervous, sweaty, looking over your shoulder as perceptions of time, perceptions of reality are jangled. Can you really feel the floor beneath your feet...or do you just think that you do? And how is it that the hands of the clock have taken 2 hours to move 5 minutes?
The Story is a challenging read, surreal, an exercise in philosophical scepticism. What is reality....your reality, is not my reality...reality is relative.
How about time and the passing of time? Time too is relative...a day can pass so quickly for one person, for another, that same day can feel like a year.
MJ Lewis takes you on a journey...it's dark, it's sinister...you can't join up the dots...MJ's protagonist can't join up the dots either..."Why is this happening?" he asks...he receives an answer worthy of the Sphynx.."to find the answer you have to ask the right question". It's a creeping nightmare, except that MJ Lewis assures us that it is absolutely true. This really happened. His book stirs a disturbing chilling resonance.
Characters enter and exit, sometimes naked, sometimes clothed. The mood of "The Story" is reminiscent of Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory, with its dark, pounding rhythms.
MJ Lewis writes horror. He writes nasty stuff, the sort of stuff that makes a reader squirm...I don't believe he'll mind me saying that...his Twitter profile tells would be followers that MJ is into Violence and Splatterpunk.
Splatterpunk is gory, violent..nothing is off limits. Add the stench of sulphur into the mix and you have a recipe for a cloying viscous gunge of grime, crime and slime for a delicious putrefication pie.
MJ's stories are dark, exuding pessimism. His "Don't Slip" is a free read on my blog...it has a devastating ending, as does "Sunday Lunch"...a free read on MJ's blog.
I've changed my mind...MJ Lewis' "The Story," is more than a psychological drama, it's an exercise in psychological terrorism. You know that you are going to be shocked, disturbed and yet despite making you squirm, MJ has got you hooked and you keep on reading.
The ending has a twist that makes you question whether you, or anyone else, can determine your own safety in your small life...how any of us can ever know what is really going on.
It’s a profound ending, a quiet ending. “The Story” closes with an affirmation, a claiming of sanity, of sanctity…he waits.
If you enjoyed this read, please leave a review on Amazon.
Also, follow me @lewismj78 on Twitter! I am active there, so start a conversation with me. I don’t bite, well, not hard anyway!
Also visit my website over at www.scribblesoflewis.co.uk for free short stories ranging from erotica to extreme horror.
The Story is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US
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