17 Comments
Sep 18Liked by A.P. Murphy

Unique sketch of a spirit. Especially with the first person POV. And worms are always nice.

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Thanks for the comments! And of course we all love some hot vermiform action, with added ooze and putridness if at all possible.

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Sep 30Liked by A.P. Murphy

among your many brilliances, you consistently come up with the most fantastic character names.

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Gawsh, stop, you makin' me blush!

Let you into a little secret - I have a special file with nothing but dozens of character names prefabricated and ready to go. Sometimes I just read through them and tweak them so they're all nice.

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I enjoyed this and happy you took the story where it led you. It was the perfect length!

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Thank you so much Mica, I appreciate your comment and I hope you enjoy my writing in the future!

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This was great, Murph. I'm glad you extended it a little more than the prompt. It felt the right length!

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Thanks so much Seany, and you've reminded me to link back to the original prompt page to complete the process! I forgot to do that, and then I'd be in violation of not one but two rules.

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Good work, Murph. Makes me want to go back and read Aeschylus, has a little bit of that Ancient Greek tragedy and revenge feel to it

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Thanks very much for that Caleb, I hadn't considered the classical angle but of course vengeance is the timeless theme. I've got two more revenge stories coming out just in the coming week, looks like...

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Nice one

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Thanks Daisy😉

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I guess the Conqueror Worm can't conquer human jealousy.

If God can be petty, why can't ghosts?

Great work, mon frere.

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If anything can live on beyond our lives it will be our vindictiveness, the toxic residue floating in the limpid pools of life. Existential flotsam, the scummy green algae of stagnant ponds where resentment lurks like torpid catfish in the murky bottom. Or something. I think maybe Poe said that.

Thanks a lot Bradders! It's gladdening indeed that you liked it!

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You mentioned the synchronicity between our writing and now I'm convinced you're on to something. This week I recorded the audio for my first novella, Mr Malin and the Night, which parallels this story in several ways. I wrote it 18 years ago and haven't thought about it much since, well... until recently (while trying to come up with exclusive content for my paid subscribers). I mean, the stories are different, for sure, only tethered to each other in places. BUT... we seem to be connected by DOOM. Anyway, dug this story very much! Happy to see we thrive on the same electricity. ⚡️

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I'm sure of it, WP3! I guess the connection might be always trying to get to the "just what is that like?" of what are common fantasy and horror tropes, for one thing.

Then in more general terms I guess we are both trying to get beyond the expected and always surprise ourselves. Certainly I didn't expect this to get quite so... er... metaphysical and physical at the same time, if i can call it that...

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This. ^ 🔥

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