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drskspawn's review
5.0
“The Perfect Story: The Tales of Lily” is a brisk horror novella that follows Eric Chaplin, a successful author of psychological thrillers who’s achieved what many authors can only dream of: a literary agent, publisher, and publishing team, and has a television adaptation on the horizon. Normally well organised, his life has fallen apart in the last year and he’s on a variety of pain and antipsychotic medication. These keep him stable, but his writing is his chance to be creative, but that success comes with the additional pressure to live up to expectations. Faced with constant interruptions, Eric’s life takes a bizarre turn when a mysterious doll arrives on his doorstep. Creepy dolls are a bit of a horror cliché but, while the author doesn’t do much new with the doll, which Eric names Lily, she does masterfully associate the doll’s unsettling nature with Eric’s degenerating mental state and stifling procrastination. Thanks to Eric’s antipsychotics, a side effect of which is noted to be hallucinations, it’s never clear whether Lily is actually possessed by a malevolent spirit or if it’s all another elaborate excuse not to get to writing.
Eric’s gruesome dreams allow the author’s horror chops to shine; dismembered bodies, ominous messages, and an alluring, if ghastly, female figure soon spill over into his waking day. However, he finds himself reinvigorated by these experiences rather than terrified; he keeps it near to fuel his creativity, neglecting everything else to bash out this one perfect story. At around fifty pages, “The Perfect Story: The Tale of Lily” is easy to get through in one sitting and represents a snapshot of the pressure and difficulty that comes from being a writer. There’s a subtext here that really kept me gripped; not just on the surface level regarding Eric’s mental stability, but also whether the horrible things he’s written are somehow avenging themselves against him. Ultimately, the author opted for a monstrous twist and, while the haunted doll cliché has been overdone, Lily is really more of an ancillary player to Eric’s greater troubles and becomes something of an allegory for procrastination and self-doubt, which makes “The Perfect Story: The Tales of Lily” an enthralling read that I highly recommend.
Eric’s gruesome dreams allow the author’s horror chops to shine; dismembered bodies, ominous messages, and an alluring, if ghastly, female figure soon spill over into his waking day. However, he finds himself reinvigorated by these experiences rather than terrified; he keeps it near to fuel his creativity, neglecting everything else to bash out this one perfect story. At around fifty pages, “The Perfect Story: The Tale of Lily” is easy to get through in one sitting and represents a snapshot of the pressure and difficulty that comes from being a writer. There’s a subtext here that really kept me gripped; not just on the surface level regarding Eric’s mental stability, but also whether the horrible things he’s written are somehow avenging themselves against him. Ultimately, the author opted for a monstrous twist and, while the haunted doll cliché has been overdone, Lily is really more of an ancillary player to Eric’s greater troubles and becomes something of an allegory for procrastination and self-doubt, which makes “The Perfect Story: The Tales of Lily” an enthralling read that I highly recommend.
danielleauthorph's review
5.0
OMG! This short story is amazing! OMG I was screaming at the character to throw the doll away when it appeared!
Okay so dolls are just creepy. And I read this at night. I was scared as hell! But seriously, amazingly done! Chelsea excels in horror!
And I won't spoil the ending, but OMG, I just love how it ends and how you are left wondering what really happened. I can't wait to read the next short story!
Okay so dolls are just creepy. And I read this at night. I was scared as hell! But seriously, amazingly done! Chelsea excels in horror!
And I won't spoil the ending, but OMG, I just love how it ends and how you are left wondering what really happened. I can't wait to read the next short story!
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