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| via SmashWords |
I'm tired of the haunted mirror subgenre in the horror world. It's played out. Stick-a-fork-in-it overdone. That aside, Jonathan Carter's short story "Crack in the Glass" is beautifully written. Meaning, it has more potential than most of the free stories offered by Smashwords.
Gina lies in order to get on the Mystery Channel reality ghost chasing show, Graveyard Shift. The premise of the show is that every contestant must follow through on a dare. The last one standing receives a nice little nest egg. Gina, your typical sorority girl, decides to give it a swing. However, Gina's dare takes her to the Mirror Room in an abandoned mental hospital - also overplayed. And what awaits in those wall to ceiling to floor mirrors is a reflection from a ghostly past.
Like I said, Jonathan Carter's writing is marvelous. It would have to be to keep me interested in a story with such a premise. That's not an insult, by the way. It's a compliment. Isn't that the writer's job? Churn out something old but still make it interesting? Okay, perhaps it's not that blunt. Still, "Crack in the Glass" is still worth the read. It's short. It's creepy. And, most of all, it's interesting. It'll have me coming around to see what other ghastly tales Carter has in his library.
One thing that bothered me, though. Only so much information can be pushed in a short story. "Crack in the Glass" could have been a least a novella. With Gina's Ouija board past, there could have been so much to work with.
Anyway, I'm going to do something a little different now (only not really). Here's my 5 movie list dealing with mirrors and/or mental hospitals:
"Crack in the Glass" is currently free on Smashwords. Until next time, keep on huntin'.
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