Mirth - Judgment
Round 1, Match 4
SteelDraco vs. Wild Gazebo
First, let me apologize for the lateness of my posts. In the last week, I have had to travel across the state I live in (NC) twice for unplanned, unannounced meetings for work and tomorrow morning I am headed out again for another state altogether (TN). I don't normally travel for my job, so this extra driving ate up all of my spare time that I had allotted for the competition. I will try in earnest to keep on top of my scheduling from here on out.
Now, let's get on with it --
Again, the stories that have been presented show true craft and deft use of plot, language, and characterization. This Ceramic DM contest is knocking my socks off!
Style -- SteelDraco brings us the tale of a doctor with a dangerous and deadly secret to hide. The creep factor is ratcheted right up from the very beginning of the tale and never falters. Both Patricia and Dr. Heinrich are well-rounded, fully fleshed-out characters and the story itself reads like a short film script. Although the ending seemed to be telegraphed a bit, the use of tropes were strong (not cliched) and the plot was conniving and edgy. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Likewise, I felt that Wild Gazebo's acid trip journey through the looking-hole was a gob-smackingly great read. The characters were so vividly detailed that I could easily envision them in my head. The story filled me with childlike wonder. The narrative was so strong that the plot carried me from point to point, never dropping, never stopping and left me bemused and grinning. The two stories couldn't be farther apart in tone and setting, which is why I love this competition so much. You never know what is coming next. If I had one quibble in this category, it would be Wild Gazebo's narrator and his style of speech. It works for the most part, but it is sometimes inconsistent, and those inconsistencies are more glaring in their rareness, making them stand out to the reader. Also, if the narrator is telling this story, does he then halt his "patois" to talk in the more stoic, dry voice of the ant? I think that is the way the story is structured, but I don't see the narrator giving voice to the ant in that way and it made me disbelieve for a moment.
Picture use -- The picture use is solid in both stories. The aged house is used well as a setting in both, one belying the age of it's mysteriously non-aging owner, the other hiding a bizarre link to another world. Even more so, the ant was a focal point in both stories and used in equally unique and fascinating ways. The chess piece had a role to play in both stories that I did not expect, and those surprises worked wonderfully for me. And the image of the underwater heads was also utilized in strange and engrossing ways in both. If I had to give a nod in this category, it would be to SteelDraco who made an absolutely brilliant use of the underwater heads to put a grisly cap on an otherwise already horrific tale.
Personal connection -- Although I am not a horror fan per se, I do enjoy a good suspense story and SteelDraco provides that in spades. Never was gore the focus of the action in SteelDraco's story, which is what usually puts me off horror, so the queasiness and creepiness of the doctor's tale worked really well for me. On the other hand, I thought the journey through the land of the Whimsies was clever, well-crafted, and ultimately more appealing to my personal preferences.
Final judgment - Although both stories were top-notch reads and thoroughly enjoyable, I found that SteelDraco's stylistic mastery and slightly better picture use edged out Wild Gazebo's whacky, wonderful, whimsical whopper.
My nod for Round 1, Match 4 goes to … STEELDRACO! Congratulations!!!