John Mortell’s blog

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I think this is pretty much the xmas cartoon for all those who aren’t quite as swept up in the spirit – ‘woodland critter xmas’

Well,I’m home for xmas so I ‘should’ either be spending time with the family or doing my dissertation *shudder*.. So what am I doing? Watching odd Japanese cartoons. They are pretty cool though…

‘The Apple Incident’

‘The Diary of Tortov Roddle’ – The Melancholy Rain

Granted,they are a bit heavy on atmosphere and what plot there is in the cartoon’s I’ve seen so far are limited,but still,if you like these there are plenty on youtube…

Noctem Aeternus is a FREE quarterly PDF magazine where the reader will find science fiction, fantasy, western, or even mystery stories…but all tales will have an element of horror.

The first issue (January 2008) will include a short story and interview from master storyteller Ramsey Campbell. Cherie Priest, Charles Coleman Finlay, Tim Waggoner, and Michael Laimo will have stories as well.

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Enjoyable science-fiction short story with a really claustrophobic atmosphere by Ted Kosmatka. From the story itself:

The next step is a difficult thing to do if you are thinking about it. So I don’t. I recline to 45 degrees. I pull the lid down, and the screens come to life, lighting the darkness. I take a deep breath. And here it catches me, the weight of what I’m doing. It is always the same, each time. We are all dead in cryo, and only waking makes it not so. And doing this, putting my hand on the pad, is the same as killing myself. Again and again. I have done it so many times now. I am a mass murderer of myself

Though I have to admit I nearly enjoy this line from the author at the end as much as the story itself;

The seed of this story formed near the end of a sleep-deprived 88-hour workweek at US Steel. After the third midnights-to-days double shift, I couldn’t do math anymore. I couldn’t remember my computer passwords. There is a peculiar kind of terror in knowing that your job is stripping your mind away one little piece at a time