by Matthew Tansek | Apr 3, 2021 | Adventures in Reading
The Abominations of Yondo by
Clark Ashton Smith
This short story by CAS was one of the first things I ever read by this author. The fantastic use of language, the incredible imaginative landscape, and the imagery of the things that the main character comes across as he ventures into the desert really hit home for me. While I would not recommend this sort of thing to just anyone, those already steeped in the pulp fiction world will absolutely enjoy unpacking the parts of this little piece and savor the language.
I would consider it almost prose poetry, as it does not really follow the normal “rules” of storytelling. Perhaps a hidden Gem in the CAS corpus.
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by Matthew Tansek | Mar 24, 2021 | Creative Exercise
by Matthew Tansek | Nov 16, 2020 | Creative Exercise
A drabble is a short work of fiction of precisely one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author’s ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space.
The Sleeping Faces
The old library had never received a donation like it before. The cover was faded, stained, and illegible, but the inside was splashed with vibrant red ink.
Page after page of sleeping faces, depicted in impossible detail. Dates and names written in french beneath each one.
Then a shiver like a freshly plucked earthworm wriggled down my spine as the raggedness of the skin around the neck and the half drooped eyelids forced my realization. The last wilting countenances of the guillotine’s work, looked out four to a page and lolled about between my hands as I thumbed the pages.
by Matthew Tansek | Oct 16, 2020 | Creative Exercise
A drabble is a short work of fiction of precisely one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author’s ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space.
Justice
The landslide had exposed the basement and beyond, for unbeknownst to the mob of angry villagers there were chambers beneath.
The old man had not been quick enough to retreat to his subterranean chambers to escape the collapse of his shunned home.
Apparatus of glass and metal could still be seen set up on tables, and the archaic glyphs still glowed with a baleful phosphorescence beneath the muddy water that seeped down from above.
In the final chamber rested the old man’s life’s work. The trapezohedron that the mob erroneously knew had crippled the burgomeister’s son. It was smashed easily.
by Matthew Tansek | Sep 16, 2020 | Creative Exercise
A drabble is a short work of fiction of precisely one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author’s ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space.
Infinauts
The real magic comes from the knowledge that everything that is possible, or impossible, exists simultaneously. One only needs to conceptualize it and in some unused corner of the corrosive ether, that thing pops into existence. Then you see it’s only a logistical problem of getting to it.
My contribution to this endeavor is overcoming the frailty of the human body. To be able to go absolutely anywhere and see beyond all limits.
The machine was truly fantastic and afforded breathtaking views out of its faceted windows. For we traveled in dreams, and indeed here we could never be hurt.
