Where No Shadows Fall, by Tragic Rabbit

[Tragic Rabbit]

I can only hope we shall see each other again

In that place where there is only love and no shadows fall,

You have touched my very being...I shall remember you. ~Louisiana epitaph

The death of their Aunt Rose forces a reluctant brother and sister back to their childhood home in the fetid swamps of Louisiana, where they'd grown up next door to their Grandpa's funeral home, Repose in Peace. Secrets abound in this taut tale of familial connections, undying love and macabre memories. Read part one of Where No Shadows Fall today, and the far creepier part two on Halloween night itself, for a final spooky TR scare!

CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETED STORY Where No Shadows Fall, a Halloween TR Tale

From Where No Shadows Fall:

Without speaking, we picked up her luggage, a matched Mark Cross set, found the car rental place, settled for a blue Honda Civic and headed out of Baton Rouge. She drove while I chain-smoked in the front passenger seat. We weren?t either one of us much for talking, and there was precious little we needed to communicate. She knew the way, I knew the score: keep my mouth shut. It had been her single condition for returning. Old times are best forgotten always was her motto, at least with family. The radio offered only static and a tacky gospel station, which we listened to, in an unspoken ironic tribute to Aunt Rose, all during that night drive to Slaughter, Louisiana. With my last swallow of cold coffee, I tossed back a couple dozen more milligrams of Valium.

There sure is no damn place like home.

ALSO: Hear TR read his sexy, spooky story The Midnight Chime , a frontpage Dude's Pick and also available on the Awesome Dude Sound Files page, along with poems by Gabe, TR, Camy and story snippets from Graeme!

DON'T FORGET TO EMAIL AUTHORS IF YOU ENJOY THEIR EFFORTS!

[Graeme]

Sorry, TR, but no tributes from me on this one.

At least not until the rest of the story is posted I want to see how it turns out...

[Camy]

You write really well - but then I think you know that, and though I'm not convinced I like where this is going I am nevertheless waiting with baited mouse to read part two.

I only know Louisiana through films, and the one that frightened me most was 'Southern Comfort' directed by Walter Hill. Then there was 'Hard Target' with Van Damme, directed by John Woo. So, to me. Louisiana is just full of weirdos and rather frightening. I know 'Deliverance' was set in Georgia, but it didn't help either.

You start with:

There’s a reason I don’t talk about where I’m from.

and then

But here we were, after all this time, landing in Baton Rouge and ready to drive back out there, through the fetid Louisiana swamps and into the past.

It's hard to read a computer screen hiding behind the couch.

Camy

PS - Remember, Necrophilia is deadly boring.

[Tragic Rabbit]

Sorry, TR, but no tributes from me on this one.

At least not until the rest of the story is posted I want to see how it turns out...

Pig. Twit. Jerk. Esp when I'm late because I'm helping others like a good little Story Editor. Anyhow, it's now complete, all posted, unedited and unproofed BUT all there, you can read it and see how it turns out, now. Since you hate horror, Graeme, I don't know why you're bothering but oh, well. Be warned, don't eat while reading Where No Shadows Fall .

CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE TALE Where No Shadows Fall-complete TR tale

Where No Shadows Fall is TR trying to be as disgusting and unromantic as possible. Or maybe romantic but in a really weird, disturbing and creepy way. He may have failed, at least on one count...

Let me know what you think, Camy, too, though for the record I don't know that I write well, or whatever. I need constant reassurance, ask the Dude...who doesn't give much, btw.

Corpse Kisses...

TR

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

[Camy]

Where No Shadows Fall is TR trying to be as disgusting and unromantic as possible. He may have failed, at least on one count...

Dunno what to say. I read it. And yes you write well, and you are very brave - or bereft of sense...

I'm revolted because you've crossed one of the few remaining moral boundaries. Which I suppose is odd. Why it's more palatable to watch CSI and see murders and autopsies (generally while I'm eating), than it is to be in love with a corpse eludes me, but I'm jolly glad it is.

What floored me was ?Necrophilia is more prevalent than most people imagine.? ~Karen Greenlee

I won't be adding this to my list of TR re-reads. I hope you don't mind.

[Graeme]

Pig. Twit. Jerk. Esp when I'm late because I'm helping others like a good little Story Editor. Anyhow, it's now complete, all posted, unedited and unproofed BUT all there, you can read it and see how it turns out, now. Since you hate horror, Graeme, I don't know why you're bothering but oh, well. Be warned, don't eat while reading Where No Shadows Fall .

Where No Shadows Fall is TR trying to be as disgusting and unromantic as possible. He may have failed, at least on one count...

Okay, I cheated. I checked the thread before I finished the story, so it wasn't a surprise. Strangely, I'm not as disgusted or replused as I thought I'd be. I found the idea creepy and weird, though.

A good story for Halloween, TR... just don't expect too many people to read it at other times

Graeme

[Nevius]

TR,

Halloween is great to delve into the twisted sides of our minds. And you did it very well....yet it could have been set in any state not just here in Louisiana!!! Although I have to agree with you that it's an appropriately twisted here. Thanks for the "fun"

Nevius

PS Slaughter is up Rt. 19 not 33 from BR.

[Kel]

TR,

I'd liken your story to one of those really horrific traffic accidents on the side of the road that are quite spectacular. You know it's undoubtedly macabre with death and the dying present, but you can't help but slow down and stare as you drive by.

I actually found myself feeling somewhat sorry for the main character by the end of your tale???

Ghoulish and repugnant the storyline may be, but well-written all the same.

[Tragic Rabbit]

TR,

I'd liken your story to one of those really horrific traffic accidents on the side of the road that are quite spectacular. You know it's undoubtedly macabre with death and the dying present, but you can't help but slow down and stare as you drive by.

I actually found myself feeling somewhat sorry for the main character by the end of your tale???

Ghoulish and repugnant the storyline may be, but well-written all the same.

Hmmm...I've gotten more hate/'ick' mail on this one than any other single story. It's not first time I have written about death or even bedding the dead, it's just the first where I'm calling it necrophila. Why were The Midnight Chime and Some Enchanted Evening, both TR Halloween Tales, lauded as so romantic and this one panned like a Adam Sandler film? Both stories involved physically, and emotionally, loving dead guys. Are you assuming the love in Shadows isn't reciprocal?

What if I'd written it from Billy's perspective?

I am not a necrophile but I think the story reasonably represents a kind of love, necrophilia, that exists on the human spectrum and is not, as Karen Greenlee tell us, uncommon. Depite professional denials, many in the mortuary industry are so inclined. And so ....does that make the story horrid? Bad? Untenable?

The story Where No Shadows Fall, to me, is as much about small towns, byzantine family secrets and 'Southern' life as about necrophilia but I got no comments about that. Odd.

Sorry for the character, Kel? That's reasonable, to me, and applicable to a lot of my main characters.

Ghoulish, sure, by definition, but is it so horrid that it just can't be reread or complimented...or seen as anything but a necrophiliac defense? It's a love story, for gawd's sake, like most of my tales, and I was shocked that only one reader took it that way, at least via email or PM, as love and not as something that ought to get TR admitted to his local psych hospital. Seriously.

I worked on hard (as I usually do) on the details and the perspective, and as a non-necrophile, it was hard work finding the information and descriptors that would accurately (IMO) portray the necrophile sensual and sexual perspective. It's not the ideal Nifty type tale of rich, young, hot, hung hunks getting it on, but I notice that Josh's Masquerade is getting some of the same response because he too took the Halloween opportunity to open up the box a bit. Does that make either story disgusting, unappealing or unacceptable? If yes, why? Think, guys. If you're in a box, get out...or at least let in some air!

Indeed, if this helps, this main character is not necessarily a necrophile in the general sense, he is in love with only one dead man/boy and remains devoted and loyal to him. He loved him in life, too, much like Tanzler. What I enjoyed most about the story was painting the small town atmosphere and the family secrecies, those were what I considered character challenges and narrative successes. Yet not one person seems to agree. Did you all skip to the end?

I even consider it slightly hypocritical for gay persons to lay blame hither and thither when so many around us consider 'ordinary' gay sex to be so perverted and sick. Isn't it interesting to see another perspective, another kind of love, one that is beyond (I presume) even your own proclivities? Isn't it fair to approach it without prejudice and simply look for the love in the story and not rush for the torches and pitchforks?

BTW, thank you for the LA details via PM, Nevius, and Louisiana readers who also supplied them. I agree that the story could have been set anywhere but I, like Camy, tend to think of backwoods Louisiana as a tad creepy and so the tale ended up there. I did also consider the Florida Everglades area but decided that it didn't have quite the same historical and psychic punch for this tale.

Why is loving, physically and emotionally, a boy with a fishtail, a ghost or a geeky Chinese-American teenage Trekkie debator okay, even hot and romantic, but some subjects are just a priori not? Why does my box have to have limits, why does anyone's? Did Where No Shadows Fall have no redeeming features? Did the various human relationships have no value, no meaning, to readers?

And why is it that this story gets more post comments than, say, A Moment in Memphis or Dog Boys, both about racism, a subject deeply important to me, but containing no sex whatsoever? I seldom put graphic sex into stories anymore, partly because of the negative and personally insulting reactions I've gotten from (presumably) non-AD 'readers' but made exceptions for this and for The Midnight Chime, also an AD Halloween Tale.

Should I stay away from explicit sex? Should I switch to tried and true storylines? Should I take up basketweaving? I want to entertain and, if possible, do that while also making readers think, question their prejudices and preconceptions, yet without preaching to them. Is this a pointless goal? Would you prefer a good, hot wank story from TR next weekend? Or no story? Did you like the short A Fondness for Pickles that went up this week? To me, that's another story about familial relationships and secrets, though obviously sans sex.

Sigh.

Kisses...

TR depressed bunny

[Camy]

Dear TR,

Please don't be depressed. On the basis that all publicity is good publicity you should be happy that your writing creates a stir.

Writing out of the box is totally valid, but don't be surprised if your readers get twitchy. You push the boundaries of the moral framework, and some will object.

As to basket weaving; for sure - why not, just don't let it interfere with your writing...

Camy

[DesDownunder]

Hi TR,

Yeah I thought "A Fondness For Pickles" was most enjoyable. I get the feeling Mother is never going to come out of the corset.

You might consider taking up casket weaving for the grim stories.

Don't let the hate mail get to you. I drive past a Theatre Restaurant on the way to work each night and they have a Vampire show coming for their Christmas Season called, "Stiff At Last".

But then again we Aussies have warped a sense of humour.