“Counting From Ten”, by Michael Montoure
NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. This story is physical horror.
DISCLAIMER: The author is a good friend of mine. The story was written because of a conversation we had, and is about a personal phobia of mine. However, Michael has had no input into the choice of this story or the text of this recommendation.
“Counting From Ten”, which is also the title of Montoure’s debut short story collection, is a story about a man under a curse, and a friend who tries to help him get free of that curse.
Horror is so often about death or the fear of death. Slasher movies, ghosts, enough blood coming from the walls or the ceiling that someone surely had to die, terror of something that wants to kill you/eat you/destroy you. But what if that wasn’t what we were being asked to be afraid of?
What if it was just the loss of a … finger? And what if that was mercy?
The joy of Montoure’s writing is that he makes some of the most horrific decisions that characters in this story make perfect sense, like there’s nothing else that they could possibly do. Like this abomination of a decision is the kindest possible thing that could happen. And only then, after you accept that, does the hammer to the your sensibilities hit.
AVAILABLE: audio; in the collection Counting from Ten
Michael Montoure’s website
The text of “Counting From Ten” is not currently available on the web.
Audio of “Counting From Ten”
