Devastating switch, a story of "haunting" in the fullest sense. I've been reading so much about haunted spaces - not ghost stories but essays about haunting and "hauntology" and this nails it through the use of a ghost story.
Could it go with my Dead Mall story? Very different surface feel and action, but the underlying mood of loss is the same, I think...
this means so much to me. thank you. first of all i'm loving the term hauntology. and yes there is a definite kinship between our malls. i actually started this story last summer -- it was going to be a beach read-- but then your mall story was SO fuckin good it literally sent me back to the drawing board. it took me another six months to figure out a story that would not be derivative even though it had the same setting (obvious) but also some of the same sense of mourning, of time, of exploitation. the crumbling of hopes and dreams. the hunger. shall we write a dead mall anthology? a mallthology?
Hauntology is a cool word dreamed up by that French theory guy Derrida, but given currency in the English speaking world by the late great Mark Fisher. It’s really a pun on ontology - the philosophy of existence - and is about how we are haunted by the ghosts of existences that never were.
Perfect for the theme of your story, not so much mine which is really a post-apocalypse thing.
I dunno if you like essays but his book The Weird and the Eerie is a must for the theory of horror, though the hauntology stuff comes from an earlier book called Ghosts of my Life.
There’s a nice reading of it here (a great YT channel of essay readings):
Meanwhile a Mallthology would be perfect, we could put the call out and see if anyone wants to do a thing. Jon T’s existing thing from the Sum Flux about the parking lot would be a candidate too.
Magnificent. I didn't see the plot twist coming, enthralled by the nostalgia and dichotomy between the two sisters' experience. By the way, belated happy birthday 🎈
captivating...the mall sucked me in ...ours are all dying now too, but i was never a great fan even when i was a kid. we used to have the biggest one in europe in our city...not sure if it still is the biggest or how long it will survive.
Loved every inch. Also the personification of the mall at the beginning - her - clever
there's so much here
Ohhh the tension at the end. Wonderful story.
thank you!
Ok. Now you guys are gonna make me write a mall story because yours are so cool. All the cool kids are writing mall stories! Peer pressure!
do ittt!
Steeped in that special nostalgia reserved for the early teen years. This story pulled at my heartstrings.
thanks Garen! 🙏
That would never happen with online shopping.
Devastating switch, a story of "haunting" in the fullest sense. I've been reading so much about haunted spaces - not ghost stories but essays about haunting and "hauntology" and this nails it through the use of a ghost story.
Could it go with my Dead Mall story? Very different surface feel and action, but the underlying mood of loss is the same, I think...
this means so much to me. thank you. first of all i'm loving the term hauntology. and yes there is a definite kinship between our malls. i actually started this story last summer -- it was going to be a beach read-- but then your mall story was SO fuckin good it literally sent me back to the drawing board. it took me another six months to figure out a story that would not be derivative even though it had the same setting (obvious) but also some of the same sense of mourning, of time, of exploitation. the crumbling of hopes and dreams. the hunger. shall we write a dead mall anthology? a mallthology?
Hauntology is a cool word dreamed up by that French theory guy Derrida, but given currency in the English speaking world by the late great Mark Fisher. It’s really a pun on ontology - the philosophy of existence - and is about how we are haunted by the ghosts of existences that never were.
Perfect for the theme of your story, not so much mine which is really a post-apocalypse thing.
I dunno if you like essays but his book The Weird and the Eerie is a must for the theory of horror, though the hauntology stuff comes from an earlier book called Ghosts of my Life.
There’s a nice reading of it here (a great YT channel of essay readings):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNvVJT8y9eU
Meanwhile a Mallthology would be perfect, we could put the call out and see if anyone wants to do a thing. Jon T’s existing thing from the Sum Flux about the parking lot would be a candidate too.
I feel like I need to have a good cry. So many emotions here. Beautiful, haunting story.
thanks Kimberly.
Love this. I'm a sucker for all things liminal.
me too!
That liminal mall feeling, wicked.
Fanged N O S T A L G I A.
You captured the loss around malls so well. This one was super layered and satisfying!
thank you Jessica!
So good — so sad. “…the hope that something good could happen to you and the certainty that it wouldn’t..” the ache of being fourteen!
Magnificent. I didn't see the plot twist coming, enthralled by the nostalgia and dichotomy between the two sisters' experience. By the way, belated happy birthday 🎈
thank you
You did a great job taking us all over the place with this one. Really enjoyed it!
captivating...the mall sucked me in ...ours are all dying now too, but i was never a great fan even when i was a kid. we used to have the biggest one in europe in our city...not sure if it still is the biggest or how long it will survive.
great haunting story and unexpected twist!
good work
thanks Nick. biggest in Europe! that must have been something
What what whaaaat! Dreamy freaky twisty I love it