I love how the milkmaids were harbingers of life and not death, even if their ministrations were a little gruesome. A very clever weaving together of early science and horror. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This was so fabulously witchy! I love the healing power of the milkmaids and their reverence for the cows. Very eerie and dark, yet beautiful, leaving me wanting to join them! Brilliant.
this was ingenious! it has left me feeling slightly troubled. vampiric infecting cow pox witches... almost a sexual undertone to it adding to the uneasiness. very affecting!
some great lines in there EJ.... something about cows... menacing. we have this milk brand here called Cravendale... and the adverts are like these menacing herds....saying CRAVENDALE... SO GOOD THE COWS WANT IT BACK..
I’m guessing you probably don’t only want to write dairy horror for the rest of your career, but believe me when I say there’s an untapped market here. (Also, at the risk of contracting smallpox, I’d like to winter in that house.)
I loved this: "So he moaned like a ghost, and maybe he was." It reminds me of schrödinger's cat, kind of. if you're in-transition between life and death, then maybe you are both at once? And where is that line drawn? it can't be perfectly pinpointed, at least not to observers. I like the ambiguity between life & death as well as humanity & the supernatural in this story :)
This one was excellently played. Milkmaid/witch/proto-vampire. This sounds like something straight out of an Eastern European book of folk tales, maybe Czech for some reason, don't ask me why, certainly not English though. And the story was all the more atmospheric and better because of it. Also, points for science stuff. Always love science mixed with horror (go back far enough and modern horror and sci-fi are the same fuckin' thing anyway.) Can't wait for the next one.
I love how the milkmaids were harbingers of life and not death, even if their ministrations were a little gruesome. A very clever weaving together of early science and horror. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You really know how to rise to a challenge! Now I need to look up the history of Milkmaids. Did they really get sick less? haha
they really were immune to smallpox!
🤯
my exact reaction. once I learned that fact it’s all I could think about.
I'm looking up the job requirements now.
Love the divine bovine witches! Man you wove together so many cool things here. Where do I sign up for this coven?
Brilliantly creative way to make the innocence of milkmaids the harbinger of life and death . Blood curdling in milk, horrific idea.
This was so fabulously witchy! I love the healing power of the milkmaids and their reverence for the cows. Very eerie and dark, yet beautiful, leaving me wanting to join them! Brilliant.
thank you! I love cows, can you tell? haha
Cows are lovely!
this was ingenious! it has left me feeling slightly troubled. vampiric infecting cow pox witches... almost a sexual undertone to it adding to the uneasiness. very affecting!
leaving readers slightly troubled is my greatest achievement haha thank you!!
some great lines in there EJ.... something about cows... menacing. we have this milk brand here called Cravendale... and the adverts are like these menacing herds....saying CRAVENDALE... SO GOOD THE COWS WANT IT BACK..
its damned creepy
that really does sound creepy!!
holy cow , that was chilling - what an unpleasant little surprise this morning. Thank you.
“Vitam dant nobis vaccae.”
My knowledge of Latin isn't extensive, but I believe this means "Long live the noble cow".
How interesting. I loved how eerie this was
I’m guessing you probably don’t only want to write dairy horror for the rest of your career, but believe me when I say there’s an untapped market here. (Also, at the risk of contracting smallpox, I’d like to winter in that house.)
I loved this: "So he moaned like a ghost, and maybe he was." It reminds me of schrödinger's cat, kind of. if you're in-transition between life and death, then maybe you are both at once? And where is that line drawn? it can't be perfectly pinpointed, at least not to observers. I like the ambiguity between life & death as well as humanity & the supernatural in this story :)
thank you so much molly
Oh wow, this is amazing!! I was utterly captivated!
This one was excellently played. Milkmaid/witch/proto-vampire. This sounds like something straight out of an Eastern European book of folk tales, maybe Czech for some reason, don't ask me why, certainly not English though. And the story was all the more atmospheric and better because of it. Also, points for science stuff. Always love science mixed with horror (go back far enough and modern horror and sci-fi are the same fuckin' thing anyway.) Can't wait for the next one.
thank you!
adding milkmaids to my list of fears. "Snowy lips peeked out from beneath their hoods" is scary as hell
so pleased to contribute 🙏
EJ, your prose always gets me! This is so good!
I love what you did with this!