Abby's Blog for Literature of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

“Unsettling” is how I’d describe Carol Emshwiller’s short story “I Live With You,” although it is still captivating. It follows a shadow-like being who impersonates and sneaks into the house of a woman named Nora with intent to heavily mess with her life. At first, this doppelganger keeps their presence a secret, but as soon as suspicions arise, they decide to have a little fun. Moving things around, leaving out trash, stealing and replacing clothes, the doppelganger plagues Nora’s house like a ghost. In fact, the imposter even goes as as far as inviting a man over and trying to both hook up with him as well as get Nora some action. Of course, this plan turns sour quickly and the doppelganger leaves Nora, who has changed into a more confident and assertive woman because of her ordeal. “I Live With You” is intriguing and puts you on edge, and the concept really makes you think. I found it interesting how Nora tried to convince herself that nothing was going on, and when things got...

“At Daybreak” is one of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics short stories, and while it’s a bit difficult at times to visualize what is going on in this particular tale, the story is unique and open to individual interpretation. Of course, this Cosmicomic takes place in space, and it follows a family being disrupted from their routine life on the rings of a nebula. It is never disclosed what exactly the family is, species-wise. I assume they are particle-based, seeing as how the main character’s brother marries an algae at one point, but the topic is kept vague. While I typically prefer having character descriptions, the ambiguousness does make them seem more alien. These particle people live in the galactic matter of some space rings, blindly moving through endless time and simply, well, living. No activity, no progress, just talking to one another and playing sightlessly. Then, what I believe was either the creation of a Sun or just the introduction of the Sun to their world, heat is br...

Italo Calvino’s “The Distance of the Moon” is one of his multiple Cosmicomics , which are all short stories about space. This one is about a world where the moon orbits elliptically around the Earth, coming close enough to leap to from the ocean. The main character, named “Qfwfq,” ventures out with his fellow sailors and deaf cousin each time the moon dips towards the sea to jump up and harvest the Moon Milk. However, the harvesters realize too late that the Moon is drifting away, which leads to Qfwfq and the Captain’s wife being trapped there for an entire cycle. Qwfwq followed his love for the Captain’s wife, Vhd Vhd, to the Moon, but realizing that she is far too obsessed with the Moon and his deaf cousin, he returns to Earth and leaves her behind to forever travel on the Moon. This story would be beautifully illustrated, and the writing is vivid enough to clearly picture every moment. While the description of the Moon is kind of odd, what with it being scaly with creamy flesh, ...

"Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler My first reaction to Octavia Butler’s   Bloodchild is a mix of interest and disgust. Using humans as a subservient society to the Tlic rather than having humans assert power over the aliens is a fresh twist on the usual sci-fi story. I’ve never read or watched a story that had humans as powerless as they are here- there’s no way for them to fight back, really. The human race has been completely taken over, and they’re generally okay with it, which is unsettling. It was an interesting read, that's for sure. Such a unique story gets the mind wondering about a world where humans aren't the superior species and don’t come out on top after an invasion, a concept far less explored in the sci-fi genre. The disgust I felt is, of course, for the humans’ role in the Tlics’ lives. Parasites are a big fear of mine personally, so reading a story where humans exist solely to be hosts to the worm-like children of the Tlic is absolutely terrif...