Rarely does a gem of a short story like this one come along. I found it while wading through an ocean of semi-pro stories, and it stood out immediately. By the second paragraph I was completely riveted. The author's use of antiquarian speech and the slow building of suspense show flickers of mastery. The strange relationship between the Doctor (Agemo) and his guest (Monica) are only hinted at, and slowly unravel through a series of horrifying discoveries. All the while I felt trapped, between marble mosaics and black iron portals in an ageless and terrible abode-the Manor of Agemo, a place of Gothic grotesqueries and otherworldly magic.
*(this story appears in
Morpheus Tales, issue #6)
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-Mark Anthony Crittenden