HauntedMTL Original: Choking Instructions – Michael Carter
Our first original! I am so glad to present Choking Instructions by Michael Carter. It’s a piece of fine flash and a very fitting first for the HauntedMTL Original series.
-Jim
Choking Instructions
by Michael Carter
Running over that little girl as I raced through the intersection was a bad thing, but was it something I should die for?
I was speeding; yes. The light turned yellow, and rather than risk T-boning someone, I hooked a rookie.
And there she was standing on the corner, in her pigtails and green dress, in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was with the man in the blue blazer and fedora hat. I clipped the curb and ran over her foot. The light was dead red by the time I made the turn.
Her screams pierced through the roar of my engine and then the squeal of my brakes. When I approached, she looked up and said, “Why, why did you do this?” as she caressed her bleeding foot.
The man in the fedora grabbed my shoulder. “You need to slow it down and follow the rules, like the rest of us,” he said as heat emitted from his hand. It burned through my jacket, collared shirt, and undershirt, to my skin.
“Follow the rules,” he repeated as he pulled up the little girl while she continued to wail. Then they disappeared into the crowd that had encircled the scene.
“Hey, wait,” I said. But they were gone.
#
The little girl in pigtails and green dress died that next week. It was all over the news. They said she formed a blood clot in her leg, and it caused a brain aneurysm. “Hit-And-Run Driver Kills Girl Downtown,” the headlines read.
Wait a minute, I thought. I stopped, and the man left with the little girl.
Or did I?
I wasn’t entirely sure what happened. Speeding through town, the stress of the situation, the strange man in the fedora, what he had said to me, it was all too much.
Had I left the scene without doing the right thing? If so, what was I supposed to do now?
Follow the rules and turn yourself in. That’s what I kept telling myself. But I couldn’t do it. Why should I ruin my life over a freak accident? The girl was gone. Turning myself in couldn’t bring her back.
#
I lay catatonic in my bed the following day, paralyzed by what had happened and conflicted about my next steps. I thought about drinking. Instead, I just slept.
I woke a half day later, hungry. I wasn’t in the mood for cooking, so I looked for something quick in the fridge. A package of hotdogs stared at me from the meat compartment drawer. Precooked and easy, I thought. They may be made of lips and assholes, but they’re protein, and they’ll keep me full.
As I pulled a hotdog out of the plastic wrapper, I saw a flicker of wording above the list of ingredients, in bright-red letters: “Choking Instructions.”
I blinked and looked again, thinking I had misread a choking warning. Sure enough, it said what I thought it said.
“Choking Instructions: For children under 4, cut hotdogs lengthwise and crosswise into small bite-sized pieces. Children should always be seated and supervised while eating. For adults, do not cut hotdogs into pieces. Instead, cram as many whole hotdogs into your mouth as you can. While chewing, pinch your nose shut and inhale deep gasps.”
“Follow the rules . . . ,” I heard in my head as I stood in the kitchen holding that package of hotdogs. My skin started to burn where the man in the fedora had grabbed my shoulder.
“Follow the rules . . . ,” I heard again.
“Follow the rules . . . .”
I tried to look away, but I could not help but to stare at the choking instructions: “For adults, do not cut hotdogs into pieces. Instead, cram as many whole hotdogs into your mouth as you can.”
And so I did. I followed the rules and crammed those rubbery meat sticks into my mouth. I kept cramming as my eyes watered and hotdog juice dripped to the kitchen floor. I crammed and crammed and chewed and punished myself like I knew I deserved. Then I grabbed my nose and sucked in air.
I gasped and choked as pressure built under the skin of my face. When I stumbled, I released my nose. The smell of freshly chewed hotdogs burned into my nostrils as I inhaled.
I fell to the cold tile of the kitchen floor and gasped for air, like a fish out of water. I reached for my throat and felt many Adam’s-apple-sized bulges.
Then the tile warmed and the little girl in pigtails and green dress appeared in my kitchen. The man in the fedora was there, too. The tile became hot and seared my cheek as I lay on the floor. My shoulder and nose continued to burn as I choked.
The little girl and the man in the fedora stared at me. They smiled. I couldn’t be sure, but over my gasps, I think I heard the girl giggle. No, she cackled.
That’s when I knew I had found my special place, right there on the kitchen floor, that I would never leave. I had found that special place reserved for people like me who don’t follow the simple rules of life and do the right thing.
It is there that they will always smile at me, and she will always cackle. It is there that I think I will choke forever.
END
Michael Carter is a short fiction and creative nonfiction writer from the Western United States. He’s also an attorney, a Space Camp alum, and a volcanic eruption survivor. When he’s not writing, he enjoys fly fishing and wandering remote wilderness areas of the Northern Rocky Mountains. He can be found online at michaelcarter.ink and @mcmichaelcarter.
Book Reviews
The Unmothers.
“There was a horse that gave birth. There was a baby. There was a tree. There was a price.”
Leslie J. Anderson’s debut novel, The Unmothers, is a chilling folk horror that delves into the darkest corners of motherhood. Published in August 2024, this slow-burn tale introduces a world where women’s rights are under threat.
With a subtle touch of Eldritch horror, Anderson weaves a narrative that explores the complex themes of motherhood, choice, and the lengths a woman might go to maintain control over her own body and destiny.
The Story.
Journalist Carolyn Marshall is sent to cover the story of a horse giving birth in the rural American town of Reaford. The attraction of this occurrence for a newspaper? That the baby is a healthy human baby boy. Marshall quickly debunks this story but decides to stay in town and follow her journalistic instinct to a bigger scoop.
Beneath the town’s quaint facade, Marshall uncovers a web of dark secrets. A drug epidemic is ravaging the community, immigrant workers are dying under mysterious circumstances, and the town’s powerful patriarch, John Daily, seems to hold everyone in his debt. As Marshall delves deeper into these troubling issues, she becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the locals.
Through her interactions with the townspeople, Marshall hears whispers of a sinister presence lurking in the nearby woods. The locals share chilling tales of what a young woman in Reaford might do to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. As the story unfolds, Marshall must confront the terrifying truth about the town’s hidden past and the dangers that lurk within its borders.
Highlights.
I was never a young girl that oohed and aahed at the sight of a horse. After reading The Unmothers though, yeah, I get it. Anderson’s vivid descriptions of these magnificent creatures brought them to life in a way I’d never experienced before. The way she portrays their gentle nature, combined with their raw power and potential for brutality, is both captivating and unsettling. It’s a testament to Anderson’s skill as a writer that she can make even the most mundane details of these animals feel extraordinary.
Drawbacks.
The Unmothers is a complex novel that delves into the interconnected events of a rural town, both past and present. In the first half of the book, the sheer number of characters and viewpoints can make it difficult to keep track of the plot. However, there are a few pivotal revelations that occur near the midpoint. This helps certain characters become more prominent and memorable, making the story easier to follow.
The Final Take.
The Unmothers is a haunting and unforgettable read that will leave you both terrified and deeply moved. Anderson’s masterful storytelling draws you into a world where the line between the natural and the supernatural is blurred.
The novel’s focus on horses, a subject I’m not particularly knowledgeable about, was a pleasant surprise. I was fascinated to learn about the unique characteristics of foals, including the tentacle-like growths on their hooves which had me Googling for proof.
This book is a must-read for fans of horror, folk tales, and thought-provoking fiction. It’s a powerful exploration of motherhood, choice, and the dark forces that can lurk beneath the surface of even the most seemingly idyllic communities.
(4 / 5)
If you’re looking for a page-turner to add to your October TBR search no more, Mason Coile has you covered with his new novel William, released September 2024. With its Frankenstein-esque plot, Coile delivers a 21st-century twist on the classic monster story, replacing the creature with an AI robot. Like Shelley’s original Frankenstein, William is a cautionary tale about the ethical and moral responsibilities that come with scientific discovery. Coile delves deeper, exploring not only the moral implications of a human-created life that is not actually human, but also the spiritual dimensions of the creation.
The Story.
Henry and his pregnant wife Lily are engineers, he works with robotics, she with computers. The house they live in is an old Victorian that has been retrofitted with the latest security features including impenetrable locking doors on every room (except on the outside of Henry’s laboratory of course), voice-controlled lights, hot water, and audio systems. Every morning Lily leaves the house to go to work leaving Henry to ascend to his third-floor attic lab. Henry has not left the house for months. He describes himself as, “an agoraphobe with a serious antisocial streak who’s working alone in his home on a project he won’t share with anyone.” When Lily invites her coworkers, Davies and Paige, over for brunch, Henry sees it as an opportunity to finally reveal his latest creation.
Henry has created several AI robots over the years. A dog that responds to voice commands and a creepy bicycle-riding magician that is reminiscent of the Saw franchise’s bicycle-riding Billy, but William is Henry’s pièce de resistance. A moving, talking robot that learns from experience and enjoys reading Faust.
The unveiling of William does not go to plan after the robot takes over the conversation and, in a scuffle, injures Lily’s arm. This is only the beginning of a series of events that unravel over the course of Halloween.
Highlights.
Anyone who enjoyed Frankenstein will have fun with this story. Coile has dealt with the subject of life creation and morality with a lot of thought. He asks what ‘being alive’ really means and forces the reader to question the reality of consciousness.
The atmosphere of the house is held taught throughout the novel. There were many times when I realized that I was unwittingly holding my breath. Henry’s agoraphobia and the anxiety it induces in him is intense. His internal monologue during times when the outside world seems to be intruding into his safe home is flawless and a cherry to the top of this unnerving narrative.
Like any good thriller horror, the twist at the end left my mouth gaping but of course, no spoilers here! Just know it’s all worth it!
Drawbacks.
There is little to complain about here. If pushed to find something I was occasionally confused by the layout of the house. Coile goes to great lengths to describe the left and right turns as each character moves about the house. I must admit there were a few times I felt a little lost and could have used a map.
The Final Take.
Read this.
Read this if you’re a horror fan, an AI fan or a science fiction fan.
William covers many genres and will please anyone who picks it up.
And when you’ve finished reading this book and have been surprised by the twist at the end. Go back and read the first line to have your mind blown again.
(5 / 5)
Book Reviews
Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors, a Book Review
Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors is a graphic novel by Plastiboo, acting as the “official guide for a game that doesn’t exist.”
Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors is a graphic novel by Plastiboo. The team behind the work includes Plastiboo as the artist, Hollow Press as the publisher, Michele Nitri as the editor, Christian Dolz Bayarri as the graphic designer, Marco Cirillo Pedri as the graphic supervisor, and E.R. as the English editor and proofreader. The Vermis collection seems sold out in its current editions, but I still recommend ordering from the original publisher, Hollow Press.
Who stares back from the dark glass? The Wayfarer travels–cursed and haunted by their past–through the distant lands and places within the Mist & Mirrors. Endure a corrupt world and struggle to fend off the curses that mark you. Venture forth, Wayfarer, and perhaps find peace and salvation.
What I Like about Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors
The premise remains an “official guide” to a game that does not exist. However, one key distinction that stands out is the corrosion of this “official guide” mark, suggesting Mist & Mirrors centers itself as a graphic novel. In this sense, it more accurately hits its vision while providing an engaging story.
Mist & Mirrors places its character selection at the end of the graphic novel, instead, choosing a character and allowing the reader to follow that journey. While this moves away from the “official guide” concept, it better fleshes out the world and creates a more independent product.
Where Vermis I held a heavy retro-game aesthetic, Vermis II takes this to the next level while adding a wider range of color than the original. Not only does this add more aesthetic variety, but it also vastly improves readability. My greatest critique of the first graphic novel was the general lack of readability that impacted the experience, but Mist & Mirrors seems to take this to heart. Beyond the variety and improvement, the design changes the color themes to match the distinct lands the “Wayfarer” embarks on, giving a direct purpose to the changes.
On starting the graphic novel, I half expected a spiritual successor set in a new world. While its setting certainly differs from the original, Mist & Mirrors expands on the lore and history. In fact, the exploration of Mist & Mirrors adds value to the original and encourages a re-read. Honestly, that’s what all sequels strive (or should strive) to succeed.
Despite the colorful innovation, Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors delivers that same bleak horror popularized by Dark Souls. It still wears its inspirations on its sleeves while better communicating its “game mechanics.”
Tired Tropes and Triggers
Again, there aren’t many points worth mentioning regarding tropes or triggers. As the graphic novel takes themes and trends from the Soulslike genre, it’s dark and bleak but not overwhelmingly so.
Payment and delivery (for American audiences) still come with a 15 to 45-day wait period with little room for verification or updates. The process through PayPal remains seamless, and I received the novel within the timeframe, but it’s a consideration.
What I Dislike about Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors
While there are notable points to mention in this section, Mist & Mirror vastly mitigates Vermis I’s core issues. However, that isn’t inherently the same as fixing them in some cases. For example, readability remains a slight issue. I will emphasize it as a slight issue with the vast improvements implemented.
For those fans of the specific niche that Vermis aims to deliver, Mist & Mirrors tones down the “official guide” aspect. Instead, it favors a more straightforward narrative that follows a specific character. This brings life to the “game world” and makes an independent product but limits Vermis I’s game guide concept.
On a more personal note, I did enjoy the concept of Vermis I’s classes over the classes of Mist & Mirrors. Naturally, there are some interesting concepts, but nothing haunts me like the Infant Seeker or Rat Man. However, the new choices seem to provide a stronger narrative and backstory.
Final Thoughts
Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors vastly improves in many aspects of the original, telling a story set in its bleak and fascinating world. While it does veer from the original concept, it does so to make a more independent product. If you are looking to lose yourself in a strange world or dive deeper into Vermis’ underexplored lore, Mist & Mirrors seems tailor-made for you. (5 / 5)
