Too Disturbing?

FarrellC

I usually use boards with a different i.d. but I have to admit I was too embarrassed to use it for this problem...

I have a small collection of short stories on Smashwords. They are in the horror section and advised as suitable for adult audiences. (I put them up to see more about the process of self publishing Ebooks.)

The book is free this week so I asked someone I know to take a look at it. There seems to be a problem with the free coupons today so all they could do was take a look at the sample which contains one flash fiction type of story.

Their reaction has kind of rattled me and I'm wondering should I remove the whole thing now. They said it was extremely disturbing and they seemed really freaked out and upset by it. They also said if they didn't know who me, they would think the writer was sick in the head. I didn't think it was that bad!

Just looking for opinions really. If anyone could take a look at it and let me know if I should remove it, that would be great. I really don't want to upset people with my scribblings! This is the link - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10677

Mods, if I'm not allowed link to it then just let me know and I'll delete it.

pickarooney

Is it the first story - Skeleton in the closet?

I'll give it (or the story in question if this is not it) a read at lunchtime.

Interesting twist, using your own name to protect your anonymity

Memnoch

I have to admit, I did find it(Little girl in my room, even the name is a bit...) quite disturbing and didn't read past the first two pages(and I didn't even finish the 2nd page). Now generally, I'm a fairly open reader and will read anything(except teenage vampire angst). That's just me as a reader. While being provocative can be be a part of art, the purpose of art shouldn't just be to be provocative(not saying this is necessarily the case here as I didn't read enough to make that kind of judgement). I can see how some readers might be quite upset by this, not just the content but the language in which it's written.

All that being said. I will always stand up for your right as an author and an artist to tell the story you want to tell. No one should tell you that you can't do that. That's what freedom of speech is about, and maybe there will be readers out there who will learn something from your work or find themselves moved by it.

But in answer to your question, yes there DOES seem to be a good chance that this might upset some of (a lot of) the people who read it.

FarrellC

That's it Pickarooney. I am a backwards sort of person in general

Thank you for your honesty Memnoch.

The title is the name of one of the stories - I can see how even that might come across but it wasn't intended in that way so thanks for pointing that out to me!

I normally write full length Y/A so they might have been expecting something along those lines. However, most of the short stories I write end up being a little...different. I don't set out with that intention, I sort of get a voice in my head and that's how the story is written from there.

Maybe I should readjust my limits, I wasn't even close to being aware of upsetting anyone. I think I thought that people looking in that particular section were looking for something a little dark.

I have to admit, I was more interested in the fact you couldn't finish it (considering it's so short) rather than what you thought of the tone so I should probably put a bit of thought into that one too! This has been very helpful, thanks again!

pickarooney

I've read two and a bit of them (seems to be the maximum I can before it cuts off and asks me to give you money!) and really liked the first one. Sure, people will get upset but that's hardly a reason not to write something. The fact that you can provoke such a reaction shows you've written it well, and you have.

The second one was less visceral, more classic, I thought, and I'm not fully sure I 'got' the whole story. I cared less for it.

The third one started out well and then...

FarrellC

The whole thing is supposed to be free, don't know what's going on today...

Funny you should say that Pickarooney because if (before today) I had to pick one I liked better out of the first two, I would have always opted for the first one. The order they are in is to show that they aren't all the same sort of story. To me, they are all quite random and different but I suppose that isn't the best way to please anyone.

Maybe it was a mistake to put them together like that but I figured they would be too predictable and have less of an impact if the stories were more similar in that bunch. I pretty much laid it out in a way that I prefer when I'm reading short stories. I probably tried to please myself too much rather than people who might actual read it :rolleyes:

Thanks for the input, you have me thinking now!

dawvee

I liked them. Yeah, the first one could be disturbing, but life can be disturbing. I think you've done a great job of depicting the aftermath of a terrible circumstance and how it shattered the narrator emotionally. It actually kind of reminds me of Wide Sargasso Sea in that respect.

Overall, I think you could have something really special if you expanded something like the first story into a short novel somehow. Give it some context, give people a point of reference to relate to the character, then let them feel the floor drop beneath them as it all goes massively, horribly wrong.

Anyway, great work, and don't go nice-ifying it just because your friend is a little squeamish. Maybe just don't show those stories to that particular friend any more.

FarrellC

Thanks for the reply Dawvee. I was thinking about going a little further with that one because it intrigued me personally, I think it would an interesting point of view to write from. Probably shouldn't inflict it on anyone else though!

I wouldn't mind but my friend wanted to read it because they love horror and all things gorey and gross. They are looking at me in a completely different way now, I felt like I'm glad I asked for their opinion though or else I would have been completely oblivious. I've a lot to chew over today!

pickarooney

FarrellC wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Dawvee. I was thinking about going a little further with that one because it intrigued me personally, I think it would an interesting point of view to write from. Probably shouldn't inflict it on anyone else though!

I wouldn't mind but my friend wanted to read it because they love horror and all things gorey and gross. They are looking at me in a completely different way now, I felt like I'm glad I asked for their opinion though or else I would have been completely oblivious. I've a lot to chew over today!

I'm not sure you do. Pretty much everyone agrees that what you're doing you're doing well but that there will always be people who aren't comfortable with it. But that's not your problem, unless you want to sell more books to squeamish people...

FarrellC

I just wanted to be sure that it's not in bad taste. I am glad to see different opinions here and I will consider them all. I'm not going to "nice-ify" my stuff but it would be good for me to be aware of the type of reader it might or might not be attracting.

I hadn't really considered that element of it before - aiming for a certain audience, other than placing it in the horror section that is. Horror is a pretty general term, someone might be looking for a zombie novel and be horrified by my story, you never know.

To be honest, I didn't really know where else to put it and I'm not sure that it's clear what the stories are about or if I'm attracting the type of people who might be interested in it. That's something to think about in future anyway.

pickarooney

FarrellC wrote: »

it would be good for me to be aware of the type of reader it might or might not be attracting.

I think it would be seriously out of line to assume anything about a person based on what they read (OK, up to a point you can make deductions) or about what they write. Are you more worried that other people will judge you because of what you write?

FarrellC

Erm, I think you might be taking me up wrong there.

I don't mean type of reader as in personality, I mean type of reader as in what they are interested in. The type of things they like to read. Not everyone is into the style I write in so I would need to get people who are open to that style to read it.

There's no point in attracting people like my friend because they won't enjoy it. But when I told them about it, they thought it sounded like something they would love. So I'm obviously doing something wrong there.

People are going to judge me no matter what I do in life, that's how life is, makes no difference to the things I write about. I'll only ever be able to write things that pop into my head. Nothing I can do about that.

pickarooney

Yep, definitely took you up wrong

Personally, I wouldn't class myself as any 'type' of reader (as opposed to type of person who reads books, as I originally understood you) so tend to, probably wrongly, assume the same of others. I don't think I'd be a particular type of writer either, if I wrote more.

One thing I might say is that, from what I understand of 'YA' - this probably isn't it, so consider flagging the book as 'A only'?

pickarooney

BTW, I was able to access the whole book by signing up.

FarrellC

I've been told I'm always annoyingly vague so I must write in the same way a lot

The Adult - Y/A thing is the only option there as far as I could see but sure I'll double check.

HalloweenJack

I read the first one and I can see why some people could find it disturbing but I liked it. I liked the style it was written in and it was a very compelling piece. I wanted to keep reading it. The narrative was really well done.

The second one I liked too. It was hard to grasp at first but I think I got it. Again, I had to keep reading as I was so hooked from the start.

FarrellC

Thanks for reading, HalloweenJack. Feeling a little more confident about having that as the first one now.

Sid_Justice

Firstly, I'll admit I only skim read the first couple. And the 'themes' I plucked out where

Incest, Infanticide, Rape, Prostitution

. As you've mentioned, Horror is a very broad term and while I may like a 'scary' book/film I wouldn't usually enjoy something with such macabre themes.

My point is I can understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea and I'm not sure who's cup of tea it is, maybe people who watch snuff films. Actually that sounds a bit judgmental and overly provocative.

pickarooney

Sid_Justice wrote: »

Incest, Infanticide, Rape, Prostitution

.

Page one of After Hours any day of the week

Memnoch

I should add that I'm not into horror. I don't watch horror movies or read horror books, have never read a Stephen King novel. So I was probably never your target audience to start with.

Gulliver

I find the stories have an overwhelming sadness as opposed to being disturbing/horrific/gory/gross.

Sure the themes are quite dark, but these things DO go on behind closed doors day after day. Sometimes we need to realise that we have deluded ourselves and we're not the perfect species we think we are.

The first story came across well with the first person narrative from a child's level. Reminiscent of The Lovely Bones.

Well done.

looksee

I like your style and I thought the stories you told were intriguing and well narrated. I do not normally read horror, I mostly read fantasy or historical, but your writing has a misleading simplicity that catches the attention and draws you in.
I don't honestly think I would want to read many more of the short stories as the horror is a bit too concentrated for me. I would prefer to read them a bit longer and with a more subtle approach to the events. The third story about the drug addict is a gem of understatement ('I had to lose her') and I could see it as an extract from a novel.
However as short stories they are beautifully constructed (I read the first three stories before the website threw me out). I think if I knew you though, I too would be concerned though at the possible effect on you of writing such dark material.
Please keep writing, you have a lot of talent, but take care of yourself and don't allow your imagination to take you over .