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The Beach Scene
The Beach Scene
When a man receives a seemingly innocuous painting from a colleague that has recently committed suicide, he finds himself slowly being dragged down by an inexorable force into the awful depths of insanity.
Book Excerpt
April 1, 2006
Walter died today. Found out this morning over breakfast. Suicide. Walter. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. Suicide. Walter wasn't suicidal. I know that, know it for a fact.
But he is dead. Why? I am not foolish enough to suspect "foul play" as they say in the mystery stories. No one cares enough about a community college art teacher to murder him. But suicide?
Something is wrong here. Very wrong.
- - -
April 2, 2006
I didn't realize until this morning that yesterday was April Fools day. Some kind of sick joke? But that's not like Walter either. He was a little crazy, but not that kind of crazy. Still I keep half expecting to pick up my voice and hear his voice yell, "Gotcha!" But it is no joke. I know he is dead.
- - -
(Later)
Got a package today. From Walter. Scary considering what I wrote about expecting him to call. I can't express the chill I got when I saw his name on the label. A message fr
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Readers reviews
3.9
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Well, yes, I did see the ending coming from almost the first time the painting was mentioned. I must be too blasé, stuff like this doesn't thrill me or give me nightmares.
If you like boogie-boogie stories, you might like this, other reviewers have. When you've finished it, please download The Picture of Dorian Gray.
If you like boogie-boogie stories, you might like this, other reviewers have. When you've finished it, please download The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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Disappointing. Like Violet Collins, I had thought that this book would live up to the other reviews as being "delightfully creepy", "brilliantly haunting", or just plain "stunning." It may be just me, but though I liked how this story was written and structured, I found it to be painfully predictable with a humorously cheesy ending.
07/05/2012
Enough normalcy to be delightfully creepy.
05/27/2012
After reading the reviews, I was expecting something way scarier and thrilling than what I actually got. Sorry, but the people who wrote this must have been super sensitive. The end did have a good twist.
10/13/2011
yeah ,me too. I've deleted it too after i finished reading it.heheh
Brilliantly haunting,quite possibly the scariest short story i've read so far.
Brilliantly haunting,quite possibly the scariest short story i've read so far.
10/13/2011
Totally creepy and stays with you for a long time.
09/30/2011
so believable that i actually deleted this after reading.. somehow i get the urge to download it again.
best book ever!
best book ever!
01/23/2011
Very nice story and ending! Shades of Stephen King!
01/03/2011
Very eerie. What's even more eerie that while reading this, I could have sworn I read this before, but I never have. Creepy deja vu.
12/08/2010
Great short story! Couldn't stop reading it.
11/30/2010