(Contemporary Fantasy) Helping an old man get over a chain-link fence leads the narrator into the world of the occult. (4,168 words; Time: 13m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"Crossing the Threshold," by Pat Murphy [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Lightspeed Magazine issue 85, published on June 1, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The best thing about this story is the humor. Like when the police see the shrunken head and she says, “That’s my father’s.”.
Con: There’s not a coherent story here. The narrator has no real goal other than cleaning up her father’s flat. The introduction of the devil at the start is interesting, but, by the end, nothing has been done with that idea.
It is very hard to believe the police would deliver a $1,000 gold coin to someone. These are the same police who insist you take your drivers licence out of your wallet because they don't want to be accused of stealing from you.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 85)
Pat Murphy Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: There’s not a coherent story here. The narrator has no real goal other than cleaning up her father’s flat. The introduction of the devil at the start is interesting, but, by the end, nothing has been done with that idea.
It is very hard to believe the police would deliver a $1,000 gold coin to someone. These are the same police who insist you take your drivers licence out of your wallet because they don't want to be accused of stealing from you.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 85)
Pat Murphy Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Yes, the old man devil hooks you, and then he's pretty incidental to the rest of the story.
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