★★★★☆ Hard to Watch but Hard to Look Away From
(SF Horror) Death Tours™ arranges for people to watch others commit suicide. Mason is a dedicated customer, but he wishes it didn’t cost so much. (4,412 words; Time: 14m)
"Suicide Watch," by Susan Emshwiller [bio] (edited by C.C. Finlay), appeared in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction issue 09-10|18, published on August 24, 2018 by Spilogale Inc.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.485 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: Mason’s a fairly slimy character, and we don’t really root for him to escape his fate, but we do cheer when he cheats the company out of profiting from his suicide.
When the Asian woman tries to signal him, we realize that a) not all these “suicides” are voluntary and b) somehow Mason is going to end up having to kill himself. Nicely foreshadowed.
As a metaphor for how people lose their way on social media, it’s solid.
Con: Mason is so awful the first part of the story is painful to read. We know he tortured animals as a child, so it doesn’t seem that the Internet made him what he is.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 09-10|18)
Susan Emshwiller Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: Mason’s a fairly slimy character, and we don’t really root for him to escape his fate, but we do cheer when he cheats the company out of profiting from his suicide.
When the Asian woman tries to signal him, we realize that a) not all these “suicides” are voluntary and b) somehow Mason is going to end up having to kill himself. Nicely foreshadowed.
As a metaphor for how people lose their way on social media, it’s solid.
Con: Mason is so awful the first part of the story is painful to read. We know he tortured animals as a child, so it doesn’t seem that the Internet made him what he is.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 09-10|18)
Susan Emshwiller Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Agreed. This was a very good one.
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