Prelude To A Reflection

 I recently posted Episode 17 of my Prelude To A Scream podcast. The latest episode features my story "Requiem" which was originally published in Darkness Within magazine #2 in 1999.


"Requiem" is the result of spending an afternoon sharing "true ghost stories" with a bunch of my colleagues from the Coles at St. Laurent Shipping Centre in Ottawa. One of them mentioned this tale about a haunted cabinet in which the ghost of a young woman was visible in the mirror. That sparked the inspiration for this tale about a lonely rich collector of haunted artifacts whose purchase of a Victorian bureau completely changes his appreciation of his prized possessions when he is suddenly able to see all of the ghosts he has collected through the reflection from the bureau.

In a slightly dark humour manner, I envision what might happen if you were to thrust a bunch of ghosts from different eras into the same small space. Would they bicker and fight like two pre-teens in the back seat on a day-long car ride?

The tale also explores the pain of unrequited love that a lonely man might feel towards a ghost, knowing he can watch her repeatedly but never truly be able to act upon his love.

This podcast contains the full audio version of the story as well as a bit about the origin of the tale.  I also talk a little bit about the process of looking back at a previously published story and the temptation I had to re-write and revise the tale based on feedback provided to me by a good friend since the first appearance of the tale in print.

You can download the MP3 by right-clicking here, or simply listen to it online using the flash player embedded below.

"Requiem" was reprinted in One Hand Screaming in 2004. The print book is still available at Chapters/Indigo as well as Amazon or you can order it through virtually any bookstore (particularly if you like supporting your local independent bookstore, which I highly encourage) You can also get the Smashwords ebook edition which is available for $0.99 direct from Smashwords, or via KoboBooks, Sony, Diesel as well as the Apple iBook store.  Up until Nov 15, 2010, you can get the entire ebook free on Smashwords if you use the coupon code WX78G.