There is a room where no one waits. Arrivals are cleverly queued so that the dissectionist enters from his cold tables just as you pass through the no-waiting-room door. He is ready for you. This time, there’s no need to sit down, search for that magazine with a torn cover, grimace at others waiting in the room or ignore them,... [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“That Killer Smile” / Memorable Fancies #11
6 July, 2016 by Leave a Comment
“I’m not a serial killer,” he said. “I never meant to be one, at least; that’s not my self-image. A serial killer never stops till he’s caught, isn’t that what they say? Not me. I’ll stop. I’m just looking for Mr. Right.” He looked me up and down, smiling. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Coming of Age” / Memorable Fancies #1555
7 June, 2016 by Leave a Comment
In my country, not having taken a life was some kind of stain that needed to be wiped clean, like still being a virgin at 18. Sadly, I was both. So for my 18th birthday my dad bought me a big game hunt, complete with beaters and bearers and pith-helmeted trackers. We went into the bush and had a week-long hunt, and then our servants cut off the heads of the game I’d killed and gave them to me, for me to have stuffed and mounted I mean, but really I’d shot at them and missed so my dad and the … [Read more...]
“The Sprouting” / Memorable Fancies #566
3 June, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“That corpse you planted last year in your garden, / Has it begun to sprout?” – Eliot, The Waste Land] That was Philip. Yes, as soon as the last frost was gone I caught the ground heaving one day, just a little, and a tiny finger poking out, the nail still soft and pliable. A week later a few more parts of Philip sprouted, and the fingers had grown almost to full size. I probed the ground gently with a thin pole, and yes, Philip was growing healthily, the flesh firming up, the gaping … [Read more...]
“The Cliff and the Abyss” / Memorable Fancies #1518
18 April, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“They held each other’s hands and wandered along the cliff on the edge of the abyss.” – Pascal Quignard] He has a sudden urge to throw her off the cliff. The urge becomes overwhelming. But he stops just in time and she never notices what happened, what didn’t happen, what agonies of choice he endured. “That was a fun walk,” she says. “Let’s do it again next week.” Next week, he thinks, the same thing will happen. His indecision will be worth the price of not, finally, putting an end to … [Read more...]
“The Stones – I” / Memorable Fancies #1509
30 March, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“...the forgotten stones...” – Thomas Bernhard] This one is round. I’m hefting it now. Yes, it fits well in my fist. Very well. It seems to want to be thrown, as it might have been thrown long before, by some forgotten other. Yes, it seems to say, throw me!, but not now – not now – no one is near enough. Wait. … [Read more...]
“The Confession” / Memorable Fancies #1450
26 January, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“He would say, for example: At times I feel that another person and I are the same and at times I don’t.” – Wittgenstein] Jorgensen imagined me one day, pretended that there was a vicious man, a second self, who compelled him to do all those – violent things. So when Jorgensen went on trial he called me as a witness, implored me to confess that I had forced him to violence. And to his surprise I did appear and I did confess, but my revenge on Jorgensen for inventing me was this: I confessed … [Read more...]
“Fallout” / Memorable Fancies #1382
19 November, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Claire and Donald buy their starter home, a 1950’s Cape Cod. In their back yard, they discover a long-forgotten underground fallout shelter. Sixty years ago, a murder occurred there. Now, there will be another. [A story line from my collection The Trees of Malice from Abuzz Press: 16 tales of horror and the weird too creepy to share. Buy it on Amazon.] … [Read more...]
“A Murder Wiki” / Memorable Fancies #441
26 September, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Two writers, A and B, meet online. They agree to collaborate on a novel. A writes a rough draft, and B modifies it. A adds more. B adds his own story elements and new characters. One of the new elements is a murder; one of the new characters is a murderer. A repeatedly deletes the character, wanting the novel to be upbeat, but B keeps writing him back in. Just before the collaboration would have broken down in anger and recrimination, the murderer finds A, at work on his computer. B can now … [Read more...]
“The Plot” / Memorable Fancies #528
10 September, 2015 by Leave a Comment
[“A murderer is not the best man to speak of crime.” – Albert Camus] The author of this murder mystery, the critic wrote, has provided a solution to the unsolved crime by implicating himself. But the novel wanders into irrelevance and the writing is full of cliches and unrealistic dialog. The guilt of having written this miserable book only adds to the author’s guilt of having killed someone for a plot. <END> Buy it at amazon.com/author/terencekuch: Try Try Again – A novel of … [Read more...]
“Forgetting” / Memorable Fancies #690
23 April, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I have this forgetting-project, y’know? There were some awful things in my past. But if I can forget them, they’ll just be gone. The problem is, some other people know what I did and maybe they still remember. I need to make sure they’ve forgotten, too, and then I can get on with my life. I wish I’d never gone to that psychiatrist; now he knows what I did, because I told him. I know he hasn’t forgotten, because he mentions it in every session. He keeps urging me to go to the … [Read more...]
“Quandary” / Memorable Fancies #589
24 January, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I wait in my room but no one comes to arrest me. I wonder why? How long will I be looking over my shoulder? Anyway, what I did was done. Should I send flowers? <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in StumbleUpon, Reddit, Facebook, or other social websites. Subscriptions to this blog are available at www.amazon.com/author/terencekuch or at www.bit.ly/Fancies. – or you can just Follow this blog. You can also buy one or … [Read more...]
“The Plot” / Memorable Fancies #528
23 November, 2013 by Leave a Comment
“A murderer is not the best man to speak of crime.” – Albert Camus The author of this murder mystery, the critic wrote, has provided a solution to the unsolved crime by implicating himself. But the novel wanders into irrelevance and the writing is full of clichés and unrealistic dialog. That is why this novel ultimately fails. The guilt of having written this miserable book only adds to the author’s guilt in having killed someone for a plot. <END> If you liked this post, … [Read more...]
“The Swimming Pool” / Memorable Fancies #501
26 October, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Joe slams the phone down. Those crooks, he thinks, I can get rid of that pool crud a lot cheaper myself. Just some chemicals – the store can tell me what kind – and I can clean the damn pool myself. He drains the pool. The discoloration, he’s surprised to discover, wasn’t just on the surface; it’s thick – gooey – and has an odd smell. OK, he says, I guess this stuff’s too much for me and I gotta get the pool service out after all. By now, Joe has the stuff smeared all over … [Read more...]
“Knife” / Memorable Fancies #465
20 September, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Reading the latest mystery novel, a knife asked, “Why should I always be, at best, a plot device, ink on paper? I am a real thing of wood and steel, made to cut meat, to return to the drawer until one piece of meat decides – that a different piece of meat needs cutting…” <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in StumbleUpon, Reddit, Facebook, or other social websites. Subscriptions to this blog are available at … [Read more...]
“A Murder Wiki – I” / Memorable Fancies #441
27 August, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Two writers, A and B, meet on line. They agree to collaborate on a novel. A writes a rough draft. B modifies it. A adds more. B adds his own story elements and new characters. One of the new elements is a murder; one of the new characters is a murderer. A repeatedly deletes the character, wanting the novel to be upbeat, but B keeps writing him back in. Just before the collaboration would have broken down in anger and recrimination, the murderer finds A, at work on his computer. B can now … [Read more...]
“Innocent” / A Memorable Fancy #395
10 July, 2013 by Leave a Comment
“It was an accident, officer.” That’s what I told them. “It was an accident that he died. You have to believe me; I’m innocent.” I wait in my room for them to come back, to arrest me, to tell me it couldn’t possibly have been an accident, now that their experts have examined the body, now that the weapon has been found, and the threatening emails, and so on. But they never come. Week after week they never come. I can’t stop staring at the door. <END> If you liked … [Read more...]
“A Murder Wiki – II” / A Memorable Fancy #333
6 May, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Two writers, A and B, meet on line. They agree to collaborate on a novel. A writes a rough draft. B modifies it. A adds more. B adds his own story elements. A character called “Stab” appears. A thinks B has written this character in. B thinks A has. Dutifully, A and B describe what Stab does, what he looks like, how he one by one does away with the other characters. Finally, A and B realize that neither had invented Stab. A and B wait for Stab to appear, to perform the actions he has written … [Read more...]
“The Playgoer’s Dream” / A Memorable Fancy #059
12 March, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There is a prop or two on stage: perhaps a stool turned backward. Mist rises from under-stage machines. Experts have assured the theatre manager that no toxic chemicals are involved, or at least that none will, under normal circumstances, reach the audience. Nonetheless, physicians are in attendance. At last the house is full. The audience shifts uneasily in its seats. Coughs ring out from those who suppose, vainly, that by coughing at this permitted time no coughs will issue from them … [Read more...]
“Requirement” / A Memorable Fancy #011
26 December, 2012 by Leave a Comment
“I’m not a serial killer,” he said. “I never meant to be one, at least; that’s not my self-image. A serial killer never stops till he’s caught, isn’t that what they say? Not me. I’ll stop. I’m just looking for Mr. Right.” He looked me up and down, smiling. <END> NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE or in paperback: Read Terence Kuch’s new SF novel about selling and buying memories, See/Saw. See his author page on Amazon. Review copies are available; inquire at terencekuch //at// … [Read more...]
“Performance Review” / A Memorable Fancy #187
11 December, 2012 by 1 Comment
R. Gerald Hardesty, the VP, is berating Wilbur for his poor performance supervising a contract. He goes on and on. His face turns red. Wilbur’s mind drifts off into a fantasy of how great the world would be without R. Gerald Hardesty. Suddenly, Wilbur’s thoughts are interrupted as Hardesty falls over and dies twitching on the floor, an apparent heart attack. As the sirens come and go, Wilbur has a sudden thought – did he actually kill his boss? He had been thinking about Hardesty dead, and … [Read more...]
“Thursday” / A Memorable Fancy #158
11 November, 2012 by Leave a Comment
There is an alien inside me. It’s been there many years but has not, as yet, harmed me. I feel it moving after I’ve eaten. In bed, I look down and see my belly rising and falling regularly – my alien is asleep. There is some involuntary out-gassing – my alien must not have enjoyed my dinner. I found a few foods it can tolerate without upset, and I eat only those. Even though I detest these foods, my alien seems to like them. I have begun seeing a psychiatrist. She tells me that my alien is in … [Read more...]
“The Question Mark” / A Memorable Fancy #141
25 October, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Vince Darlington’s first novel was about to appear. He’d spent almost three years writing a gentle, loving, almost-fictitious story about his and Margery’s long affair and then marriage. Write. Write. Edit. Delete. Desperately search for the deleted file. Write more. Was that love scene strong enough? Too obvious? Perhaps – he shivered – boring?Finally, the manuscript was done. He’d had many doubts about it, but finally found a publisher who thought it could sell, asked for only a few … [Read more...]
“The Twenty-Fifth Day” / A Memorable Fancy #120
1 October, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Day 1: “I did not kill anyone today.” Edward’s tweet was the same, day after day: “I did not kill anyone today.” All the days between 1 and 23, same. Day 24, same. On the 25th day there was no tweet. Day 26: “I did not kill anyone today.” … [Read more...]
“A Court Reporter Solves the Case” / A Memorable Fancy #029
14 October, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A court reporter, recording testimony in a murder case, suddenly understands who the real murderer was. Neither the prosecution nor the defense had figured it out. … [Read more...]
“Taste” / A Memorable Fancy #014
19 August, 2011 by Leave a Comment
She joked about the killing – not very funny, hardly the best of taste. She could have found a better time. After we had drained the blood, For instance. … [Read more...]
Memorable Fancies 
“The Manuscript Murders” / Memorable Fancies #1663
[“...the commentaries are extensions of the text; they are the text in its modern life.” – Judith Butler] The original manuscript was lost, only the commentary surviving the decay of centuries. After extensive study, we have determined that the original was destroyed by the author of the commentary. And the original author, his unexplained disappearance,... [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]