Jump into the Abyss!

By Louise Blackwick

During his premature entombment, forty long nails are struck into Chase Chaperone's casket, plunging him deeper into Hell. This grim ritual is a dark operetta written in rhyming prose - an homage to Dante's Inferno - from which naught but the most vile of souls can escape. The man is subsequently set free from the coffin by the grotesque dwarf Eldritch, who in a fit of revenge, climbs onto his back and refuses to climb down. Chase is thus doomed to carry the parasitic dwarf atop his back for the rest of his days, while searching for absolution.

This Halloween special explores themes such as "death and decay", "justice" and "morality", in a forlorn world set outside the reach of modern civilisation. Written in the grim and melodious style of Edgar Allan Poe, "Jump into the Abyss!" follows Chase Chaperone's descent into the far-reaching Abyss of his soul in a masterfully-written allegorical tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creascriptum
• Release date: Jul 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9789492064127

Louise Blackwick

Louise Blackwick is a next-generation fiction writer, author of science fiction/fantasy novels, surreal short-stories and narrative poems. Blackwick is particularly known as the writer of the international bestseller "Vivian Amberville", which follows the epic adventures of a girl whose imagination can reshape reality. She is also recognized as the creator of a new niche subgenre of science-fiction: NEON SCIENCE-FICTION."Vivian Amberville - The Weaver of Odds", the first novel in a series of five books was released November 2016 on eBook and March, 2017 on paperback. It sold an estimate of 3.3 million copies worldwide and was popularly acclaimed by a score of metacritics, most of whom have compared her narrative style with C. Paolini, J.K. Rowling and E.R. Eddison.For short fiction, Blackwick main influences were the father of surrealism André Breton, the twisted storyteller Edgar A.Poe and the existentialist Kafka. At times, she unweaves the general conventions of space and of time, bending them at odd angles into a mesmerizing and surreal dream construct.Blackwick primarily considers herself a "fantasy novelist", though the erudite complexity of her work has been appraised to exceed the genre of fantasy. For epic large-scale fiction, Blackwick greatly looks up to the legendary Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.Upcoming books from the author include: the humorous science fiction novel "God is a Robot", the sci-fi thriller "29 Seconds" and the much-awaited sequel "Vivian Amberville - The Book of Chaos".

Book preview

Jump into the Abyss!

Jump into the Abyss! published by Creascriptum, October 31, 2017. The Netherlands.

Text copyright © 2017 by Louise Blackwick. All rights reserved.

Cover designed by Louise Blackwick, copyright © 2017 by Creascriptum.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this book are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or physically, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author or publisher.

ISBN: 978-94-92064-12-7

Jump into the Abyss!

Of matters of love, I have little to say.

The heart wants what it wants, when it wants it, and for as long as it wants it, with little-to-no regard to the phantoms of reason. To say I have loved my late wife, Kassandra would be a gross overstatement of my true affections; a painful slap to the mystery of my unconquerable intellect. Intelligent men do not love.

That much has been clear to me since the day I kneeled before a woman and begged her to marry me. Not because I loved her – alas – but because I feared I would die alone. Indeed, I feared that I would rot in the ground, scooped up by maggots and other ungodly vermin, and an entire world would think nothing of it.

Little did I know then that my deepest and most excruciating fear was about to be played for irony – for you see – today is the day I get buried alive.

The words you’re about to read can only be truly absorbed by an open mind. Not much time ago, I myself would have dismissed such events as mere fantasies of a mind most twisted, whose sole intent is to induce shock in the lesser reader.

Sceptical as I know myself to be, I have never given much credit to stories featuring men being buried alive at the edge of the world; such can only be a tale of gore and macabre, I thought, designed

Reviews for Jump into the Abyss!

[Jyrki Hämeenniemi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Modern Masterpiece

This story is free on the author's website, but considering the level it was written, it should be taught in schools all across the world as an example of "meaningful and exquisite writing" In this highly underrated piece of classic horror fiction, we see Blackwick flexing her writing muscles in a beautiful dance of dynamic rhyming prose. I have shelved this psychological thriller/classic horror short-story under "modern masterpieces" and even that, I don't believe my review can do this story justice. It is simply a classic, and a staggeringly well-written one at that. There is controversy and scandal surrounding this art piece - and a fair bit of mixed revies - but for good reasons too. "Jump into the Abyss!" is not for the casual reader who seeks cheap thrills or entertainment. Just like its more-popular and much-more-well-received soul-sister, "The Weaver of Odds", "Jump into the Abyss!" was written for the eyes that search beyond superficiality. As for this short-story itself, it drills into your subconscious and plays on your most primal fears: the fear of death, the fear of bodily decay. Since the story takes place at the edge of civilization, Chase Chaperone is an innocent soul, condemned to follow his long-deceased wife Kassandra into the grave. He is thereupon plunged into a living limbo, very much similar to Dante's Inferno. However, his release from the grave by the gruesome dwarf Eldritch does not confer salvation, nor absolution. Chase is doomed to carry the weight of his individual "guilt", which takes the form of the dwarf, only to escape it by facing the Abyss of the unknown, willingly and completely. Once more I underline, "Jump into the Abyss!" is NOT for the casual reader. It is for those who enjoy the meaningful and melodious style of Edgar Allan Poe, or the surreal metaphysics of Kierkegaard, or even the archetypal stories of Dante and Schopenhauer. It is short but powerful and packs quite a punch. It broadens the mind.