REVIEW - 'The Horror in Smithville' First Seven Parts!

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[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Horror in Smithville[/caption]

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 Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. I am sitting here, in an apartment way too hot to work… or even live, trying to get cool enough to start writing Part Eight of ‘The Horror in Smithville’ when I had a great idea. Prior to returning to writing the next chapter… maybe I should present a review of the first Seven parts! This will give me a chance for the room to cool…. Hopefully… and a chance to review everything that has happened to Timmy and Archer in the first sixty-five pages.

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Yes, what I had started as a short story has already reached sixty-five pages and I am not even half done! See, I was thinking that new readers are, likely, coming to The Other Shoe all the time. If someone were to start reading this wonderful young adult horror story, at Part Seven, they might be very confused and (maybe) even put off by some of the violence in the most recent chapter.

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So, My Dear Readers, this evening I am going to write and publish a review of the first sixty-five pages (and seven chapters) for everyone to read and enjoy. Reading it all over again, will give me a chance to make notes on just how to improve the story when it comes time for the Halloween rewrite. Yes, come Halloween of this year I plan on presenting this story as ‘Holiday Fare’! I will start late in August and run it, in weekly installments, till it is complete the week of Halloween!

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Now, I have already planned to rewrite the story in time for the Halloween re-release. Remember, I am writing this each week and publishing it just as soon as I am finished writing. No; outlines, plot planning, character development charts, NOTHING I would usually use when I write a fictional story. This review will give me a chance to pinpoint the places where I want to re-work the story. Then, come August, I can rewrite the whole story as I go along this summer.

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Now, with all of that out of the way, I would like to bring you, My Dear Readers, a complete review of ‘The Horror in Smithville’ in its original form, without any changes, updates, rewrites or anything. My Dear Readers, this is how the story came out of my head, each and every week, for the past two months.

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ENJOY!

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• The Horror in Smithville : “Timmy Marref lived on a farm outside Smithville. Smithville was a little town smack dab in the middle of America. Timmy’s father, Kenneth Marref, worked the family farm. As his father did before him, and his grandfather did before that, and his great-grandfather did before him. From what Timmy could gather the Marref’s had worked this land for more than 100 years. Timmy didn’t mind living on a farm. As a matter of fact, more times than not Timmy just downright loved living on the farm.” THIS is how the whole story started. It was March 6^th, 2014 and I was thinking on “what NEW can I bring to The Other Shoe’?” I am always thinking of how to improve the blog, what more series or articles can I bring to you, My Dear Readers, that will bring smiles to your faces and joy to you souls. I, at this point, had written articles about world news, Mars, the Hubble Space telescope, financial inequality, and even some politics here and there. What, pray tell, could I cook up in my little head that might tickle your collective fancy? Then, it hit me, like a ton of bricks coming at my head. The idea of a lifetime landed in my lap. ‘A Horror story meant for young adults! The great thing was, if I wrote it well then adults as well as young people, will enjoy reading the story. That was how it all began, back in March. :0


• The Horror in Smithville – Part Two : “Now Timmy’s Mom weren’t no fool, nor was she born yesterday. Margaret knew Timmy had just been on the phone, for the past half hour, with his best Archer. Margie also knew, and she loved her son Timmy for this, that he was mighty accustom to hug her at any given time. However, Timmy creeping up on her to put his arm around her waist and hug her while she’s frying chicken? That was a sure fire sign that Timmy wanted something, and he wanted it something mighty strong. This made Margie smile ear to ear. She could hardly wait to hear the yarn her son was about to spin. Just in the nick of time though Margie bit her upper lip to make herself stop smiling, right as Timmy looked up into her face with those doleful hazel eyes.” Well, I have said it before, and I will (likely) say it again and again. At this point, the story was nearly writing itself! The characters had come to life, and each and every time I closed my eyes and thought about; Timmy and Archer they began to perform and act right before my eyes. I had the easiest job in the world, all I had to do was watch and write down what they did each day. Even this early in the story the characters of Timmy and Archer had started to leap off the pages of the story. ‘Character Development’ was as easy as letting the boys speak! The plot was a simple one… two young men out for an adventure at Halloween. BAM! It wasn’t until two or three weeks later that ‘The Tall Man’ came to life and the story started developing a ‘Darker’ side.


• The Horror in Smithville – Part Three : “Just as Archer had anticipated, when dinner was served there was; deep fried chicken (at least one chicken if not two), mashed potatoes with a pad of butter still melting on the top of the potato mountain, what looked to be buttermilk biscuits, a gravy bowl filled to the brim with hot and fresh (made from scratch) chicken gravy, and both green peas and corn on the cob. Archer was drooling with anticipation, but before lifting a single eating utensil he gave Timmy’s Mom her much deserved praise.“Everything looks just great, Mrs. Marref! I don’t know which is better, how good it all smells or how great it looks on the table!” This was about the time that the ‘sleep-over’ idea was flowering in my head. The idea of having ‘his’ first appearance not happen during the fateful ride on the Haunted House. How to build the suspense for the ride, how to incorporate character development with a three day long sleep-over. It was in parts two and three that I truly developed the ‘Home Spun’ feel of the story. How I was to take two rual young men, and throw them out of their world of feeding chickens and milking cows and hurl them head long into a world with ‘zombie-wolves’ and the undead. It was, also, about this time that I feel in LOVE with this story and its potential. What was meant to be a really short story, lasting no more than a month, now had the potential to run for several months. Timmy and Archer had found a way into my heart.


• The Horror in Smithville – Part Four : “Lightening filled the room with brilliance that shown like daytime. The room was plunged into darkness, followed by the low rumblings of thunder. The time between the two events, the lightening and the thunder was decreasing. Timmy knew that meant the heart of the storm was yet to arrive. Another flash of lightening, it filled the room. Geeze, it was so bright you could read your math homework with it. It was followed by deepening darkness, then the low rumble of thunder. All the time the sound of the rain, pounding on the back porch and the barn, grew louder and louder. This was going to be a heck of a storm!” To this day I am still unsure just where the lightening storm came from in this story. No where, in the first month’s notes, did I even mention a lightening storm. However, once I wrote it down… once I worked it into the story… and once ‘The Tall Man’ appeared with the storm… well there was no turning back and it felt as natural as a spring rain. You see, My Dear Readers, it was as if; the Carnival, the Haunter House Ride and ‘The Tall Man’ ALL ‘blew into town together’! See how it all just fits? Honest to goodness I am not fibbing when I tell you that it was not originally thought up tied together, it must have just happened one night when the pain robbed me of sleep. Now, looking back? Well, I just cannot see it working any other way. THAT is what makes my job…. A JOY!


• The Horror in Smithville – Part Five : “Standing there, Timmy felt a cool breeze passing under the door. Now, he knew that he and Archer had kept the window in his bedroom closed. As hard as it was raining, outside, an open window would have drenched the bed and sleeping bag. He leaned over to the right, slightly, looking at the space between the bottom of the door and the sill below. Sure enough, there was a light on in the room. It was lighter that what his ‘Adventures of Princess Nadia’ nightlight created, too. Timmy screwed up his courage, wrapped his hand around the doorknob, and turned the knob.” ANOTHER great ‘Behind the Scenes’ story relates to the creation of this, Part Five. You see, Part Five NEVER EXISTED! When I wrote part four, then looked back over it getting ready to write (what is now Part Six)… well, I just did not like how it ended, Part Four. Something was missing. I gave it a great deal of thought… then it hit me! In ending Part Four, the way I did, I have deprived myself of a Grand Entrance for ‘The Tall Man’! Once I experienced that inspiration, well there was no ‘going back’. I simply had to re-write Part Four, and have it segway right into THIS Part Five. Part Five exists solely for the purpose of the introduction of ‘The Tall Man’ to his Protagonist = Timmy. It was all falling into place, just like a prefect shuffle in cards, each person (card) was stacking right on top of the other person (card) to form a ‘dove-tail’ of characters. My Dear Readers, this was not ‘planned’… this just happened to me, and I can never express just how happy I am that it… did!


• The Horror in Smithville – Part SIX : “And we are not talking about a really nice graveyard, eight. This graveyard looked to be from long long ago. The headstones were mostly broken, the names of the dearly beloved long ago forgotten to time. Gnarled trees, leaning half out of the ground, were the only remaining landscaping. Above, the moon hung full in the sky while a deep rolling fog moved over the ground.. It just then that Timmy felt the first deep chill, it was very cold and damp outside.” This, My Dear Readers, THIS is when it all started coming together. In THIS chapter… the MAGIC started happening. Let me explain a little. First, in part six I started interweaving the boy’s reality with their dream world! Things, and people, from one part of their lives began showing up in the other part of their lives! This gave me all sorts of creative opportunities. NEXT? Next the boys were taken to a different dream world! More than one ‘dream world’ freed me up, as a writer, and gave me the opportunity to begin interweaving their “Dream Worlds’! This was a huge gift to me, as a writer… but the best I saved for LAST. In Part Six… I did something that reached off the page! Now, My Dear Readers, if you are a frequent readers then you have (no doubt) hear about my most favorite… my PRIZED novel; ‘The Adventures of Princess Nadia’ book ONE to be ‘The Healing Light’. I have written about this upcoming work for the better part of the past FOUR years. In Part Six, I managed to create a ‘Trademark’ writing dynamic exclusive to Daniel Hanning. IN part Six… I brought Princess Nadia and Alexander into the ‘dream world’ of Timmy and Archer! That’s RIGHT My Dear Readers, it will be a trademark of my writing style that MY characters Cross Over into other literary works of mine! Never before have I read of this being done by another writer. Not only that, but it is not just a chance encounter! That’s RIGHT Princess Nadia and Alexander will have full roles in ‘The Horror in Smithville’ and Timmy and Archer WILL APPEAR in ‘The Adventures of Princess Nadia’! My Dear Readers, when I made this happen on the page… and it WORKED! I was just THRILLED at the possibilities! I am not going to give any spoilers… but this is going to happen… and BIG!


• The Horror in Smithville – Part Seven : “Timmy had directed Archer to climb to the highest branch of the old gnarled tree he could manage. There he would do his best to; bleed, slow down and/or maim as many of these zombie-wolves as possible. You see, that is a common misnomer about archers, and archery, among the larger populous. Archers rarely ‘kill’ someone with an arrow to the heart. Archers are best to bleed your opponents, causing them to slow and reducing strength. Timmy had explained all this, to Archer, as they climbed the gnarled tree.” My Dear Readers, at FOURTEEN PAGES in Word, this Part, Part Seven, is the single LARGEST of all the parts so far. In it I tie together all the new tools, tricks, characters, and ‘trademarks’. I interweave just about every aspect of this story, and this story begins getting dark. By becoming dark the story firmly plants itself into the Horror genre and leaves no doubt to the readers. This is a horror story, and one of a different and terribly original style and feel. This final part, for the first ¼ of the book, sums up Timmy and Archer’s experience in their ‘Dream World’, so far. Now, not only are characters from different IPs showing up in other intellectual properties? Events, and people, from reality are showing up in Dream World (OTHER THAN Timmy and Archer), events are carrying over from one reality to another. Now, I really do not want to tip my hand… I REALLY want you to READ THIS STORY… if you haven’t already… and (here is the REAL problem with reviews) I want to do this without giving away any of the surprises and without diminishing the suspense. However, weighing in at 14 pages THIS part of the story… is monumental! That is why I am taking my time working on, out, Part EIGHT! I do plan on its release TOMORROW… May 8^th, 2014. Barring any totally unforeseen circumstances… like the A/C going out completely… I WILL PUBLISH ‘part Eight’ Thursday may 8^th, 2014.

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Well, My Dear Readers, that completes the review of the first seven parts (chapters) of my wonderful horror story ‘The Horror in Smithville’. I hope that everyone has enjoyed this trip down memory lane, for everyone that has already read the story. For those of you that have not started your journey into the world(s) of Timmy and Archer? I encourage you to read ‘The Horror in Smithville’.

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My Dear Readers, I can guarantee that this ‘horror story’ is unlike anything you have ever read. It will have you on the edge of your seats, it will cause you to jump out of your seats, it will make you laugh, it will make you smile. By the time I am done, My Dear Readers, you will have experienced an all new genre of horror and I will leave you wanting for more.

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This story is the ‘Love of My Life’, right now. It is the center of my world, the focus of my creative efforts, and what I think about every moment, waking or not. Tomorrow… I hope and pray that my A/C will work! If I can get it cool enough in here… cool enough that I am not gripped in waves of nausea… I will get to writing Part Eight.

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The great thing is I have all of Part Eight already planned out in my head. All there is to it is; writing what I have in store, checking the spelling and grammar, publishing and promoting! BAM! That’s IT!

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HONEST My Dear Readers… IF I wasn’t already in debt to my bank (with Pay Day Advances to make up for Allen’s lack of income for months)? I would myself just go out and BUY an A/C and have Allen put it in the wall. BAM! DONE! No more begging the landlord to do his job! No more begging the maintanece person to put a WORKING A/C in my room… the last one? (The one currently in my room?) He brought it in and it was FILTHY! The screen filter was CACKED with CRUD! It took me half a can of Comet and TWO HOURS to get it clean… Now you know if the screen is filthy that the A/C is filthy. So, this A/C keeps freezing up… BECAUSE it is CLOGGED with FILTH and it CANNOT BREATH! Anywho… I am so sorry… to bring my delimas… here… so sorry. You see, people on lots of pain medications are really vulnerable to heat.

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I cannot sleep… and the heat causes me to wake up and puke several times a night! I have lost over ten pounds and haven’t had a whole night’s sleep in more than a WEEK! Sorry… I will work hard to get Part Eight written and published for you, My Dear Readers. Until tomorrow…

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Adieu!

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Thank YOU!
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[caption id="attachment_2866" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Danny Hanning of The Other Shoe - May 6th, 2014[/caption]