Picture Window, Jeffrey K. Albaugh
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Gay Erotic Horror
Tags: Contemporary with a Fantasy Twist, Horror, Short Story
Reviewer: Cindi
Purchase At: amazon.com
Blurb –
Two young men in love move into a room in an old house and encounter a jealous and vengeful voyeur.
Gay erotic horror, 4K words
Review –
Outside of a large home is (as the blurb states) a voyeur who watches all the goings on in the house through a large picture window. The voyeur has been there for many, many years and has watched families come and go. Each new occupant is watched closely and sometimes the voyeur smiles. Other times? Not so much.
Ross and Julian, a young gay couple, move into the house with the large picture window. At first all is fine, but it doesn’t take long before it becomes obvious to the one watching that all is not as it should be with the couple. One of the men is doing things he has no business doing while the other suffers mostly in silence. You see, the ‘voyeur’ and Julian have a bond of sorts. It’s not a bond in the traditional sense of the word. Not even close. But it’s something that makes both happy in their own way. Ross, on the other hand, is not a good guy. He comes across as one early on, but it becomes obvious to the reader not long into the story that he’s really a bad person and that Julian doesn’t deserve him. Sadly, Julian blames himself for all Ross does (and doesn’t even try to hide from the man he claims to love). While Julian forgives time and time again, the one looking inside the picture window has other plans.
This is a very short story, so I can’t say more than that. I will say that it’s one of the best horror shorts I’ve read in a very long time. I immediately got sucked in and couldn’t turn the pages on my Kindle fast enough. Sure, it’s only 22 pages or so, but a hell of a lot is said in those few pages. I wasn’t left wanting more when it ended because everything came together exactly as it should have. While not overly distracting it could be tightened up a bit more editing wise. That’s why I’m rating this 4.5 stars instead of a full 5.
Overall, an outstanding read. It’s not often I can end a story of this length saying that I absolutely loved it. I will definitely be checking out more by this author.
Interest well and truly piqued by your review, Cindi. It sounds good, different. Great review without spoiling a thing for future readers 🙂
Thanks, Kazza. I found this story completely by accident on Amazon and decided to take a chance. I’m so glad I did. It’s a fantastic read. It’s not just the actual story. The writing is excellent as well and sucked me in on the very first page. There were a couple of minor editing problems, but they didn’t take away from the story in any way.