The Elixir

A solid short story that begins in describing a frustrated author and spirals into supernatural horror. It reminded me somewhat of Machen's The Hill of Dreams. Nobody will claim a story about an author suffering from writer's block is novel, but as always the trick is in the execution. Bottone paints a believable picture of the frustrations, hopes, and humiliation faced by our protagonist. He has a knack for observation: the moment where a fellow-lodger's kindly gesture skewers his chance at escaping social torture, for example, is all too familiar. The awkwardness of the first meeting at the writing circle, and the eccentricities of the authors themselves, ring true. Bottone also avoids trying to neatly tie up the supernatural details, leaving them to the reader's imagination - the point is their impact, not exactly what is going on in the background. Similarly, he offers lets hints and the exclamations of third parties reveal the ending scene instead of laying a gruesome scene out in authorial voice. I'm intrigued by the glimpses of the other characters, and hope he may return to this town in a future story.