Backstage at the Calamity, Vol. I, No. III: A Vampire's Vengeance, the Warlock Queen, the Groundskeeper Part III, and more

"I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!" I do hope you'll forgive this rather late edition of The Editorial. Normally published Friday nights, Pacific Time, this weekend left me in quite the frightful situation of having to recover from a great amount of unhealthy nonsense. But you know what they say, "Better late than never!" or some such nonsense. Without further ado, I give you this week's review of what is in progress, and the next installment of The Groundskeeper. Enjoy!

Author

M A D A L E X
January 12th, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Table of Contents

What the F*CK did I Work On This Week?

OMG, Write?!

A friend and I try to get together at least once a week to write a bit of flash fiction and workshop some of our pieces. This week, we played with the concept of the No-Faith Wizard, one who distrusts magic and its use and goes to great pains to explain this to their merry party, despite their merry party not accepting any part of it. This may or may not be further fleshed out in the future.

Vampire's Vengeance

This story will replace the Groundskeeper once the Groundskeeper completes its run. I managed to complete another chapter in this saga. The goal is to have the whole thing complete and ready to run by the time the first installment is published here.

The Warlock Queen

The struggle is real to not add another character of interest and deepen the conflict in the story. To what end? Simply to make it longer? To intensify the narrative? Nay, the stage is set and the story much be told in its simplicity, lest complexity deteriorate the quality of narrative. Rather than add more to the story, I focused on one character, the princess, and expanded upon her experience, digging into the details of her past and how it shapes her evolution.

Unholy Requiem (Children of the Damned, Book 1)

I finished reviewing chapter 3, addressing a number of inconsistencies in the evolving powers of the narrator and his companion. Only nine chapters left before this historical narrative on the rise of vampirism is ready for feedback.

The Groundskeeper

Background depicts a row of personal mausoleums, slightly desaturated. The title, "The Groundskeeper," is displayed across the image in the center in Requiem font.

First time tuning in? Start here.

What happens when the lights go out in the employee hall on your first day on the job and you’re the only one there? Do you panic? Do you call the local chapter of ghost hunters? You can catch up on Part II here. Let us see what our protagonist gets up to.

"Hello?" I call out, not expecting any response, given the employee hall was empty when I entered, and I haven't heard anyone enter since. Still, in classic horror movie trope fashion, I do the predictable thing.

I am such a rookie. If someone's behind this and they can see and hear me, they're probably laughing.

I shake my head out of disgust and embarrassment and then decide to just deal with this. Point four on the checklist said "Investigate flickering lamps, but make no attempts at replacement or repairs." Does this count? There no lamps, and they're not flickering (duh) but I feel like I shouldn't just leave this alone. I'm going to find the breaker, and if the breaker's tripped, then easy peasy, I can just turn the lights back on. If the breaker's not tripped, then someone's behind this, and I'll just leave the hall and go about my work.

Seems simple enough.

I place the lanyard with my employee badge around my neck and turn and feel for the counter on which the coffee machine stands. I want to set down my coffee cup before I go wandering off down the hall in the dark. The counter should be just right there, but I find myself taking several steps in the direction of where it ought to be. This doesn't seem right.

The room's not very big, and I don't want to disorient myself, so I just keep moving in the direction in which I think the counter lies, my free hand reaching out in front of me. I expect to feel the counter, or the wall, or even one of the tables in the case I turned the wrong way. But so far nothing, and I have taken way too many steps to even still be in the same room.

I stop for a moment. I need to think about this. This seems way too odd to just be a practical joke. It's possible the walls between rooms on either side of the hall could be projected--I didn't touch any of those--but that seems way too contrived. Why would they go through all that trouble to spook the new person?

Then again, the checklist was a little weird.

The lights flicker for a moment and I am able to orient myself before they cut out again. I'm standing right next to the counter, as if I only took a couple steps, as if I haven't just been fumble walking for the past six to ten minutes. I reach toward the counter and place my free hand upon it.

Oh good, it's still right there. Except, it feels gross. There's some sort of sticky residue on it. I set down the coffee on it, and keeping a light touch on the counter as now I do not trust my spatial awareness in the darkness of this place, I move further down to where I expect to find the sink.

Sure enough, the sink is there. I wash my hands and shake them out, waiting until they're dry enough to pull out my phone. Once I have it in hand I turn on the flashlight and swing it around to find ...

Nothing. The light doesn't land on anything. No tables, no counter, nothing. The light just fades into the darkness. That's when I fear the heavy breathing.

Heavy breathing?! Not heavy breathing! What will become of our protagonist now? The answer is continued in Part IV.

What’s Published and Where You Can Find It

These are the top stories currently in circulation.

Background is an image of a faded number eight, repeated in large print. There is a silhouette of a figure laid over the background, though it is unclear what the figure looks like or which way they're facing. The text "Final Encounter" is in the upper left with the Mad Alex emblem sitting just below it. At the bottom is the author's name, "Mad Alex."

Final Encounter Cover

Final Encounter

A parent searches frantically for their daughter who has disappeared in their house.

The Artist’s Spell

A visit to a popular artist’s exhibit takes an interesting turn.

Book cover for The Artist's Spell. The title is stacked, the word 'The' aligned left at the top, the world 'Artist\'s' directly below it, aligned center, and the word 'Spell' directly below 'Artist\'s' aligned right. The Mad Alex emblem is placed next to the word 'The' just above 'Artist\'s.' The author's name, 'Mad Alex' is centered at the bottom of the design. The words and emblem are superimposed on the backdrop of a canvas with smatterings of paint.

The Artist’s Spell cover

Odds ‘n’ Endings Stories

These stories share a single connective thread through them all: the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique. The Proprietor—a timeless individual of many faces, few scruples, and a whole lot of character—deals in artifacts, each containing peculiar traits. These are the stories of the Boutique’s patrons.

Book cover for The Artist's Spell. The title is stacked, the word 'The' aligned left at the top, the world 'Artist\'s' directly below it, aligned center, and the word 'Spell' directly below 'Artist\'s' aligned right. The Mad Alex emblem is placed next to the word 'The' just above 'Artist\'s.' The author's name, 'Mad Alex' is centered at the bottom of the design. The words and emblem are superimposed on the backdrop of a canvas with smatterings of paint.

Vegas Rift

A woman searches for her long lost husband. This is currently the most popular Mad Alex short story.

Postscript

Thank you so much for taking the time to sit with me as I discuss my progress and share with an original tale. If you feel so inclined, please send me replies! I would love to read any feedback you have, á la what you would like to see or how you are enjoying any of these stories. I’m also interested in any ideas you have for a better title for this publication. I feel that “The Editorial” simply does not cut it, but I am at a loss for anything better at the moment. Also, if you are on the butterfly app, come follow me! You can find me on Bluesky here.

Acknowledgements

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