This is a repost of a short story I wrote based on an urban legend (the licked hand). I thought it’d be fun to bring it back for Halloween.
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.
The sound was all Samantha Wates could focus on tucked tightly into her bed. It was nearly midnight, and she’d only been asleep for an hour before she heard the faucet dripping.
Sam’s parents had left around 9 p.m. for a night out in the city, and they wouldn’t be home for hours. She dangled her arm off the bed until she felt her dog, Rupert, lick her hand. His favorite sleeping place was underneath her bed.
Sam liked to think that even though she was fifteen and didn’t believe in monsters, her dog was still protecting her from anything that went bump in the night.
“That’s a good boy, Rupert. Now, go turn off the leaking faucet.” She giggled to herself, knowing without opposable thumbs that it was impossible for a dog. “Alright, I’ll do it myself.”
She sprang from the bed. The winter chill made the hardwood floors like ice. She ran on her tiptoes out her door and across the hall to the bathroom. She turned both knobs tightly before jetting back to bed.
She snuggled in, trying to dismiss the cold in her feet and the prickling feeling at the back of her neck. She covered herself from head to toe with the bulky comforter but had let her hand hang down for Rupert to lick again. It was calming to know he was there, and sleep quickly took over.
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.
“Uh. Not again.” She mumbled to herself while glancing at the glowing red numbers on the bedside clock. She didn’t want to get up again. The late hour had made the room colder.
Sam got up anyway. She crossed the hall and started to reach for the faucet, but realized the sound wasn’t coming from the sink. It was coming from the bathtub.
She hesitated before moving the shower curtain back. Sam flicked the switch, and blinding light filled the bathroom. Squinting, she yanked back the curtain.
Her eyes widen as she slammed back into the counter, practically falling into the sink. The air was escaping her lungs faster than it was coming in. Black spots appeared in her vision before she remembered how to work her lungs.
Gulping in air, she stared at the blood matted hair and mangled body of her beloved dog. Rupert hung from the shower nozzle. His blood was dripping into the tub, pinging on the metal drain.
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.
Choking back tears, she edged toward the door but froze when she saw something written on the wall. Scrawled in blood across the tile were the words, “Humans can lick, too.”
Goosebumps had covered her flesh as her eyes touched on the words, and a dark form appeared behind her. An arm snaked around her waist, and another covered her mouth to silence her screams.
As Sam was dragged into the dark hall, she felt a familiar thick, wet tongue slide up her neck before she heard him whisper hotly into her ear, “Mmmmm, tasty.”
horror
#Alive relatable to life in 2020?
StandardThe movie, #Alive, shows how easily a virus can become a pandemic and probably describes how many people felt sheltering in place in early 2020. I never thought zombie movies would be relatable to real life, but no one could predict this year.
***Spoilers ahead***
The rundown
It’s a classic story of boy meets girl. Oh, and there is a virus spreading rapidly throughout Seoul, causing people to eat other people. It begins with a young man, Joon-woo, locked in his apartment with few supplies and a sticky note reminding him he must survive. In the beginning, he has water, electricity, and social media to connect to the outside world but no cell service to call. As the days go on, everything gets cut off. He’s desperate, alone, and has a date with a noose. In the act of trying to kill himself, he receives a sign that he isn’t alone. A young woman across the complex with a slew of survival gear and a spiked chair that would make Buffy the vampire slayer jealous teams up with our main man, Joon-woo, to stay #alive.
Why is it a bad/good horror movie?
I don’t think this is a great horror movie, but it was entertaining enough. I wouldn’t say this film is scary, but the faint of heart might find it a little more suspenseful than I did. I think the filmmakers did a superb job of drawing you into the characters and making you want them to survive. In the end, there is a moment that you believe it is over for this duo, and you don’t want that for them. They don’t deserve to die on the rooftop ripped to shreds by the zombies. If you care enough about the characters, I don’t think it can be called a bad horror movie. It had some cheese, but sometimes that’s a good thing.
The creepiest/best/cheesiest scene or quote?
One of the cheesiest scenes is when a fireman zombie, using a thin rope that probably wouldn’t hold the weight of anyone dead or alive, starts climbing up to Yoo-bin’s apartment. Joon-woo attempts to save the day by using his drone to try to fight the zombie. Yep, you read that correctly. To add to the “suspense” of the moment, Joon-woo also has zombies “knocking” at his door. Yoo-bin is unconscious on the floor but comes to just in time to cut the hand off the fireman zombie, and he falls to his final death. The zombies also stopped trying to get into Joon-woo’s apartment for whatever reason.
One other scene that made me chuckle involved Joon-woo and Yoo-bin are waiting for the elevator with a hoard of zombies just outside the glass doors. I’m sure they are panicked, but they looked too casual to me.
Who won the movie?
Kim Yoo-bin – the girl across the complex: She’s a survivor and helps Joon-woo several times. He fails to “save” her from the fireman zombie, but she’s a strong female who saves herself (not saying that she didn’t need help other times). She’s also a believable actress and character. I love it when she fights off the barrage of zombies to get to Joon-woo’s apartment. Shes’ all-around badass. Toward the end, she disappoints me briefly when she suggests they should kill themselves while they’re still human.
3 Good Things & 3 Bad Things
- I thought the zombies were believable with the milky eyes, bloody wounds, and movement. I had a tough time deciding how to classify these zombies, but I’d say they’re a cross between the Walkers in The Walking Dead and the zombies from 28 Days Later. If you didn’t know there are different types of zombies, I leave you with this: https://zombie.fandom.com/wiki/Types_of_Zombies
- I loved that Yoo-bin’s plant stole the limelight. I hope it survives.
- Even though this movie wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen, it still deserves to be seen.
- A few things didn’t make things believable or took you out of the story because you were questioning it.
- The close up of Joon-woo eating noodles grossed me out more than the zombies.
- I wish you would’ve known what happen to Joon-woo’s family. The English translation just said messages. I have to assume they survived because he smiled.
Nerdy Thoughts From A Nerdy Girl 