It’s a common conundrum: lots of excitement in starting projects. The projects hold much promise, and while it takes effort to complete a project, it’s not the effort that brings a project to an indefinite halt. Nay, it is the unrelated new idea that prompts the generation of a new project. Over and over and over again, until unfinished projects litter the landscape.
Well, we here at the Calamity are no stranger to this, and neither are we keen on continually falling prey to it. There will always be new ideas. This does not mean we shirk new ideas while working to complete existing projects. Nay, it means we develop a way to capture these new ideas in a way that allows us to return to them with as much zeal as when we dreamed them up!
That is what this week has been about. New story ideas have sprung up, and most are small attractions, which, realistically, should not take long to build. However, we do have quite the roster of attractions to build! Thus, in order for these new attractions to take shape, we must double our efforts to complete the ones in progress!
In the meantime, we have our usual slate of serials to share with you in this edition. Edgar takes a good long pause to process what he’s learned since reuniting with Ceres in A Vampire’s Vengeance. Solomon does not pause for a moment between alarms, sending himself right back into dreamspace in House. A curious story of an enchanged wooden carving is presented in this edition’s classic horror column, An Occurrence in an Antique Shop. And Griselda continues the narrative of her journey through Infected-infested lands in Bus Driver.
Let’s get into it →
What is Under Construction? I’ll tell you what’s been under construction since the beginning of this whole carnival affair: a better way of operating. In an earlier edition, we spoke of process. How so much of what we are able to accomplish comes to fucking process. Well, I am pleased to announce that our work here, Backstage, remains focused on process!
As mentioned in the editorial, new ideas can stifle the development and completion of existing projects. Therefore, this week, we focused on refining the process of capturing new ideas. This way, we lose no concepts to the ether, and can proceed with the work at hand. And the refinements work! Concepts for new attractions have been raised and captured, and they wait patiently while we work to finish the attractions currently in progress.
Much can happen in three hundred years. Edgar chews on this a bit; though he has much to consider, he’s surprisingly poignant in his approach.
We know Solomon’s heart is in the right place, but is his mind? It is, perhaps, still too soon to tell, though I wager we are getting closer to finding out.
Here is a curious little story about a curious little carving, which we will not be surprised should this curious little carving find a home in our curious little gift shop. But more on that, perhaps, later.
on sale now
A traveling merchant finds himself in quite the predicament when he manages to win a duel, leading him down a dark path. A tale from the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique.
Welcome to another installment of Bus Driver! When last we spent time with the bus driver, he was sitting in a basement dining area with his passengers and the residents of the Calico Trading Outpost, listening with rapt attention to Griselda’s story of her journey from the north. You can catch up with Griselda's story so far in Part XXVI here. Her story continues, and we sit in rapt attention alongside the bus driver, curious to learn what she means by a lake that creates monsters. Let’s dive right in →
"What about the bodies?"
Griselda scrunched her face at the question. "What a gruesome thing to ask."
One of the residents seated next to her shrugged. "It's a gruesome world, Grizzy. To be honest, I'm curious about that too." Murmurs of approval accompanied this statement.
Griselda looked at the bus driver and said, "Another reason we survive here. We are gruesome people." Everyone laughed at the comment, and Griselda continued.
"The bodies. Someone asked about them. Who wouldn't? You did just now. Someone too asked back then. The bodies ... they told us the bodies were gathered and placed there to lure the monsters." She rolled her eyes. "The 'monsters'. They said the piles of bodies attracted the big ones, kept them from finding other ways around the mountain. Once the big ones were far enough into the pass, it was easier to fight them. Their bodies were then tossed into a gully and burned. I laughed at the thought. Big ones! How big? A fat man big? Ha! We had seen many of those on our journey.
I wish I had listened back then. That we all listened. But we did not. Most of us did not. They told us to cut way out to the east until we hit the highway, and then go south, but we did not listen. Monsters! P'shah! We would not be taken for fools. So we went south east, heading straight for the Cajon Pass.
Right away we became uneasy. We were a few miles on our way, and a very bad smell filled the air. It made some people sick. We thought it was more festering bodies, so we kept going, but ..." Griselda made a sour face. "It was not festering bodies. Not dead ones, anyhow. We started seeing more and more of the single infected, but they ignored us and moved in the same direction we did, as if they had a purpose. Those same mindless zombies that try to bite you? Those very ones, just shuffling, stumbling, and dragging themselves along. It was strange and disturbing.
The farther we walked, the stronger the smell became. More rancid. More sickly. Everyone threw up at some point during the walk. Some lasted longer than others before the smell got to them, but it got to them eventually. It got to all of us. The smell became worse, and we saw more and more infected.
Finally, we crested a hill and we saw the horrors they spoke of in the mountain pass we left behind."
What did they see? What did they SEE?! Surely we will get the juicy details next week, in the next installment of Bus Driver???
Our serial columns are getting interesting, are they not? From the lore being raised in Bus Driver, to the strange travels of Solomon in House, we know not what we’ll find around the corner waiting for us. How far have you gotten into each story? What are you most anticipating? Please tell us! You can reply to this email, leave a comment on this post, or use any of the survey buttons below. In the meantime, we hope you enjoyed the show, and we look forward to attending to your visit next week!
Cordially,
Mad Alex
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