[Adult story embed hidden]

Review: Anthropomorphic

Tags: Gore, Violence, death, horror.

Summary: Lyra “I wish you could have saved me sooner.”

Citric:  Ok, so this is a very soft horror with more dark elements than horror.  There were some but not deep enough to consider me being scared. (Not yet at least.)  This is also a contest for second place so I’ll keep this very simple.

You did it… I’m highly amused that you put this in my folder… It may have won second place…  It was still darker than horror.  Not a lot of gore or violence, Soft gore, and mild violence.  It didn’t give out any weird texture.  It had a little bit of suspense. The pace of this fiction is very slow and good. The atmosphere needs to be at least better or great! (on a scale of 1-10 it’s a 6(not the finished rating) What I meant to say is.  How creepy is it?  There were at least two spots.

I’ll have to grade this right?  Well, in that case…

It’s clearly an 8/10 nothing more nothing less. The soft horror is still good but it was a little bit darker than horror. When I read this for the 4th time.

At this point I am thoroughly confused by your "definitions". This is a "soft" horror? Then what, exactly, is "hard" horror for you? How can something be "darker than horror?" I don't think horror has an upper limit to darkness. And why are you talking like the story being dark is a negative factor for a horror?

I appreciate the review and the rating, but I'm honestly more confused than anything.

7556319
Just read the story because I was wondering too, and I think I now understand what the reviewer means. For most of the fic, the focus is—perceived at least—as a mystery illness and a desperate trek through a jungle for Bon-Bon to get her Lyra and Daring to a hospital. These are the elements that are considered dark—potential loss, loved ones in danger, perilous journey that seems hopeless as the disease moves fast, and so on. Dark as in depressive and death of loved ones.

The horror only comes very late in the story, and it is mostly body-horror. NOT the most sticking of horror, if you get my meaning. Compare it with horror that makes use of the dark, for instance, and which would hit the reader harder and could—potentially—make them wary of dark spaces.

The dark elements can become a detriment for a horror story—or enhance them, of course—when they take away from the focus of anticipation, build up, and wariness of the incoming horror. In this story, the focus is more on Bon-Bon's rising despair, and admittedly the part where Daring falls in the night has a much bigger 'oomph' than her return as a horror.

In my opinion, the story could be more entertaining if it focused more on the elements that made it hit hard and was a bit longer for it. For instance, dragging out the scene with Lyra's death would be much better, having Bon-Bon wake before Lyra died and all that, rather than go for the monster-attack angle. You know, give us a bit more of Lyra being accepting of the fact she's dead meat, Bon-Bon fighting against it, more of Daring's painful transformation and her anguish over it—with Bon-Bon knowing all this is coming for Lyra too—, and all that.

7556565
That does make a bit more sense. Thanks for the help in clearing it up.

7556589
Horror is a scary thing... but dark is also as well... I mean it can be... But for me, I think it was darker than horror. I'll try to best describe horror and dark...

Horror is like something that is scary... Like a character having a hard time breathing while he/she is in stealth... lightings and dark spaces with dead ponies everywhere with guts all over the place and also the stench smell. But the character doesn't know why it's like that... (a mystery that perfectly goes with horror. It also has a much more dark element as well) The reason why I place this as an eight out of ten it's because it's a psychological horror. I forgot to mention this which is my bad.

Dark is something that can also be into horror as well. But dark is like suicide, hurting your own self more onto the depression on how the character feels, murder, death...

7556565
yes, that is true... I felt like it was more of a tragedy at the end. more of a soft horror but more of a dark/ tragedy.