Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I feel really happy that my story got the seal of approval from someone who lives in the PNW. I've only spent a few days in the San Juan islands, but I did my best to recreate them in words.
oh my god. so, so, good. I absolutely loved the story and also all the commentary about the “real life” horrors of pregnancy, motherhood, chronic health issues, and general gaslighting women receive when trying to get medical care.
Oh. My. Barnacled. God. This story is absolutely feral. It starts like a quiet piece about motherhood and identity and spirals into Lovecraftian reproductive body horror meets oceanic ecstasy with such an elegant, horrifying build. It’s grotesque and heartbreaking and weirdly beautiful. The slow creep from curiosity to obsession to full-blown transformation is so well handled; I kept thinking, surely it won’t go further, and then it did. And somehow it all felt inevitable. The grief, the isolation, the way motherhood twists under pressure — all of it made the ending feel both horrifying and… right? I’m unsettled and a little in awe. Brilliant, brutal, beautifully written.
I may never look at tide pools the same way again...
I do not know where I thought this was going and I was forming a comment about what a beautiful gift to give your child as I was reading the first part, and then it got weird, and I was like, I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV (I’m very good at differential diagnosis lol), and then I realized it was disturbing horror that I didn’t see coming 😂 Well done 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Very well done! The details you gave about barnacles reminded me of a Michael Crichton novel. Also love how almost 'fable' like the part where she takes the barnacle reads. She broke her own rule, betraying herself, and then suffered the consequences. Again, great job!
OMG, what an experience! I didn't expect that at all! I was browsing through the posts in my feed and started reading yours. Initially, even though it stated clearly that it was a horror story, it still felt like someone's post on how their day was going -- so natural. Only after a couple of paragraphs, I was certain I was reading fiction, albeit so skillfully done, I forgot I was reading at all. The story just took me along, so well-crafted.
I'm generally not a horror story reader; I'm too easily spooked for that. But I liked the writing and the style and the premise, so I couldn't let go. I was also very curious, although I knew right from that point of the pinch when she fell down into the water that something was going to change for the worse. I'm actually very satisfied that it wasn't only a horror story but more like a... vengeful metaphor -- the motherhood got her away from being connected to the ocean so another type of motherhood connected her to it anyway. The way she was happy at that felt very satisfying.
I went back to my comments to make sure I knew your publication from that thread about feedback, and I was so happy to discover that indeed it was so, and that you stated you wanted to know what worked and what didn't work in your stories. Now, I don't want to say that it didn't work at all, but it made me stumble and yanked me a bit from the immersion: the husband. It takes some willpower to imagine such a... bad person, shall we say. But then again, it's not a totally unrealistic portrayal.
Thus, tons of applause and a huge thank you to you for this experience!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and I appreciate your feedback. I agree with you about Jake. I struggled with what to do with him. I wanted him to be kind of a jerk (he prioritizes himself over his wife), but not a completely terrible person (he cares about Jackson). I think I needed to make it clearer somehow that, like the doctors, Jake doesn't actually think anything is wrong with his wife, that she's faking it and just choosing to be a bad mother to Jackson. He's a tricky one to pin down.
You know, I didn’t even feel that he cared about his child. My whole perception of him made me see his actions toward his son as vindictive and meant to cause pain rather than to protect. I automatically thought he was just acting on autopilot by taking the boy from her and bringing him to his parents. It sounded like a tantrum to me, not care. But of course this is only my perception. I always think of books this way, that there is no single story. Everyone reads through their own filters, so everyone sees their own version.
I also wanted to add something about Jack. The moment I stumbled over and had to think more about him than about the story was when she woke up, threw up in front of him, and didn’t care what he was saying. I felt that unless someone has a truly broken inner world, anybody would have seen she was clearly sick at that moment and needed help.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. This is kind of what I mean when I say I struggled with Jake. He could definitely be read as vindictive and mean. Maybe what he thinks of as "caring about" his son is really more of a feeling of ownership. I think this is a not uncommon phenomenon. I think also that people who see their children like this might be more inclined to read the main character's actions when she threw up and then just went back to sleep as selfishness or laziness--a refusal to behave in the ways that a wife and mother "should"--rather than needing help. Because if the latter were true, it might mean that she's a human being, not just a domestic appliance.
Yes, I completely agree that such people exist, and if I think back to all the stories I’ve witnessed in real life, I could surely find someone similar to Jake.
This was an awesome read. A little too close to home (I live in the PNW and have ocean science friends ha ha!) but that made it all the more freaky
Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I feel really happy that my story got the seal of approval from someone who lives in the PNW. I've only spent a few days in the San Juan islands, but I did my best to recreate them in words.
Watch out for barnacles up there!
You are welcome!
oh my god. so, so, good. I absolutely loved the story and also all the commentary about the “real life” horrors of pregnancy, motherhood, chronic health issues, and general gaslighting women receive when trying to get medical care.
I have so many feelings about this! I love stories that make me pause and reflect after I read them.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
Good grief, as if pregnancy isn't horrifying enough... I did like that she survives giving birth at the end.
eeeeeeerrrrk! deliciously horrible!
Excellent Pregnancy horror.
Thanks, Wendy!
Oh. My. Barnacled. God. This story is absolutely feral. It starts like a quiet piece about motherhood and identity and spirals into Lovecraftian reproductive body horror meets oceanic ecstasy with such an elegant, horrifying build. It’s grotesque and heartbreaking and weirdly beautiful. The slow creep from curiosity to obsession to full-blown transformation is so well handled; I kept thinking, surely it won’t go further, and then it did. And somehow it all felt inevitable. The grief, the isolation, the way motherhood twists under pressure — all of it made the ending feel both horrifying and… right? I’m unsettled and a little in awe. Brilliant, brutal, beautifully written.
I may never look at tide pools the same way again...
Thank you, Jenifer! Your feedback is so appreciated, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Watch out for barnacles out there!
I do not know where I thought this was going and I was forming a comment about what a beautiful gift to give your child as I was reading the first part, and then it got weird, and I was like, I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV (I’m very good at differential diagnosis lol), and then I realized it was disturbing horror that I didn’t see coming 😂 Well done 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thank you so much! I'm really glad I was able to take you on this journey!
Very well done! The details you gave about barnacles reminded me of a Michael Crichton novel. Also love how almost 'fable' like the part where she takes the barnacle reads. She broke her own rule, betraying herself, and then suffered the consequences. Again, great job!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!
OMG, what an experience! I didn't expect that at all! I was browsing through the posts in my feed and started reading yours. Initially, even though it stated clearly that it was a horror story, it still felt like someone's post on how their day was going -- so natural. Only after a couple of paragraphs, I was certain I was reading fiction, albeit so skillfully done, I forgot I was reading at all. The story just took me along, so well-crafted.
I'm generally not a horror story reader; I'm too easily spooked for that. But I liked the writing and the style and the premise, so I couldn't let go. I was also very curious, although I knew right from that point of the pinch when she fell down into the water that something was going to change for the worse. I'm actually very satisfied that it wasn't only a horror story but more like a... vengeful metaphor -- the motherhood got her away from being connected to the ocean so another type of motherhood connected her to it anyway. The way she was happy at that felt very satisfying.
I went back to my comments to make sure I knew your publication from that thread about feedback, and I was so happy to discover that indeed it was so, and that you stated you wanted to know what worked and what didn't work in your stories. Now, I don't want to say that it didn't work at all, but it made me stumble and yanked me a bit from the immersion: the husband. It takes some willpower to imagine such a... bad person, shall we say. But then again, it's not a totally unrealistic portrayal.
Thus, tons of applause and a huge thank you to you for this experience!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and I appreciate your feedback. I agree with you about Jake. I struggled with what to do with him. I wanted him to be kind of a jerk (he prioritizes himself over his wife), but not a completely terrible person (he cares about Jackson). I think I needed to make it clearer somehow that, like the doctors, Jake doesn't actually think anything is wrong with his wife, that she's faking it and just choosing to be a bad mother to Jackson. He's a tricky one to pin down.
You know, I didn’t even feel that he cared about his child. My whole perception of him made me see his actions toward his son as vindictive and meant to cause pain rather than to protect. I automatically thought he was just acting on autopilot by taking the boy from her and bringing him to his parents. It sounded like a tantrum to me, not care. But of course this is only my perception. I always think of books this way, that there is no single story. Everyone reads through their own filters, so everyone sees their own version.
I also wanted to add something about Jack. The moment I stumbled over and had to think more about him than about the story was when she woke up, threw up in front of him, and didn’t care what he was saying. I felt that unless someone has a truly broken inner world, anybody would have seen she was clearly sick at that moment and needed help.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. This is kind of what I mean when I say I struggled with Jake. He could definitely be read as vindictive and mean. Maybe what he thinks of as "caring about" his son is really more of a feeling of ownership. I think this is a not uncommon phenomenon. I think also that people who see their children like this might be more inclined to read the main character's actions when she threw up and then just went back to sleep as selfishness or laziness--a refusal to behave in the ways that a wife and mother "should"--rather than needing help. Because if the latter were true, it might mean that she's a human being, not just a domestic appliance.
Yes, I completely agree that such people exist, and if I think back to all the stories I’ve witnessed in real life, I could surely find someone similar to Jake.
Wow! I did not expect this! I am disturbed and entertained, ruined and comforted. Wonderful story, Judith!
Thank you!
Thanks! Thanks for reading.