This week I made the very much correct decision to take a chance on The Old Bay King, a short story from Donnie Goodman, for sale on Amazon for a sickeningly low price. Most of my fellow horror freaks will know the ever-awesome Donnie and the top work he does for the horror community, and I highly recommend that you too take a foray into his horrorific mind.
The Old Bay King is told through the eyes of the surviving member of a crab hunt gone wrong. What initially hints at an oncoming Herbertian Rats-style creature feature, morphs into something more akin to a Barker-esque nightmare. Without giving anything away, this short story hinges on the true nature and identity of the eponymous Old Bay King, and which of the many threats Donnie weaves through the story our narrator should be most worried about.
As with all short-form horror fiction of this ilk, it’s imperative that every word doesn’t just grab the reader, but doesn’t let go. The Old Bay King packs a punch with every page, but also proves itself to possess that other imperative feature which I believe all short fiction must include: one hell of a punchline.
So thanks to Donnie not only for the work he does for the horror community at large, but also for dragging me through a subgenre of horror I never even knew I needed in my life: crab-horror. Like me, I expect you’ll come out of The Old Bay King craving more from the mind of Donnie Goodman, and luckily we won’t have long to wait; The Razorblades in My Head: A Collection is seeping forth from his depraved, horror-infused mind this summer. Give him a follow for updates, and trust me when I say that you need some crab-horror in your life.