Performed by Val Cole

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Get to know the writer:

1. What is your short story about?

Without giving too much away, it’s essentially about a guy who works at job where he sacrifices so much of himself to get ahead. The ending though is really what makes the story.

2. What genres would you say this story is in?

It’s a horror story, but more of an existential horror.

3. How would you describe this story in two words?

Worth reading ;)

4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles.

6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

The Stand by Stephen King or Ulysses by James Joyce.

7. What motivated you to write this story?

I’ve seen a lot of people I know go down the route that the protagonist went down, and wanted to shed light on it in a fictional story that has a lot of basis in reality.

8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Stephen King

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I play the piano, guitar, and ukulele. I’m also an avid golfer, love reading, and inline skating.

10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I knew having someone else, especially a professional, read my story out loud would be a great experience for me as the author. When I first listened to it, I had a smile ear to ear, as I remember writing the story piece by piece (sometimes at 3:00 AM just to get the ideas out) and now it is being read by a professional actor.

11. Any advice or tips you'd like to pass on to other writers?

Write stories that you know you would like to read, and forget the rest. Also, many people will over analyze and misunderstand your stories, but that’s the case with any art form, as people see and hear what they want to see and hear. Finally, read a lot. I was reading fiction non-stop for a few years before I decided to try writing. When you read a lot of books, you get a nice starting framework of what good writing looks like.

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Submit your short story to the festival: https://festivalforhorror.com/horror-short-story/