Halloween Wimseyficlet

[nineveh_uk]

There was a one (to five) sentence Halloween horror thread on fail_fandomanon, so I had a go.


***

Bunter stopped on the threshold and saw that his lordship was not alone in his bedroom after all, but kneeling pyjama-clad at the feet of a woman, a woman with the stench of the grave on her, a prisoner's uniform, and a noose around her neck. Beside him one of his collection of incunabula lay open in a circle of what looked like blood.

'Harriet, it worked! Will you marry me?'

His voice was filled with joy.

Comments

[naraht]

Oooh, I shivered. He is so persistent that in a way I have no trouble believing he'd go this far. Excellently chilling.

[nineveh_uk]

Obsessive love, canonical ghosts, library full of old tomes - it really isn't a stretch!

[clanwilliam]

Arrrrggghh! That is really horrifying.

[nineveh_uk]

:-)

[antisoppist]

Thank you very much for saving that until 9 in the morning rather than posting it at bedtime.

[clanwilliam]

I'm meeting her this afternoon. Should I be scared?

[white_hart]

*shudder*

[coughingbear]

That is brilliantly horrible.

[ankaret]

Brilliantly horrible are exactly the words for it. Brava!

[tree_and_leaf]

*shudders*

Poor Harriet. Bad enough to owe being saved from the gallows. Being brought back from the dead is horrific. (And who or what on earth has Peter sacrificed?)

[clanwilliam]

Helen? I could see the temptation.

[azdak]

Not only a zombie but a smelly zombie - it must be true love! She'll have to marry him now. (It's brilliant, by the way - psychologically convincing and packs a real punch in its 4 lines. Though I take it from LJ that that is burgundy not blood threatening to stain the incunabulae?)

[nineveh_uk]

It's possible the smell will wash off. Bunter - currently busy offering brandy all round while he thinks what to do - fervently hopes so, though not as much as he hopes he is having a nightmare.

I have to admit that when I was writing it, I was hovering between blood and wine, went for blood, and then forgot. So I think that it can be both. A bit of dilution lets the blood go further, after all.

[gramarye1971]

Torn between wanting a 20k fic of this plot and wanting to hide under my blankets forever. *cries*

[nineveh_uk]

If I win the lottery and resign my job, I'll write the 20k fic, promise!

[ironed_orchid]

Ha!

[espresso_addict]

Oooh, that's very believable. Poor Harriet.

[nineveh_uk]

Thank you!

[el_staplador]

That's beautifully, horribly, plausible.

[nineveh_uk]

Thank you!

[castiron]

Oooooh.

Unless she specifically agreed to this plan, I give it six months, maybe a year before the "DUKE'S BROTHER FOUND MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD" headline appears. (And *Have His Carcasse* is going to be a very different story.)

[nineveh_uk]

I'd give it a week :-) That's if it is Harriet. In the case of a demonic spirit, six months sounds about right.

Revenant murderer/lady novelist finds body on beach is quite a headline!

[bronze_ribbons]

Eeek!

Well done.

[nineveh_uk]

That is a very appropriate, and in the context creepy, bit of Keats!

[17catherines]

That is truly horrible. Eek.

[nineveh_uk]

Thank you!

[grondfic.livejournal.com]

Oooooh - creepy!

Well, she can't be expected to say Yes out of gratitude!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

True. Indeed, if she says no it will prove she is Harriet and not some demon from inhuman realms.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I am sure that Bunter would cope admirably, though the discovery that his lordship had used the best burgundy might give him a nasty moment. But a gentleman doesn't bring his beloved back from the grave with any old plonk.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

!

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Hehe brilliant!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[auntyros.livejournal.com]

I... think I may have nightmares now. ;)

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I hope you didn't!

[elmey.livejournal.com]

You are a ghoul. And this is wonderful :)

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

*makes ghoulish whoooooh sound*

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

PETER THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

It really is.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Bloody brilliance.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[executrix.livejournal.com]

"Heaven...I think I was in Heaven..."

I'm so glad this is now in namespace so I can say, bravissima!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

:-) I was struck by the Buffy option on the way to the railway station yesterday. I suspect that Peter, while certainly not believing that Harriet could be in (a) hell (dimension), also doesn't - especially at this point - believe in heaven, so it simply wouldn't occur to him as a risk.

[mobile-alh.livejournal.com]

Oh, my oh my. Nice work!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

Suddenly the alternate scenario where Peter blows his brains out post-hanging is looking downright healthy.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Necromancy is definitely not a safe coping mechanism.