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Hairless (Murders in the Rue Morgue: a Postscript)

PHOTO PROMPT- © Sandra Crook

 

Crouching to fit, the beast rested amongst the gargoyles of the bell-tower and watched the hairless swarm far below. Whistles screamed and torches massed like fireflies.

The hairless were looking for a murderer.

Looking for it.

It carried the murders with it. Carried the sweet rosewater fragrance of the broken young girl’s perfume. Carried the hot, primal taste of the old lady’s blood. Carried the red stained straight-razor.

With reasoning far beyond bestial, the beast slid the razor down inhuman arms, watching thick orange tufts of fur fall. Warty black skin gleamed in the moonlight after each careful stroke.

Hairless…

 

 

100 words

A new Friday Fictioneers and a new story. Thanks to Rochelle for hosting and for Sandra for the picture. Check out this link for more stories!

I accept this one is a little (a lot) odd, and requires some knowledge of Edgar Allen Poe’s classic tale “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (full text story after the link). It’s also influenced by Clive Barker’s New Murders in the Rue Morgue (you’ll need to check out his Books of Blood for this one).

Anyway, let me know what you think 🙂

Cheers

KT

20 thoughts on “Hairless (Murders in the Rue Morgue: a Postscript)”

  1. Ah! I think he’s going to mingle with the crowd… Those last two lines ‘orange fur and warty skin’ are very graphic. I keep seeing an orangutan in my mind. Nice one.

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    1. You’re too kind Rochelle – Rue Morgue is a classic ‘locked room-whodunnit’ murder mystery with Poe’s Sherlock equivalent Dupin. From my recollection the murderer is identified but not caught.

      My postscript story focuses on his escape plan 🙂
      Cheers
      KT

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  7. Oh, wonderful. This blood-crazed monster is learning. I like how you’ve used the Poe story – I can just imagine the creature hiding among the gargoyles and watching all the action down below.

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  11. Dear KT,
    I fear you have found one Poe tale with which I am not familiar, which means I’ll be doing some reading before bedtime. Many of his stories are favorites of mine. Although I can legitimately claim to be a relative of Wm. Shakespeare, I rather envy the writer on my staff who is the offspring of Poe.

    As to your tale, I had to read it a couple times to “get it,” but I love the “rosewater perfume” in particular and the overall tone as well.

    All my best,
    MG

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    1. Thanks for reading MG – gotta say, being relative of W.S. is a pretty awesome claim!

      Let me know what you think after reading Rue Morgue – very interested to get your thoughts 🙂

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  13. I’m not familiar with either the Poe or Barker stories (beyond the knowledge one picks up of Poe), but I like your take on it. One small quibble: In the line, “Looking for it,” do you mean “Looking for *it*”? I had to read the line twice to get a better sense of it. I don’t normally encourage heavy use of italics, etc., but you’re not guilty of abusing them, either!

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    1. Good point- ‘it’ is supposed to intentionally vague from the perspective of identifying ‘what’ the murderer is. It is not meant to be so vague that you can’t figure out that it it’s the murderer they seek.

      Thanks 🙂

      Been a while- how’s things?

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