State of Matter just published a short story of mine called “The Bucket Fountain.” About a college kid coming to terms with his own death, I had intended it to be a fantasy story with a mixture of horror in it, but maybe I’m just not cut out to write horror because it comes across more as fantasy and a bit goofy than anything else.
I’ve also noticed the tendency for horror stories to end in despair and tragedy, at best, so maybe the fact “The Bucket Fountain” gives some sort of closure makes it more fantasy than horror.
The story is actually a companion piece for “The Guide,” which I had published last December.
I wrote “The Bucket Fountain” first and then “The Guide”, which is why “The Guide” kind of brushes over the events of “The Bucket Fountain” and then talks about what happens next. If you have a minute, I’d personally love it if you read “The Bucket Fountain” first and then “The Guide,” but obviously it’s up to you.
I’m a huge, huge fan of crossover stories, which is why I tried my hand at making a few. It’s probably why I love the MCU so much.
How like life that characters cross into each other’s stories all the time, and I love the kind of mental puzzle it entails to have everything still somehow work out on a kind of timeline. While I know the MCU isn’t perfect in this regard, I still marvel (no pun intended) at how they can keep an overarching story going and make it so much fun to watch play out on screen. I think it must help to have such a treasure trove of comics to choose from.
I hope to write more crossover stories since they’re so much fun to write, and I’ll be sure to let you know what short stories connect with what.