The Wasp of St. Judith's

Float like a butterfly, sting like a wasp - this story is a master class in making mood. Several acclaimed Literotica authors have left comments on Bramblethorn's story to say how highly they thought of it, and Lien_Geller has also written a review praising it in his thread on Literotica's Story Feedback board. 

We are not even sure whether it's a woman or a man telling the story. There's no name or gendered pronoun, which is a clever enough trick to pull off in itself. 

The Wasp of St. Judith's creates eerie mood partly through contrast. At the centre is an ordinary 'feet on the ground' character, s/he makes the scenario more delicately mournful in comparison: working the 'graveyard' shift, there are mists in his/her mind and in the air. Flashbacks work to break up the reader's concentration in the way the central character's concentration is broken by uncertainty about his/her own mental state. Compare to Bramblethorn's other erotic horror piece, the poem Red Callum, Sweet Cate for maximum effect, the two both have great atmosphere but are so different.  

Characterisation is established through e.g., dialogue: tentative hesitant speech from the protagonist; diamond hard clear assertive answers from his/her love object.
"Sounds like you take your music seriously."
"I'm a child of the blues."
"You know Mr. Winstone in 8B used to be a blues guitarist?"
"I have all his records."

Lien_Geller does comment, not unfavourably, on the philosophising in the story. I guess it's true that this could have been more 'show don't tell', still it's such fun to find a story that makes your brain work on all these levels.

The horror in The Wasp of St. Judith's unfolds slowly, with steps taken along the way which if not taken could have led to it turning out differently. These keep us on the edge of our seats. There is no 'shock horror', nor even a 'sex' scene as such. The denouement is exquisite; gentle, delicate and made my skin literally tingle. 

As one comment puts it: I was enraptured the whole time, not just by the plot, but by the way your words flowed. It wasn't something extravagant or over the top, but the way you've written this piece, simply but elegantly.