I’ve read two other stories by Hemplow, “Innsmouth Syndrome” and “Sarcophagus.” They both had a terrific sense of desolation and bleakness on a scale that crushes hope with inevitable certainty. Not out of malice, but because hope in Hemplow’s stories is a delusion resulting from our species’ many limitations of perspective.
Why do I mention two stories that are not this one? So you know this is not a fluke, and more people need to read or listen to Hemplow.
If that sounds appealing, listen to this right now. Right now.
It absolutely needs to be said that Diana Croft is a spectacular reader and performer. Long story short, just as I would listen to anything by Hemplow no matter who read it, I would now listen to anything performed by Croft, no matter who wrote it.
She has a splendid breadth of performance and puts a powerful emotive life into the story as she reads it.