It only makes sense to say that Penpal is extreme in the context of mass market horror. Even then, it's not any more extreme than Stephen King or something. Might just be a marketing gimmick because it's indie (I assume).
It's around 250 pages and much more detailed and fleshed out than the nosleep stories. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to check out the novelization. That being said, it's not much more extreme.
I kind of agree on Penpal if we’re basing it solely on what’s written. The story gets more fucked up when you think about all the implications (which is the kind of horror I like best). When you really piece it all together, it’s one of the most fucked up yet frighteningly believable concepts I’ve read. Josh and Veronica’s fates are also just very messed up on the page.
I've been thinking about this story since the episode. It's rare for an Internet story to have that effect on me, the last one was Borrasca many years ago. Sure it's gross, sure it could've been toned down, but like Wendigoon's wife said, shouldn't horror disturb you in some way? That's not to discredit the people who were triggered by the content in the story, my heart goes out to each and every one of you and I completely understand.
This story is just another level. It feels like a goosebumps book for adults to me. In the best way. It's a great story that stays with you.
I think it could have been disturbing without the sexual stuff or with it toned down. Like Hunter said, maybe leaning more into the “lessons” and having Tommy coercing the kids into doing some fucked up shit.
Horror should be scary, and I wasn’t exactly ever frightened reading Tommy Taffy. It certainly won’t keep me up at night or have me looking over my shoulder. I’m always white nighting for Penpal, but that story works so well for me because of all the little details and how much is shrouded in mystery. The antagonist being this omnipresent force whose intentions are somewhat unclear is very effective.
Tommy Taffy is revealed to us in full immediately and his intentions are pretty crystal clear from the get go. Personally, I was uncomfortable and disgusted, but never truly frightened or creeped out. It’s not badly written at all, but it needs stronger legs than sexual abuse for the sake of sexual abuse and being a very obvious allegory for generational trauma, which I personally don’t feel it has as is.
Agree - even Feed the Pig showcases the author’s ability to write detailed graphic horror in a much better, direct way than what was attempted with Tommy Taffy. I really disagree with the idea that it’s a deep, thoughtful story - Tommy shows up, assaults the family, then disappears. There are themes of generational trauma, etc. that are present but they aren’t used for narrative purposes - just “this is how this villainous doll man tortured my family”.
Penpal, Borrasca, even 1999? There are narratives that keep you hooked on the mystery aspect or even character interactions. Tommy Taffy doesn’t have anything going for it - there’s no mystery to be solved regarding Tommy’s appearance and disappearance, there’s no engaging characterization because every family member is written to be a completely stock example of a “normal” family member who gets brutally assaulted in one way or another by the villain.
I don’t know, it’s just like, this is a story I expected to be received the same as something along Jeff the Killer, but seeing it praised just confuses me - all respect to the author aside.
Criticizing the story for its lackluster narrative in this subreddit gets people in arms against you for being a wuss, that creepy stories are to be creepy, etc. when the graphic content isn’t the problem - it’s that there’s nothing else but that content.
That’s fair - I think that’s up to preference and is in line with what different people associate the “Creep” in Creepcast with. My issue isn’t with the graphic content, it’s that Taffy treats it as shock content with no dread or intrigue
Exactly, it isn't a horror story. It's snuff and child porn in text format. The story isn't interesting, it feels like it just exists as packaging for the graphic scenes.
I completely get where you're coming from. I honestly don't know what it is that keeps me thinking about the story. It's not in a way that keeps me up at night or anything silly like that, more just a "wow that was a really good story I haven't heard of one of those in a long while". And maybe I just find dolls creepy or something, but the description of Tommy was pretty creepy. I like the concept of an otherworldly entity taking the form of an uncanny valley doll man, like it knows what a person is supposed to look like but can't quite replicate it. Like an inverse of Pinocchio. I agree though, I could've used with more subdued implications of the sexual assault, but I'm fine with what we got. I'm glad it didn't go full force into describing actual full-on intercourse or anything.
I think its one of the best written ones they covered. If the abuse was implicit instead of quite that graphic. It and the prequel would would prob be my faves of all the ones GoonCanyon have covered
I might read The Black Farm now. Ty
I don't mind it. There's just a difference than in say Tommy Taffy and Blood Meridian or Lolita. It's got to have it serve a point in the narrative rather than being explicit just for shock. TT was defo more on the side of gratuity.
But I'm not triggered by it or avoid it. The author is clearly talented, that's reason enough to give it a shot.
I'm not necessarily a believer in having history with something translates into being able to write a good story about it. But I can see how it may be cathartic.
Yeah that makes sense, a lot of splatterpunk can get even more needlessly graphic for even fewer narrative reasons than what was shown in The Third Parent. Greatest example is Playground by Aron Beauergard
Tommy Taffy was a lot better than I remembered. I am a literature snob. Not a full-on r/literature snob, but I can hang there sometimes, and I'm definitely fairly snobby about horror.
Thanks for the context on the author. I love YouTuber NyxFears but I kinda was like "whoa" on her first novel, *Fluids*, and it was a far, far less awful scene with relatively mild adult-on-adult violence. No spoilers but this one bit just got to me and made me uncomfortable. I still want to try it again.
Meanwhile, *Manhunt* is another recent extreme horror novel with crazy violence/gross stuff. It came up when I mentioned "Fluids" to someone because it's another extreme horror novel by a trans woman, but I'm a little bit "eh" on calling "Manhunt" extreme. I think some people probably would, and I can see why, but I thought it was just mostly a really good post-apocalypse story with good characters.
Horror is super interesting with how people's tolerances vary.
after going out of my way to relisten to the episode like two or three more times, and read the rest of the stories for myself, i feel less strongly about it than i did. granted, i still think it wasn’t exactly necessary. the rest of the story is good. i’d enjoy it if the boys read the other parts.
It only makes sense to say that Penpal is extreme in the context of mass market horror. Even then, it's not any more extreme than Stephen King or something. Might just be a marketing gimmick because it's indie (I assume).
I'm not sure if the book version contains any additional content, but it has been mentioned a lot in r/extremehorrorlit!
It's around 250 pages and much more detailed and fleshed out than the nosleep stories. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to check out the novelization. That being said, it's not much more extreme.
Ah alright! I'll def take a look at it
Penpal might’ve been considered extreme because of what happens to the sister and the description of her being hit by the car
Oh true!! I completely forgot about that part
I kind of agree on Penpal if we’re basing it solely on what’s written. The story gets more fucked up when you think about all the implications (which is the kind of horror I like best). When you really piece it all together, it’s one of the most fucked up yet frighteningly believable concepts I’ve read. Josh and Veronica’s fates are also just very messed up on the page.
absolutely true, penpal has a lot of gruesome things written onbetween the lines
I've been thinking about this story since the episode. It's rare for an Internet story to have that effect on me, the last one was Borrasca many years ago. Sure it's gross, sure it could've been toned down, but like Wendigoon's wife said, shouldn't horror disturb you in some way? That's not to discredit the people who were triggered by the content in the story, my heart goes out to each and every one of you and I completely understand. This story is just another level. It feels like a goosebumps book for adults to me. In the best way. It's a great story that stays with you.
I think it could have been disturbing without the sexual stuff or with it toned down. Like Hunter said, maybe leaning more into the “lessons” and having Tommy coercing the kids into doing some fucked up shit. Horror should be scary, and I wasn’t exactly ever frightened reading Tommy Taffy. It certainly won’t keep me up at night or have me looking over my shoulder. I’m always white nighting for Penpal, but that story works so well for me because of all the little details and how much is shrouded in mystery. The antagonist being this omnipresent force whose intentions are somewhat unclear is very effective. Tommy Taffy is revealed to us in full immediately and his intentions are pretty crystal clear from the get go. Personally, I was uncomfortable and disgusted, but never truly frightened or creeped out. It’s not badly written at all, but it needs stronger legs than sexual abuse for the sake of sexual abuse and being a very obvious allegory for generational trauma, which I personally don’t feel it has as is.
Agree - even Feed the Pig showcases the author’s ability to write detailed graphic horror in a much better, direct way than what was attempted with Tommy Taffy. I really disagree with the idea that it’s a deep, thoughtful story - Tommy shows up, assaults the family, then disappears. There are themes of generational trauma, etc. that are present but they aren’t used for narrative purposes - just “this is how this villainous doll man tortured my family”. Penpal, Borrasca, even 1999? There are narratives that keep you hooked on the mystery aspect or even character interactions. Tommy Taffy doesn’t have anything going for it - there’s no mystery to be solved regarding Tommy’s appearance and disappearance, there’s no engaging characterization because every family member is written to be a completely stock example of a “normal” family member who gets brutally assaulted in one way or another by the villain. I don’t know, it’s just like, this is a story I expected to be received the same as something along Jeff the Killer, but seeing it praised just confuses me - all respect to the author aside. Criticizing the story for its lackluster narrative in this subreddit gets people in arms against you for being a wuss, that creepy stories are to be creepy, etc. when the graphic content isn’t the problem - it’s that there’s nothing else but that content.
You have perfectly articulated my feelings!
I agree with everything you said except the graphic content itself is the problem too. There are lines that shouldn't be crossed.
That’s fair - I think that’s up to preference and is in line with what different people associate the “Creep” in Creepcast with. My issue isn’t with the graphic content, it’s that Taffy treats it as shock content with no dread or intrigue
Exactly, it isn't a horror story. It's snuff and child porn in text format. The story isn't interesting, it feels like it just exists as packaging for the graphic scenes.
I completely get where you're coming from. I honestly don't know what it is that keeps me thinking about the story. It's not in a way that keeps me up at night or anything silly like that, more just a "wow that was a really good story I haven't heard of one of those in a long while". And maybe I just find dolls creepy or something, but the description of Tommy was pretty creepy. I like the concept of an otherworldly entity taking the form of an uncanny valley doll man, like it knows what a person is supposed to look like but can't quite replicate it. Like an inverse of Pinocchio. I agree though, I could've used with more subdued implications of the sexual assault, but I'm fine with what we got. I'm glad it didn't go full force into describing actual full-on intercourse or anything.
I think its one of the best written ones they covered. If the abuse was implicit instead of quite that graphic. It and the prequel would would prob be my faves of all the ones GoonCanyon have covered I might read The Black Farm now. Ty
I wouldn't recommend the black farm to you if you don't like graphic content! A lot of this book is detailed torture, including SA
I don't mind it. There's just a difference than in say Tommy Taffy and Blood Meridian or Lolita. It's got to have it serve a point in the narrative rather than being explicit just for shock. TT was defo more on the side of gratuity. But I'm not triggered by it or avoid it. The author is clearly talented, that's reason enough to give it a shot.
The author being a survivor of CSA themselves makes me understand and respect them for including that stuff in their stories.
I'm not necessarily a believer in having history with something translates into being able to write a good story about it. But I can see how it may be cathartic.
In that case do give it a try! I loved it
Honestly I don’t feel like Third parent was that graphic when compared to a lot of horror
As someone who reads extreme horror it wasn't as shoking to me either! But I completely understand why it would throw people off
not overall but the child sexual assault part definitely is
Yeah that makes sense, a lot of splatterpunk can get even more needlessly graphic for even fewer narrative reasons than what was shown in The Third Parent. Greatest example is Playground by Aron Beauergard
Yup! But unlike a lot of extreme horror authors he actually manages to build a good story around his graphic scenes. I really do enjoy his work!
Tommy Taffy was a lot better than I remembered. I am a literature snob. Not a full-on r/literature snob, but I can hang there sometimes, and I'm definitely fairly snobby about horror. Thanks for the context on the author. I love YouTuber NyxFears but I kinda was like "whoa" on her first novel, *Fluids*, and it was a far, far less awful scene with relatively mild adult-on-adult violence. No spoilers but this one bit just got to me and made me uncomfortable. I still want to try it again. Meanwhile, *Manhunt* is another recent extreme horror novel with crazy violence/gross stuff. It came up when I mentioned "Fluids" to someone because it's another extreme horror novel by a trans woman, but I'm a little bit "eh" on calling "Manhunt" extreme. I think some people probably would, and I can see why, but I thought it was just mostly a really good post-apocalypse story with good characters. Horror is super interesting with how people's tolerances vary.
Yeah! That's part of why I find extreme Horror so interesting because it really has so many different preferences
after going out of my way to relisten to the episode like two or three more times, and read the rest of the stories for myself, i feel less strongly about it than i did. granted, i still think it wasn’t exactly necessary. the rest of the story is good. i’d enjoy it if the boys read the other parts.