Today's story comes from the earliest days of the venerable Weird Tales Magazine, one that deals with the struggle of an artist and the thirsting horror that is his muse. For your pleasure, we exhume and present...

The story is about a young woman visiting a, for the period, very liberal mental healthcare facility, not quite an asylum, where she meets a feverishly energetic old man who claims to be a famous and controversial artist. The artist, the true protagonist of the story, tells her the story of his career, from his troubled youth to the first moment inspiration struck. That inspiration always comes at a price however, a toll paid for in blood and suffering.

Rud's plot for the story is a bit simplistic, that being a series of escalating incidents involving his artistic talent and the dark means through which he channels his muse. I think greater care could've been taken to build up the moments prior to him and his muse connecting, to build tension with foreshadowing and stronger built scenes. As it is, much of it is predictable, except the twist that we'll mention later. It does have good pacing, with the progression of the story making it easy to follow while the narrator's voice keeps things interesting.

The story lacks some common elements of fiction, being a mostly uninterrupted recounting of a character's personal experiences. While this provides a strong perspective from which to tell the story, it does sort of prevent any meaningful dialogue. It also prevents the character of the artist from really being expanded by a surrounding cast. We see him as he sees himself, and, likewise, we see how he perceives other characters perceiving him. Our entire world within the story is colored by his own ego, and he's a surprisingly honest and blunt narrator. This removes much of the uncertainty and mystery that advanced readers can look into. That said, the voice of the narrator is strong and I enjoyed reading what he had to say about his career and the circumstances that followed it. Maybe I'm just overly fond of creative geniuses with complicated upbringings...

I can also say that the twist was pretty chilling, demonstrating the depth of the artist's madness. It was a little obvious what was going to happen, however, but I still think it was a perfect ending to the story.

Honestly, I'm having a hard time giving this one a quantified rating. I genuinely liked it, but it does have a great number of problems that can't just be ignored. I think this week I'm going to eschew with the rating and just say that I recommend it. Look at it for the strength of voice and the expertly demonstrated pacing, but be mindful of its simplistic plot, lack of complex characterization, and the undeveloped mood. You can learn as much from what a story gets wrong as from what it gets right.