THE KILLER APP- Not chilling enough
‘The killer app and other paranormal stories’ a compilation published by Penguin India. It is a set of 12 Gripping , Bizarre paranormal stories that makes you feel as if someone is standing behind you waiting for the right moment. Makes you a bit more jittery- but definitely lacks punch to create that magical chill or haunt you- which a real good set of Paranormal stories must do.
These are short stories- and you could move in any series as they are definitely poles apart in their subject and approach. Having grown up reading STEPHEN KING and with a few personal experiences has always kept in lookout for more.
The Killer App- the first story from which the book draws its title- is the weakest of all. Maybe because it is in the current times and the title is a better pull than others- Mainak Dhar gets the credit for it. Nothing to guess- what the APP does.
The frenzy in ‘BLOODIES HANDS’ by David Hair- is the way I really like such stories to be. Past paced and making you think in myriad directions and live the whole scenario. But the one that is somewhat pushy and edgy is ‘SAVE ME’ its simplistically complex but the narration eases the pace- a lot more is left unsaid for you to draw your own conclusion – leaving you with that nagging feeling – was there more to it than what you read and heard.
I liked- ‘PAPER CHASE’ by Deepa Agarwal. ‘LOINS’ by Ranjit Lal is one of the better interesting paranormal stories. Though its basic foundation is weak the surrounding environment that he is able to built and take you along is something that makes it stands apart. ‘SNIFF AND TELL’ by Subhadra Sen Gupta is nice but really too simple to do anything. It also seems inspired from a lot many such stories you would have heard about flashed- where people can see past or present but they do not have control on what and where they will see things. ‘DROWNING DEPTH’ by Salil Desai could be rated as the top two in the compilation. Simple and yet daringly dark in its approach.
‘RASHIRAYA PALACE’ by Jeanne Perrett- is like all stories around a late bonfire are. Crisp and crawling. ‘RIGHTS OF PASSAGE’ by Monideepa Sahu is very forced and hence never holds you.
‘INSPECTOR DAYAL AND THE MANSION OF SECRETS’ by Himani Dalmia- about the Grandmother coming back to avenge her death- is one of the weak stories. Very predictable. ‘PAYBACK’ by Chetan Joshi and ‘THE DARK RISING’ by Prashant Pinge- are almost there in their chill factor.
Net- Ok to read- none of the stories is strong enough to make you look at the darkened corners in a different way- or be uncomfortable if you were sleeping alone. But these are short and have a nice flavour to them/ Lets say SOFT PARANORMAL STORIES.
‘THE KILLER APP and other paranormal stories’ – a compilation published by penguin India under the Young Adult series. INR 1999 PAGES 167.
