What is your opinion?
Quo Vadis, Marcy?
"Mark Giglio manages to pull together a subject taboo to mainstream publications (the psychological and physical abuse of vulnerable children by adults) with murder into producing a horrific tale of abuse. Lesbian Aunt Helen's clever manipulation of her teenage niece, Marcy, made me squirm with due its diabolical nature so well done, Mark Giglio. The author manages to pull off an ending to the short story that sums up the evil of the aunt and leaves us to imagine their future together—if Marcy has any. Maybe Mark Giglio can come up with a full-length novel because these two are wild enough characters to end up being Bonnie and Clyde—or more likely Thelma and Louise."
Helen
"This was disturbing in all the right ways. The portrayal of psychological manipulation was superb. But at times I found myself wanting just a little more detail."
Review
"An enthralling story about three (possibly five) really unlovable people. I read the story in one sitting and spent an enjoyable few minutes inventing a richly deserved horrible ending for the two main characters. Most enjoyable."
Helen
"This story was makes your skin crawl in many different ways, which makes it a really successful read.. The author is able to make you feel for a young girl who at the very edge could so easily go either way. She's not evil, just young and confused and needs some guidance from an adult she can respect. Marcie received guidance and nurturing, but Aunt Helen's is the worst possible kind. Great descriptions of psychological manipulation, and the physical ghoulishness is almost too good. He packs a lot of info into the short story format and makes you wonder where Marcie will be in ten years. A really entertaining story that draws you in so you care, for better or worse, about the characters."
Helen
"This is an unsolicited review from an acquaintance and poet Tomas Gayton. Straight from his email Hermano, me guasta mucho. to my surprise it turned me on by violating social/sexual taboos. You are a truly gifted writer. what an imagination and in a Victorian House at that.. So, when are you putting your stories into a book? paz y luz tomas gayton"
Twilight Zone quality
"Rod Serling would smile at this story. Mark has an uncanny ability to create female characters that have depth and great psychological complexity and in a short story format that is quite an accomplishment for a man or a woman.. He is great a drawing you in quickly, getting you to sympathize with the characters and keep you riveted to the plot."
A Twisted Scary Tale
"Helen is downright insidious. She looks like a favorite aunt who understands and loves her neice but she has her own benefit in mind all the time. The author sets the tone in the first paragraph with the suspicions of the mother. Mom is a bit of a bitch but Helen is dangerous. And what Helen does to mommie-mom her sister at the end is just diabolical."
Helen a Horror Reality
"Mark surprises again with material in rarely discussed territory. This is the kind of horror story that really scares me because it could happen. Aunt Helen is quite the monster with murder, embezzlement, pedophilia. Wow what won't this woman do? But you'll be disappointed in yourself because she is likable too. Marcy, her niece, is sort of a victim here, but perhaps the acorn has not fallen too far from the tree."
A transgressive and frighteningly effective story.
"An incestuous love story between a naive girl and her murderous aunt, this a really enjoyable and effective Gothic murder tale. The eroticism is very effectively utilized while the taboo subject matter is handled with an effectively light touch. There were some elements of the classic "show-don't-tell" issues early in the piece and some grammar issues with spacing and overenthusiastic use of colons and semi-colons popped up. Beyond that, it's a really good story and an eerie and effective work."
What A Ride
"Ok, so I clicked on this story completely at random from the Short Stories page and I was intrigued - then confused - then horrified. I mean all of that as a compliment, as it's way too easy to imagine that something like this could happen - not just the physical seduction, but the seduction to murder as well. Well done."
review
"First of all, thanks for posting! I loooove the "seduced into lesbianism by sophisticated older woman" genre so this was just my thing. The seduction was believable and hot, the horror ice cold. I do have 1 criticism though: There is a line about Marcy's pants feeling too tight after reading the Sappho poems. I don't think most girls' anatomy works that way. I'd replaced it with a line about blood rushing down to between her legs, or feeling sensitive down there, or something."
Writer to writer
"I enjoyed it. Very much. It was well written with simple beauty and descriptive scenes. I would enjoy reading other things you have written. Although I write in a different genre then you. I look forward to your next piece of work Raven Delahanty"
Disturbing
"I honestly don't even know what to say about this piece. I've never read anything like this. It's intriguing, it's haunting, it's disturbing and gross in a lot of ways. I'm not going to lie: when I was introduced to Marcy and her mother, I automatically took a disliking to the mother character because of the way she would treat her own daughter. Like she was a mistake or an abomination or something.It irked me a bit. But after Helen's character was introduced and I got to read more about Marcy and Helen's 'close' relationship, I started to understand to a point why Leigh-Ann is the way she is with her daughter. In all honesty, both Marcy and Helen sicken me. The incest relations both girls have with each other, Helen hiding dead bodies in the empty rooms in order to collect money (obviously she killed them both but Marcy can't see that), purposely brainwashing Marcy into thinking all these terrible things are good things to think, say, and do. Man, they are both just so... whoa. I did not see this coming in the lease even if I did suspect that Helen was lesbian. But you, my friend, are a splendid writer! Just the fact that you have me ranting like this, paying so much close attention to the details of the story and feeling so strongly about the characters proves that you have a phenomenal gift for writing. Despite the disturbing plot of the story, I couldn't turn away. It was just one shocking twist after the other! Well done! The writing was great, the technical writing skills were great but with a flaw here and there, and the characters were very vivid and real. Nice work. This made my day!"
