Talk:The Surgery/@comment-7706473-20130930115707

Privately, I like to believe the Surgeon starts whistling as they leave. Very little tastes as good as revenge. Like you mentioned in a message to me earlier, 'torture porn' - on it's own - is very rarely good, scary, or shocking. What sets this up against some of the large-scale offerings out there, and how does the Surgery hold up?

Excellently, given it indulges in something classic horror films (of all stripes) used to have but modern ones seem to have forsaken entirely; a sense of humor. Perhaps it is just me, but I found it incredibly funny - the little games and rituals the Surgeon invents as the operation proceeds are *funny*, almost childish; which is horrifying even while you're laughing, and then tragic when you think about the deeper implications of why the Surgeon might be playing 'childish' games on the subject of the surgery...

And that's the other reason this story stands out for me - the ending reveals the Surgeon's reason, and it puts the story in a whole new light. It's short - re-read it, if you like. Suddenly you see a grieving parent, unable to trust themself to cut right - the real reason, perhaps, they bound their victim up. It's up to you whether you feel the story is one of twisted and yet elegant revenge, or brutality gone too far - or something else entirely. I like that a lot. Also -

"Using the saw, I remove his manhood as his muffled screams grow even louder than before." This is just me speaking, but I may in fact cherish you for this line. To clarify, I watch a bevy of horror movies, and there's something I've noticed - men die in droves, replaceable but interchangeable. Women die more rarely, but their deaths are drawn out, and unpleasant. I want equal opportunity violence, damnit, and this scene felt vindicating to my jaded horror sensibilities.

Now, I still think there are people who'll not enjoy this due to the violence, and that's fine - it certainly isn't for everyone. But I think those that give it the chance'll see a remarkably complex and surprising piece, and for those who enjoy endings of a certain kind, it's pretty much ideal. A red hyacinth - for playful joy, childlike in nature.