In prison with "The Cello in the Cell" by David Janisch
BogiReads brings you the daily speculative reading recommendation of editor Bogi Takács.
Today's recommendation -
Author: David Janisch
Title: “The Cello in the Cell”
Venue: Nightmare, October 2023 (ed. Wendy N. Wagner)
Type: Short story – 4800 words
Themes: Horror, incarceration, music
Where to read: Text free online
This was one of the most memorable horror stories for me last year, even though the horror element is neither particularly graphic nor particularly supernatural (for the lack of a better word). In a setting very similar to the present day, prison sentences can be discharged by playing a piece of music – the more severe the sentence, the more complex the music. The protagonist is sent to a Bach prison and it doesn’t get better from there.
I thought this story not only had a nuanced take on incarceration (which I honestly don’t see a lot of in SFF), but also on that kind of situation where you’re expected to do something, but no one explains to you how, and then you get punished for not figuring it out. I personally think of this as a quintessential autistic experience, because that’s the context it happens to me; but here it appears in a completely different context, so I think it’s probably a more general human experience. If I’m understanding the matching author interview right, the story is based on his own experience of incarceration, and he’s working on more.
One of the strongest short story debuts last year, too; check out this one I posted in January that’s a likewise stunning debut, but a science fiction story.
Until next time,
Bogi.