Murky Waters: Tales from Beneath
According to Law.Com, the definition of insanity starts with this general concept . Insanity is a mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. They cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis and is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. It is this concept that is the driving force behind the new anthology tales from Carnouche Productions entitled Murky Waters: Tales from Beneath. Through its 56 pages, it explores multiple stories dealing with various perceptions of reality and what the mind can construct to replace it with.
In each story, the writer introduces different interpretations for the reader to explore. Some of these stories are more ghastly than others. But all serve to open the readers mind to what might cause a person to lose their sense of reality and self and how that manifests itself.
As written by Australian writer, Christian Carnouche, (along with Meriam Carnouche who co-wrote House of Cracks), this collection leans toward shorter stories. Doing so puts an emphasis on creating tension in a limited narrative to great effect. A tale like The Gaze is a prime example, making its presence known despite being only two pages long. House of Cracks tells its poignant tale of loss and overcoming in a scant 6 pages. However, the longest story, Lost River uses a full 22 page narrative to tell its story of betrayal, revenge and memory repression. These two tales are perhaps the best representations of the common theme in a strong collection.
Explorations of the Mind
While some of the entries are are almost just vignettes of the whole, even the relative short excerpts build upon the general theme of the anthology. These can be purely psychological interpretations or more reflective of the classic Sci-Fi and horror genres. In all cases, each of these tales expound upon the “Murky Waters” that is the human mind. This is ably represented by taking advantage of an impressive collection of talented international artists. Artists such as Gabriela Contreras, Christian DiBari, Alex Diotto, and Matthew Dow Smith. In addition to Triona Farrell, Ismael Hernandez, Maan House, Allison Hu, Dearbhla Kelly, Ariela Kristantina, and Roshan Kurichiyanil. Plus Lala Narita, Devmalya Pramanik, J. Schiek, and Donna A. Black. With their combined creativity, they have created an anthology of diverse visuals and thought provoking stories that fans of the genre will enjoy.
Murky Waters: Tales from Beneath is currently in Kickstarter and and already approaching its initial goal. You can check it out here.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
