Hunter – Oliver Brackenbury – Whetstone Issue 6

We join Litlöstá as she goes above and beyond to find that perfect shade of lip gloss. Aesthetic-forward, she puts on as much of a show as a hunt as she lures out a monster not of the surface world.

Horror:  The Lion is spectacular. Multi-hued, covered in cilia, and blind. A creature of the underworld that has no teeth, yet has many sharp claws and a visceral way of eating its pray. 8/10

Embodiedness: “Litlcöstá’s arsehole knotted at the sight” – this is a direct quote from the text, and through the story Brackenbury keeps us close to all five of Litlcöstá’s senses. The feel of her own body and breath are particularly well handled. 9/10

Weirdness: The Lion itself is the cornerstone of the weirdness in this story, yet a group of children are happy to watch the hunt, which implies a level of normalcy to the act. In fact, as she tried to make it into a show it does lower the weird feel of the world. No escaping the weirdness of the Lion however. 4/10

Narrative Complexity: The narrative is simple, with one main scene and two smaller following in a linear fashion. The little breaks of song throughout are a nice touch however, alongside the final reveal of her motive. 3/10

HEWN: Overall, this story scores high on two of my categories and was a really enjoyable read. We feel like we’re sitting in Litlöstá’s head throughout, even when being hit by the Lion’s dork. 24/40.