Rusty Fears 6 - Hollow by Sam Lazure
The Magnus Archives
Deep Dive
Why was 'Hollow' chosen as part of Rusty Fears 6?
It was selected from fan-submitted short horror stories and shortlisted for production and voicing by the Rusty Quill team.
What is the prize for the winner of Rusty Fears 6?
The winner gets the opportunity to write a case featured in The Magnus Protocol.
What are the content warnings for 'Hollow'?
Ornithophobia, cartilogenophobia, body horror, and disease.
What is the main theme of 'Hollow'?
The story revolves around a protagonist who collects dead birds to create a creature meant to cleanse a town of an intangible evil.
How does the protagonist in 'Hollow' perceive the evil affecting the town?
The protagonist sees the evil as manifesting in various physical and psychological ways, such as rotting gardens, diseased people, and unnatural shadows.
What is the significance of the birds in 'Hollow'?
The birds are used to construct a creature that the protagonist believes will purge the town of an evil presence.
What realization does the protagonist have about the source of the evil?
The protagonist realizes that the evil originates from within the townspeople themselves, not from an external source.
How does the creature created by the protagonist change over time?
Initially small and insubstantial, the creature grows stronger and more predatory, eventually becoming a towering figure that repurposes everything it removes from the town.
What is the final state of the town in 'Hollow'?
The town appears idyllic and healthy, but the people exhibit signs of deep, underlying corruption that the creature is still working to cleanse.
What is the creature's ultimate purpose in 'Hollow'?
The creature's purpose is to remove the impurities and imperfections from the townspeople, ultimately cleansing the town of its inherent evil.
- The narrator finds a dead songbird and notices ants around it, which they consider a bad omen.
- The narrator collects dead birds and stores them in a basket, noting the progression of the evil in the town.
- The narrator sees signs of the evil in people, such as an early morning jogger with insect-like shadows beneath her skin.
Shownotes Transcript