Today, another horrifying tale from The Dark Descent. It's called "The Autopsy" by Michael Shea. I first read this story when I picked up the anthology about five years ago. It concerns a mine collapse, parasitic evil aliens, and an act of heroism under extreme circumstances. It's grim and somewhat gory, and I suppose owes a fair amount to "Alien," which is the second time in ten days I've said that. I don't know if I ever really appreciated before doing this how incredibly influential that movie is. I mean, yeah, there's nothing new under the sun, and Alien in turn probably owes a lot to "Who Goes There?" the story that inspired both versions of The Thing, as well as the original Halloween. But still, when you look at the horror landscape, especially in the early 80's, Alien's footprints are everywhere. So hats off to screenwriter Dan O'Bannon and, though it pains me to say so, Director Ridley Scott. (I just have a hard time forgiving him for Thelma and Louise. And, for that matter, Black Rain sucked too.)
Anyway, back to "The Autopsy," which is a tight, mean little story with a really satisfying twist ending. And yeah, though it's ostensibly about parasitic aliens, it's really about facing disease and death. You can read it in just a couple of minutes before you watch Alien.
