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Helmut Finch Mythos A common response after reading or listening to Hometown Horrible has been "Why don't you write some of the stories you mention in the story?" Well, personally, I'm not interested in doing so, I just don't like revisiting something I already wrote. But that doesn't mean you can't write those stories. The Helmut Finch Mythos is now in the public domain. Feel free to take what you want and use it however you want. That means you can write "The Cornstalk Witch" or use that character in a larger work. Or you can build on the themes of mimetic terror and write the story that you wish Helmut Finch had written. However you want to do it, just so you know, I'm here for you. I'm happy to provide feedback, encouragement, and whatever publicity I can. Drop me a line, and we'll see what I can do for you. 
One suggestion, if you write a Helmut Finch story, drop some Wisconsin references in there. You might think that if you have never visited Wisconsin that you couldn't add authentic Dairy Land touches, but sadly that is not true. Just bring up cheeses in an odd place in the story, or beer, or make a passing reference to any of the hundreds of weird place names in Wisconsin, like Fond du Lac, Waunakee, or Kenosha. Story concepts: "Cornstalk Witch" - a man is haunted by a half-glimpsed vision of a woman comprised of dried cornstalks and husks "Candy Place" - a young man pays a middle-aged Winnebago woman to spend evenings with him. While the sexual act is never explicitly mentioned, the hero’s repeated visits cause him to lose health and turn into a “candy dog” creature, who is eventually bound with leather straps and made to grovel and dance in diseased wickedness before the tribe. "Biter" - a man who finds a note in his jacket pocket that prompts him to eat his own extremities, methodically avoiding blood loss and undue trauma in the process. "The Whisper of the Grave" - the hero attends a funeral, only to overhear his friend’s corpse whisper the secret of the dead. As a result, the hero can see everyone as the rotting pieces of meat they’re destined to be, and --by the logic of mechanical determinism -- always were. The stress of dealing with a planet filled with living corpses drives the hero to immolate himself with lamp oil. “The Morguesman's Son” - Plot unspecified. “The Shadow Hand of Ashland” - Plot unspecified. “The Lynching of Conrad Spindle” - the citizens of Plainfield are astonished to find themselves forming a mob to hunt down the local postal clerk, Conrad Spindle. “The Mind Worm” - Finch completes the final piece of his revenge against the the world, and his audacious bid for immortality. Relevant Helmut Finch links: Pseudopod performance of Hometown Horrible Pseudopod forum Zombie Lapdance explains "Hometown Horrible" Zombie Lapdance announcement of public domain Zombie Lapdance how-to Other works in the Helmut Finch Mythos: What They Consumed (audio) by C. Deskin Rink What They Consumed (print) by C. Deskin Rink
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