Welcome back to Creepy Wednesday...yes I did take a March Break away from posting last week, but I'm back with a review/ramble.
First things first, check out the creepypasta here. Its rated 7.4/10 and not too long, just what I'd consider a quick read.
This most definitely is a traditional urban legend pasta, and is told in just that fashion with an unnamed narrator addressing the reader directly. The plot, simply told, concerns a certain stretch of "haunted" road. The narrator then informs the reader of two decisions that can be made, one which will save the reader's life and the other, which will take it. As I''m attempting to refrain from retelling the story in this post I'll stop right here.
If this sounds like a typical, overused story line, remember that even the simplest of story formulas can create great novels.
Though some might find the tone a bit bland, familiar, or typical to the type of story, I found it very appropriate. The author doesn't mince words, nor does he take on a flowery tone. The text itself contains a few stilted/awkward phrases, and some errors that were most likely typos. Still, it isn't distracting and the overall feel of the story is believable and genuine.
The pasta definitely goes for more of a subtly "creepy" feel than the outright, splatter style horror fics. The description of the "woman" in one of the later paragraphs does indeed border on disturbing, it isn't outright horrific, which makes this fic a bit friendlier to the *pussies* who are just starting out with creepypasta.
The final touch on the pasta is the ending, which often makes or breaks a pasta. Personally, its my theory that the success of the Jeff the Killer creepypasta was largely due to its strong ending, which, if you really do need a refresher, would be the words "go to sleep". Again, I'm trying not to ruin the pasta for you, so I'll just say that the ending of Samaritan Road is very, very, well played.
Final thoughts on this pasta? Quick warning, I'm going to go straight into spoilers from here on out. The deciding point in this urban legend is the reader's choice, and in this case the correct choice involves freeing yourself from blame rather than doing a good deed. Its an idea that seems blasphemous at first- compare the Biblical Samaritan saving the man on the side of the road with the image of Pontius Pilate washing the guilt off his hands. The pasta states (rather explicitly) that the haunted road preys on the goodness in a human's natural instinct, while saving yourself involves detaching yourself from the situation. I wont digress, no matter how tempted I am to go on a moral tangent. This pasta is a solid 9/10 in my book, and I highly recommend it to anyone starting out with creepypasta.
Have you read Samaritan Road? If you have, what are your thoughts? Also, consider the unusually long post a penance for my absence. Check in next Wednesday for more creepy posts.
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