Great story Shane! All the materials really add to the flow and momentum of the story. Great characters and, my favorite thing, mixing the mundane with the absurd. Thank for making this so enjoyable to consume. As a fellow designer, I appreciate all the little details. Super plus thumbs up.
Thank you so much for the positive review, Jon. Means a TON coming from you.
I feel so fortunate to be part of this group of extraordinary writers. It was a crazy-fun project and a good excuse to create something—words AND imagery. I really enjoyed watching your creative output leading up to launch. It felt raw in expression (in all the right ways) yet refined in execution. Simply put, it was bad ass. Very inspiring.
I'm maybe a quarter of the way through and am very much looking forward to reading your piece.
Okay, the little girl is just the creepiest! And the video screen with her descriptive nursery rhymes - oh my. She was probably my favorite character. I think she deserves a story all her own. What a great piece - creative and thought-provoking. Great work!
Thanks for reading, Garen, and for the super kind words. ❤️ I appreciate you taking the time, especially given the length of this one. I had a lot of fun writing the little girl character, which was loosely based on the doll from “Living Doll,” the 126th episode of the Twilight Zone. The doll was so creepy, it stuck with me and I knew I had to work some version of her into my story. It seems like the more innocent you make evil characters, the more fiendish they appear.
Yes! Perfectly said, fiendish indeed. And I enjoyed how you included the story behind the story as well as a look at the making of the images. It’s always interesting to get a look at the process.
Excellent contribution to the Substack Zone, Shane. A bus ride to hell: how appropriate for an homage to The Twilight Zone. Well thought out and executed plot. Red lights leading the way, stormy night, gray snow all contribute to the other worldliness of an otherwise common urban landscape. Joe is the perfect main character with no ties to family or anything else but the job. A thoroughly captivating read.
Thanks for reading and for the amazing review, K.C.!
I feel like several of the old episodes featured average "joe" characters who quickly found themselves tangled in rather extraordinary or horrific circumstances. It was a fun one to write.
This was great! It was easy to see where it was going (i mean this is a TZ story... so where do they go but dark...) with mr Brim(stone) and the mysterious spiral bus route! really good idea and perfect TZ material. well done
Hey Nick, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Thank you for the positive review and for picking up on things like Mr. Brim's name. He is indeed the devil in my story, recruiting drivers to transport his precious souls to their final destination (the movies made it impossible for me to use that phrase).
Love it, Shane! I think my favorite episodes of TZ were the ones with essentially good hearted folks who take a good turn, and get a strange reward. This story is in that realm. I was aiming for something similar in my story. Even if my main character’s ending isn’t what everyone might hope for their own ending, he’s actually happier than when the story starts. Nice work! Really happy to have read it!
Interested to know if you chose the name Boseman for its German meaning? “Low or common” or maybe it sounds a bit like boat man? As Charon the ferryman on the river Styx might be referred to.
I was very intentional with a lot of pieces in the story so I'm glad you asked! I like that tie, it certainly works better for the story as it is now. However, when I first concepted the story, I had initially intended for Joe to end up a passenger on his own bus in the end (it would have probably been a more interesting story!). With that in mind, I selected Bosemann because of this meaning:
“from Middle Low German, Middle High German böse 'bad, poor'; 'evil, common'.”
I liked the combo of such a simple and unassuming name like Joe, with a last name that tied to the evil deed he was originally meant to commit. But, the story changed. I still liked his name, so it stuck.
I like it. It did seem intentional, but I kept thinking how he was essentially a ferryman figure so I was curious. Very cool to hear the thought behind it.
This was just fantastic. The bus ride to hell, the incredible visuals—all of it screamed Twilight Zone. Well done, Shane! I'll be thinking about this one for a while. 👏
The bus to Hell…great concept! I imagined the feelings of the passengers, none of them undeserving of their destination yet…what desperate fear and horror they endured. And Joe…his new route is insane! This was just a really great story.
Liz! Thank you for the kind words. I feel incredibly honored to have been included in this collection with great writers like yourself. So much talent, so many great stories - I'm taking lots of notes, trust.
You definitely get the prize for finishing the Zone stack first. I'm still working my way through and can't wait to read yours. I know it's going to be uh-mazing.
Thanks, Andy. Means a lot, my friend. So honored to have done this project alongside you. I'm slowly making my way through the collection - getting to yours soon, I hope.
Great story Shane! All the materials really add to the flow and momentum of the story. Great characters and, my favorite thing, mixing the mundane with the absurd. Thank for making this so enjoyable to consume. As a fellow designer, I appreciate all the little details. Super plus thumbs up.
Thank you so much for the positive review, Jon. Means a TON coming from you.
I feel so fortunate to be part of this group of extraordinary writers. It was a crazy-fun project and a good excuse to create something—words AND imagery. I really enjoyed watching your creative output leading up to launch. It felt raw in expression (in all the right ways) yet refined in execution. Simply put, it was bad ass. Very inspiring.
I'm maybe a quarter of the way through and am very much looking forward to reading your piece.
Really enjoyed this Shane! It's clear you put a lot of work into it, and it paid off 👏🏻
Thanks for reading, Stephen. Appreciate the comments.
Okay, the little girl is just the creepiest! And the video screen with her descriptive nursery rhymes - oh my. She was probably my favorite character. I think she deserves a story all her own. What a great piece - creative and thought-provoking. Great work!
Thanks for reading, Garen, and for the super kind words. ❤️ I appreciate you taking the time, especially given the length of this one. I had a lot of fun writing the little girl character, which was loosely based on the doll from “Living Doll,” the 126th episode of the Twilight Zone. The doll was so creepy, it stuck with me and I knew I had to work some version of her into my story. It seems like the more innocent you make evil characters, the more fiendish they appear.
Yes! Perfectly said, fiendish indeed. And I enjoyed how you included the story behind the story as well as a look at the making of the images. It’s always interesting to get a look at the process.
Excellent contribution to the Substack Zone, Shane. A bus ride to hell: how appropriate for an homage to The Twilight Zone. Well thought out and executed plot. Red lights leading the way, stormy night, gray snow all contribute to the other worldliness of an otherwise common urban landscape. Joe is the perfect main character with no ties to family or anything else but the job. A thoroughly captivating read.
Thanks for reading and for the amazing review, K.C.!
I feel like several of the old episodes featured average "joe" characters who quickly found themselves tangled in rather extraordinary or horrific circumstances. It was a fun one to write.
This was great! It was easy to see where it was going (i mean this is a TZ story... so where do they go but dark...) with mr Brim(stone) and the mysterious spiral bus route! really good idea and perfect TZ material. well done
Hey Nick, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Thank you for the positive review and for picking up on things like Mr. Brim's name. He is indeed the devil in my story, recruiting drivers to transport his precious souls to their final destination (the movies made it impossible for me to use that phrase).
Thanks for reading.
The pacing in this was perfect. Once it picked up some steam, I really couldn't stop--and I'm typically easily distracted when reading longer stories.
The designs you used really added to the overall piece.
Enjoyed this A LOT.
Man, means so much coming from you. Thanks, Sean.
My biggest self-critique of the story is the slow start. That bus takes some time to pick up speed! But glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks again for making this project a reality. It was too much fun.
I disagree with the start being slow. I felt like it was the perfect pace for the set up.
Love it, Shane! I think my favorite episodes of TZ were the ones with essentially good hearted folks who take a good turn, and get a strange reward. This story is in that realm. I was aiming for something similar in my story. Even if my main character’s ending isn’t what everyone might hope for their own ending, he’s actually happier than when the story starts. Nice work! Really happy to have read it!
Thanks for reading, Sean, and for the positive review. It's been an honor writing alongside you in this project.
Interested to know if you chose the name Boseman for its German meaning? “Low or common” or maybe it sounds a bit like boat man? As Charon the ferryman on the river Styx might be referred to.
I was very intentional with a lot of pieces in the story so I'm glad you asked! I like that tie, it certainly works better for the story as it is now. However, when I first concepted the story, I had initially intended for Joe to end up a passenger on his own bus in the end (it would have probably been a more interesting story!). With that in mind, I selected Bosemann because of this meaning:
“from Middle Low German, Middle High German böse 'bad, poor'; 'evil, common'.”
I liked the combo of such a simple and unassuming name like Joe, with a last name that tied to the evil deed he was originally meant to commit. But, the story changed. I still liked his name, so it stuck.
I like it. It did seem intentional, but I kept thinking how he was essentially a ferryman figure so I was curious. Very cool to hear the thought behind it.
This was just fantastic. The bus ride to hell, the incredible visuals—all of it screamed Twilight Zone. Well done, Shane! I'll be thinking about this one for a while. 👏
Dang, man, thank you for these awesome words. It's comments like these that put extra fuel in my tank to keep writing. 🙏
It was such an honor to have written alongside you on this project.
Kind of you to say, Shane. The feeling is mutual. 🍻
Very good. Loved the spiral route idea
Thanks for reading, Keith. I appreciate the positive comments.
The bus to Hell…great concept! I imagined the feelings of the passengers, none of them undeserving of their destination yet…what desperate fear and horror they endured. And Joe…his new route is insane! This was just a really great story.
Liz! Thank you for the kind words. I feel incredibly honored to have been included in this collection with great writers like yourself. So much talent, so many great stories - I'm taking lots of notes, trust.
You definitely get the prize for finishing the Zone stack first. I'm still working my way through and can't wait to read yours. I know it's going to be uh-mazing.
I love how you did this. Cool ideas. Great execution. Killer production value.
Thanks, Andy. Means a lot, my friend. So honored to have done this project alongside you. I'm slowly making my way through the collection - getting to yours soon, I hope.
Wow, SUPER! I loved the creativity of your story and the use of graphics/texts. Great.
Thanks for reading, Adam! And glad you enjoyed it. Working my way through the list. Hope to get to yours soon!
Shane…this is so freaking good. I’m blown away.
Thank you for the kind words, J!
Shane! Oh my god. The moment I saw "M13" I was as nervous as he was!
Ha! Thanks for reading, Hanna. ❤️ I'm slowly working my way through the other submissions. Can't wait to read yours!