31 Days Of Horror: The Cucumber Man by Darren Gallagher

They recommend humans eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, but have you ever considered what the vegetables think about that?

It seemed a simple task for Jude to make a tuna and cucumber sandwich for her hungry husband, but when the cucumber started to fight back, Jude’s day got much more complicated.

When I read Jenna’s review of this short story on Bookmark Your Thoughts, I had to read it. A homicidal cucumber in the vein of Chucky? Sounds right up my street.

I would classify this story as horror comedy. I chuckled at the foul mouthed cucumber, and the denouement is equally absurd. However, I have a rather dark sense of humor.

I also give props to the author for originality. In the horror sub genre of killer food, I don’t think I’ve come across a knife wielding cucumber before.

Unfortunately, quite a lot of this short story is set up, which adds little to the main conflict, and I wish the author had used that time to flesh out the cucumber man and his reason for being instead.

Also, while I found the resolution funny, I would have liked if it held some greater significance than simply humor for humor’s sake. Without giving too much away, I’m not sure why one character was able to do something that the other characters were not.

I award The Cucumber Man…