This story was published in Among the Headstones, an anthology of graveyard themed stories edited by Rayne Hall.
Lucretia is a lonely young woman who hears the industrial hum, and seeks to escape it each night by sleeping in a graveyard where the bodies are left on the surface to rot and be predated.
There’s a lot about this story that I liked. Bettis writes well, and her descriptions draw you in and immerse you in the story.
The type of graveyard makes for an original, and particularly off putting, setting. I appreciated mention of the industrial hum, how it torments Lucretia and the lengths she goes to escape it.
Unfortunately, the story missed the mark for me in a few places. I loved the oddness of Lucretia’s crush, Blake, and the kindly Melody, but at times they came across as weird for weirdness sake and building atmosphere rather than progressing the story. I was disappointed in the direction the plot took, and I wasn’t a fan of the pov change at the end.
However, despite these qualms, it is still a thoughtful, atmospheric and engaging short story.
I award Lucretia’s Hum…
Iseult Murphy 
What a delightful surprise to see my story in your post! Thanks for reading and reviewing.:-)
“Lucretia’s Hum” was a tough one for me. It came about in a contest. We had one week to write, edit, polish, and submit a story (no edits allowed after that), and we didn’t know the subject of the story until the start of the one-week contest. Three (maybe two? can’t recall) winners got their story purchased for the anthology. It was a nerve-wracking but very satisfying experience in the end.
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Wow, that’s a hard contest. You produced something incredible under those conditions. As always, it’s so well written, thoughtful and imaginative. Thanks for the detail on how it came about!
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