I promise this isn't about Lost
April 3, 2011 7:15 PM Subscribe
ForgottenStoryFilter! Asking for a friend because the details are familiar to me too, but I can't place where *I* could have read it...
So, from my friend:
*The story was about a bunch of people who were on an island. After a while, they realized they were all dead.
*The people go to an island resort. They get there by plane (or crash there in a plane--jury is out on it, but there is definitely a plane). It may or may not be a vacation trip.
*At first, the island is awesome and magically has everything that everyone wants. For example, if you are really into scuba diving, they have the most amazing scuba diving in the world. Or if you love a certain kind of food, they have it.
*Little by little, the rides break, the scuba equipment fails, the good goes bad.
*Eventually, they all remember parts of their former lives. Bad things.
*Then, they all realize they are dead and are essentially in hell.
This sounds so familiar to me, and it is driving me crazy because I thought I could have read it at some point. She thinks it may have been written in the 1960's.
So hive mind - I've seen you work miracles. Let's see if you can untwist this.
So, from my friend:
*The story was about a bunch of people who were on an island. After a while, they realized they were all dead.
*The people go to an island resort. They get there by plane (or crash there in a plane--jury is out on it, but there is definitely a plane). It may or may not be a vacation trip.
*At first, the island is awesome and magically has everything that everyone wants. For example, if you are really into scuba diving, they have the most amazing scuba diving in the world. Or if you love a certain kind of food, they have it.
*Little by little, the rides break, the scuba equipment fails, the good goes bad.
*Eventually, they all remember parts of their former lives. Bad things.
*Then, they all realize they are dead and are essentially in hell.
This sounds so familiar to me, and it is driving me crazy because I thought I could have read it at some point. She thinks it may have been written in the 1960's.
So hive mind - I've seen you work miracles. Let's see if you can untwist this.
Dunno, but TVTropes calls the trope Dead All Along. None of the items on the page sound like your story, though.
posted by dd42 at 9:48 PM on April 3, 2011
posted by dd42 at 9:48 PM on April 3, 2011
This sounds a bit like Freedom Beach, but that was a novel, not a short story and I don't think they were (ultimately) in hell ...
posted by zanni at 2:54 AM on April 4, 2011
posted by zanni at 2:54 AM on April 4, 2011
Freedom Beach was also a novelette; the book was a fix-up novel of these things:
* Freedom Beach • (1984) • novelette by John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly
* Sea Change • (1982) • poem by James Patrick Kelly
* The Big Dream • (1984) • novelette by John Kessel
* The Empty World • (1984) • shortstory by James Patrick Kelly
I've read it, and this plot description rings no bells, but I read it so long ago that that's not conclusive of anything.
posted by Zed at 1:18 PM on April 4, 2011
* Freedom Beach • (1984) • novelette by John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly
* Sea Change • (1982) • poem by James Patrick Kelly
* The Big Dream • (1984) • novelette by John Kessel
* The Empty World • (1984) • shortstory by James Patrick Kelly
I've read it, and this plot description rings no bells, but I read it so long ago that that's not conclusive of anything.
posted by Zed at 1:18 PM on April 4, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
(not that this will help much, but it might...)
posted by Vaike at 8:23 PM on April 3, 2011