Talk:Penpal/@comment-26193563-20150502163845

Finished this at the rise of 11 o'clock.

Now, it was a very long story, and did I enjoy it?

Yes.

I think I'll start from the top.

"Penpal" is an excellent title, as that's exactly what the story's implying.

First: "Footsteps." It's already creeping me out at the footsteps sound, although the ending was a bit too vague to catch for my liking. 8/10

"Balloons:" This is the story of how the narrator first finds his Penpal, which would later stalk him for many years. Obviously there isn't any reason why Penpal would such mercilessly track the narrator for almost a decade, not just because of a single letter released by a balloon. However, the photos contribute greatly to the scare factor, but there isn't any reason why he should take those Polaroids. 7/10

"Boxes:" There also isn't a reason why Penpal would kill those animals and Boxes, but that doesn't mean it's not creepy. When Josh was in the house, when he started saying "that someone's in the house," I sort of curled up in a ball on my chair, even though I'm a teenager. I personally think this was the creepiest story of "Penpal," and that Boxes's death meows through the walkie-talkie was really unnerving. 10/10

"Maps:" This story would have been nice enough if not for Miss Maggie. She has no connection to Penpal and there's absolutely no reason why she should be slipped into the story. Maybe it's to symbolize what Penpal could do? I'll assume that the person who moved in was Penpal, but it doesn't piece up together. Nonsensical. 6/10

"Screens:" This was well played-out, disturbing how Penpal managed to seize Veronica's phone and text the narrator those texts. What I didn't like was that them two falling in love. I think I mentioned before I hate crappy teen romance. Still, chilling enough, but the scare factor wasn't as high as the other stories. 9/10

"Friends:" The end was touching, though I didn't cry because I don't (the story I cried at was "Hope Chest" by Garth Nix). Why did Penpal decide to use Josh instead of the narrator? What was he planning to do with him? But I'm satisfied with the conclusion that Penpal is dead. Readers can feel the narrator's sorrow for Josh strongly pulsing from his words. 8/10

So overall, let's average them up! (8+7+10+6+9+8)/6 = 8, so overall the story is an 8/10.

On my favorties!

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