Why Jenna Sighs

“We’ve found a cure for one of the most nefarious diseases the planet has ever known. We’re sitting on a cure for the common cold.”

Michael McBride is a radiologic technologist who marries his medical knowledge to his horrific creativity to produce a disturbing short story in Jenna Sighed.

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TITLE:

JENNA SIGHED

WRITER:

by Michael McBride

COVER ARTIST:

by Alex McVey

GENRE:

Horror Fiction.

DESCRIPTORS:

The Common Cold, Disease, Medical Research, Business, Colas, End of the World,

CHARACTERS

Jenna Wallace, A research intern.
D. Collins, Jenna’s immediate boss.
Evan, Jenna’s lover.
Mr. Barnes, CEO of Pembroke-Smith Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Cavenaugh, The CEO of Kappa-Cola Corporation.

SUMMARY:

Jenna Wallace is the research assistant who discovers that the new drug Norpholino triribophosphatase (NTRP) does cure the common cold in mice. As the star rises for Pembroke-Smith Pharmaceuticals, her personal life takes a turn for the worse when she discovers that she is pregnant by her commitment-shy lover Evan.

The Kappa-Cola Corporation purchases Pembroke-Smith Pharmaceuticals and demonstrate they have a perfect delivery system for NTRP or Entropy as the drug is now called — carbonated beverage — Kappa Cola.

Jenna’s life falls apart while the world falls in love with the Entropy-filled cold-curing Kappa Cola.

The only problem is that Entropy cures much more than the common cold. . . .

APPEAL:

This horror short story is my first encounter with Michael McBride, even though I have a trade paperback copy of Bloodletting from Delirium’s Horror Book Club and purchased a horror ebook copy of The Infected. Jenna Sighed has definitely whetted my appetite for more.

Told in third person omniscient, the point of view starts with and constantly returns to Jenna, but it jumps from Dr. Collins to Mr. Barnes to Mr. Cavenaugh and even to a crowd at a store seeking more Kappa-Cola. This is a hard trick to pull off in a short story but Michael McBride makes it work.

The pace is rapid. There are no extraneous words and no throw away scenes. One scene I thought was gratuitous turned out to add more punch when the ending came. There is not much room for characterization other then Jenna and she only gets a little. The unfolding of events is paramount as Mr. McBride raises the tensions with each scene.

I enjoyed this short story and it continues to resonate with another apocalyptic story I read last year — a horror novella titled Children of the New Disorder by Tim Lebbon and Lindy Moore.

NOTES:

Michael McBride writes stories about various apocalyptic catastrophes, medical and technological horror. Mr. McBride is the author of Bloodletting, God’s End, Remains, and The Infected.

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