Kirk Jones
It probably started when someone showed me one of those Darwin Awards books. It just seemed so cruel, mocking people for dying as a result of ignorance.
When it comes right down to it, consumer culture evolves so fast that we're almost always kept in a state of ignorance about the functions and dangers of new products. But behind the scenes companies are making calculated risks, releasing products they know might kill.
You take that one step further-imagining corporations who intentionally hope to kill a small amount of the civilian population-and you've got the world's most passive aggressive, boring serial killer. That's ultimately what Die Empty's protagonist is. The world's most boring serial killer, murdering from behind a desk in the most mundane of states among the most mundane socioeconomic class in America.
The idea in its early stages was explored in a very short story I wrote for Pill Hill Press. I think the anthology was titled "Told You So." That was the first time I explored the concept, but not to satisfaction.
When it comes right down to it, consumer culture evolves so fast that we're almost always kept in a state of ignorance about the functions and dangers of new products. But behind the scenes companies are making calculated risks, releasing products they know might kill.
You take that one step further-imagining corporations who intentionally hope to kill a small amount of the civilian population-and you've got the world's most passive aggressive, boring serial killer. That's ultimately what Die Empty's protagonist is. The world's most boring serial killer, murdering from behind a desk in the most mundane of states among the most mundane socioeconomic class in America.
The idea in its early stages was explored in a very short story I wrote for Pill Hill Press. I think the anthology was titled "Told You So." That was the first time I explored the concept, but not to satisfaction.
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