←Recommendations of Duckass

Dan is brilliant because there is nothing funnier, cooler, creepier than stuff with a self-aware rock-a-billy southern gothic type twist. Poor Sherman, he just wanted to be cool and didn't realize being a cool guy is a wild world to navigate & perhaps he was actually putting a target on his back (or head?). Dan squeezes so many jokes, lore and even character development (those two intense sisters and their push-n-pull game of Uno) into a mere 13 pages. A frightening joy.

Like most great horror DUCKASS codifies a rite of passage. An ordinary case of nerves gives way to something frightful. Dan Caffrey plays masterfully with the creature-behind-the-door trope, but it's the banter of the two sisters, Tabby and Linny, that grounds the moral universe of this play and prepares us for Sherman. So quietly and effectively Caffrey builds the tension and adds some empathy for the duckassed boy-caller - just as things are about to get hairy. I love that Sherman says about attending horror films, "I get scared kinda easy," and how that fear leads to his doom.

I am (and will always be) a duckass superfan. What starts as an unassuming-yet-somehow-unsettling love story leaves you with your jaw on the ground by the last page. I love the weirdness of these characters!

The secrets at the beginning pay off in a fun way at the end.

Gah! Oh my - no spoilers - Just read this and admire how Caffrey pulls us along into this exceptional world building. Cinematic, splendid dialogue, magnetic characters and a super scary surprise. I love the dynamics of it all, how it bends around space and time, feeling like urban legend and contemporary moment all rolled into one.

Eek!

A pernicious slow burn that crescendos at just the right moment. Caffrey's characters are so dang likable you'll find yourself juggling the rationalization of human sacrifice with genuine concern for the bad boy with a heart of gold. Deliciously fun with a killer twist.