The title Penpal is drawn from the second chapter in the collection, “Balloons”. But sometimes, when we do, we wish that we could just forget again. Auerbach writes, “Memories extend our lives backwards through time, making them feel longer. I discovered Penpal when it was published as a collection and was not familiar with the original subreddit material but have since gone back and read those versions as well as listened to Penpal being performed on The NoSleep podcast- that’s how much I love this book!Īrranged in nonlinear order, the chapters are memories recounted by an unnamed narrator in an attempt piece together strange and mysterious events in his childhood most centered on his friendship with a classmate named Josh. Online, it grew into a collection of 6 interconnected stories that, with the help of a Kickstarter campaign, Auerbach gathered and expanded into the novel he published under his own imprint (appropriately named 1000 Vultures). Penpal, began as a story called “Footsteps” posted on the nosleep subreddit under Auerbach’s username 1000Vultures. “Hello there, have you read Penpal? No? Well let me tell you a little bit about it so that you too can accept Dathan Auerbach’s 2012 novel into the horror literature cannon”
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