Brad, Unwound: A Puppet Scorned Yarn by Jamie Kort

Puppet Amazingness!!

"As I lay in that pit of despair I could feel my sanity fraying and in desperation I cried out to the Holy Ball Of Yarn for help, for the pain of my mistakes to fade from my mind, but my prayers went unanswered and after a time I fell deeper into the blackness until I found myself begging for my body to fully unwind; for bleach to rain down on me; for moths to lay eggs and have their larvae consume my yarn so that I might leave my woven body and fly upward into The Great Rectangular Sanctity. I wanted to be stuffed in the back of that Heavenly Drawer with all of the other forgotten socks." When we first met our puppety protagonist in A Puppet Scorned, he made a choice that changed the pattern of his knitting forever... In this fantastic sequel, Brad comes becomes intertwined with "the Horder", who rejuvenates Brad's love for his knitted life, when he takes his own tools to perfect his companion, "the mad bitch". Just then Brad knew it was a sign from the "Holy Ball of Yarn" and "it was time to unravel" once again. Jamie Kort stitched together another glorious tale of puppets, but this time he takes it up a notch and sews in some inspiration in the form of human depravity. I absolutely loved reading Brad's thoughts on humans "I could only guess at how they might un-purl or un-stitch each other.", amongst other observations, that led him back to the the one that started it all, "the Camille". I cannot adequately describe this story without giving away too much, you need to read it to truly understand the depth's of creative depravity knitted by our dear author. I flew through this in a few minutes, but in this case, size didn't matter - this is a very large sock tale in a deceptively small shoe. "As I bent to my work I allowed myself to indulge fully in the profound sense of arousal I experienced as I began unstitching the Camille , and I began to laugh - for even if I failed in my task, there were many, many more Camilles…" I, for one, cannot wait to see what form Camille takes next!

4.5 Stars!

See? One erotic puppet story was not enough, so I came back for seconds. This was FULL of puns and my dad-joke loving heart couldn’t be happier. Did I mention I used to knit? Maybe I’ll pick it back up again… Oh! Also, we get the inspiration behind Brad’s devious behavior and it’s dark.

A sock puppet with a god complex

Ok, so here we are yet again where I’m left speechless by a short story about sock puppets written by the incomparable Jamie Kort. If you need to read that first sentence again, please do, I’ll wait. I honestly don’t know how anyone could achieve what he does in something that’s only 12 pages, but he’s done it again and he’s done it flawlessly with Brad, Unwound. In this yarn, we get a bit of a prequel origin story for A Puppet Scorned, where we learn of the brutal, sadistic creation of Camille. The foreshadowing is heavy, and the more we learn about our dear Brad, the more difficult it is to feel any sort of sympathy for him. Let’s just lay it out there…he’s a monster. Filled to the brim with paralleling metaphors, we see Brad’s ongoings fall in line with those of a serial killer, everything from admiring his favorite tools of the trade to the sexual gratification of coming undone. It all begins with attempting to fill the void of finding one’s purpose and an addiction to bettering one’s craft, but quickly spirals into a sock puppet with a god complex. Never thought I’d ever have to type that, but again, here we are. Oh, and he has a dungeon filled with his mis-knitted atrocities! I just can’t. Kort tells his tale with an air of uneasiness along with comedic quips, to a point where you know you shouldn’t be laughing at the giant man murdering a woman, but you just can’t help yourself? That question mark was intentional. I don’t think I can truly express my feelings here…Kort has broken my brain. All I know is that I absolutely loved this story, and I definitely need more sock puppet horror erotica in my life. Read it, you won’t be disappointed.

More sock puppet erotic horror, please.

Jamie Kort is back with a new puppetrotica origin story for A Puppet Scorned‘s leading sock puppet, Brad. That’s right, sock puppet erotic horror. A Puppet Scorned was great, so I was excited when Kort announced that he was working on another sock puppet story and positively thrilled when he offered me a review copy. So let’s talk about Brad. If you remember his role in A Puppet Scorned, you’ll remember that he is a knitter. In his world, that means more than just creating beautiful things out of yarn. Knitting is erotic. Knitting is procreation. And much like the knitting I know, it as frustrating as it is rewarding. How often do you undo half a project because it wasn’t coming out how you hoped? Oftentimes you get pretty far into a project before you have that realization. In this sense, Brad is no different. He knits and knits in his attempts to perfect his project. We get a glimpse into Brad’s thought process throughout. And then we are introduced to the human component of the story. Brad refers to them as The Hoarder and his bitch, as though they are animals. We observe them through Brad’s eyes and his perspective is intriguing. He doesn’t quite understand what he’s witnessed and thinks of it in terms that he can comprehend. Are the beasts made of wood, and is wood a type of hard yarn? Is he living inside a giant beast that’s been woven together? This event that Brad has witnessed inspires him. If the beast can rebuild his mate, surely he can knit his perfect love-knitting partner. Will the pattern revealed to him by The Holy Yarn be what he has yearned for? One thing is certain, Brad is definitely unhinged…er, unwound. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. I was recently inspired by a yarn clearance sale to pick up my crochet hook and try again, so I find myself tickled by all the yarn puns and twisted knitting terminology weaved into this story. Like A Puppet Scorned, this prequel has all the elements of a great bizarro horror story. It’s well written, and Kort’s use of knitting terminology shows that either he is a knitter or he did his research. I really enjoyed this.

Another part to the puppet story I didn't know I needed.

This is the second story to "A Puppet Scorned" and it did not disappoint! I still find myself surprised at my love for this strange and dark erotic sock puppet horror- but I was ECSTATIC to see there was a second part released! Who would've thought I would be so invested in the knitting lives of puppets? If you haven't read the first, it's a must-read and it lays the foundation for this story. This time we see the sock puppet master at an entirely new level of depravity with his unwanted and unloved sock creations. Following the lead of the red-dyed giant creature downstairs, he realizes he doesn't have to live alone with the plaguing thoughts of all of his revulting mistakes, and can instead reshape them into more appeasing companions... The first story gave us a love story turned into madness and obsession, and this latest explored the dark possibilities that lie in a ball of yarn. I loved the introduction of the "wood" creatures and how they were woven into the story (see what I did there?) The inclusion of the outside world and its beings beyond the attic (and their own torturous lives) gave another dimension to the story that we didn't really see before. Absolutely loved everything about this, just as I did the first. The author's prose is just beautiful. Exceptional writing talent... dark, intense, macabre, detailed- I'm in awe. This is the type of writing that cannot be taught.