Psycho Therapy by Ryan Hyatt

A TERRAFIDED FUTURE IS HYATT'S VISION!

Further into the post-dystopian future Hyatt has dreamt up for us, this short story in the Terrafide series is a sharp, brisk tale of what one could find in the best of The Twlight Zone. Hyatt is able to present this future and take you to its past and back in effortless style, his approach to character development makes you feel like you know someone like his characters and understand their problems and desires. It’s not an in your face horror but the world he creates makes you think how close we are to the worst of mankind and the threshold is always a step away! The more you read into Hyatt’s dream of the future, the more terrified you might become!

More glimpses into the Terrifide universe

I do love where Psycho Therapy sits in the larger Terrafide universe. Each glimpse Mr. Hyatt releases gives a fog-of-war-esque clearing into a larger world that just bristles and roils around a much much larger, and much more terrifying, underlying situation. Per usual, I have far more questions than answers upon finishing this story, and I see that as an incredibly good thing. Psycho Therapy is a teasing amuse-bouche ahead of such a larger scenario, and it deftly pulled my attention in and left me wanting more. More of my musings at: https://23rdlegion.com/psycho-therapy-by-ryan-hyatt/

Governments don't typically make good decisions - what happens in the event of an alien invasion??

I have to stop and collect myself a minute, because this cover for this short story is GORGEOUS! I love the design and color scheme - totally plays into a particular scene of the story dealing with neon signs, or at least that was my conclusion. PSYCHO THERAPY by Ryan Hyatt (goes on sale as part of a double feature on Godless.com 2/17/22) is a sci fi/horror blend story about aliens who invade and what Americans did as a result. Spoiler alert: it’s not what you’d expect. Well, actually, some of you might. Our government doesn’t make a habit of good decisions, so they? I reckon things can easily get out of hand when facing the fallout of an alien invasion… I really want to share a favorite quote, but it’s a total spoiler and I don’t want to do that, because this is a fantastic short fiction read. I love the little nod Ryan Hyatt gave to his Terrafide series - I love little Easter eggs like that!! Loved this one - it’s been too long since I read something with a sci fi flavor!

Heinlein-like story-telling and pacing

Hyatt's prose is tight and the story unfolds fast. He deals with themes of endocolonization here, the tendency of empire to eventually police its own population like it polices its colonial populations. No weapon is out of bounds and tactics to cause intimidation and fear are also fair game. With the recent development of Boston Dynamics' robotic Police dogs, this story comes at a good time.

Action-packed, makes you think

Yeah, I can see an alien invasion going like this. Ryan writes like a comedian, taking an observation on human nature to its extreme, but somehow logical, conclusion. The action starts on the first page and continues until the last sentence while weaving in character development and building a post-invasion America. There's a tie-in to his Terrafide series as well that I'm looking forward to reading.