This is gorgeous!
I’ve read a little Frost, but haven’t retained enough to make any of the connections. So I’ll say as someone who only recognized one line of the poetic inspiration, this story stands as its own beautiful experience.
spoilers
I love the balance of subjective specificity and ambiguity. The question of whether anyone in the story is losing their mind, or if it's a case of grim magic.The flashbacks are well-integrated, a clever mechanic, and the hallucinogenic quality of their descriptions is so effective.
The writing in general is so good. The idea that the bones may reappear not in their original humanoid configuration but as something like a chandelier—incredible. With a little poking, I see that this is one of the bits pulled from a Frost poem. But this takes nothing from the fact that the gathering and assembly of these lines of poetry and ideas are smoothed into a cohesive and effective story and atmosphere.
Re: the author’s notes. I always love reading about authors’ thoughts and process, so these were appreciated. And I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up on the Frost inspiration. I can’t speak to dissatisfaction with the ending of “The Witch of Coos,” but I can say that this game’s ending is satisfying, and leaves me with a trailing question of spookiness.
I’ll probably read some Frost and come back to this at some point.
Loved it.