reminiscent of something by Richard Christian Matheson. Unfortunately, an extremely short format forces you to take shortcuts that lean toward cliche.

I agree with the first part: I felt like I was writing something that would fit in Scars. The second half I take exception with. I don't think I veered to close to cliche to lose the effectiveness of the story. Granted, it went there a bit, but I was happy with the outcome.

How do you take exception when you agree that you "went there a bit"?
Re-read what I wrote and you'll see that I wasn't judging your story, but the format. I never said anything about the effectiveness of your story.

oh. My bad.

What the...

is there a question mark implied there?