Escape Artists

PseudoPod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Bdoomed on December 15, 2019, 05:00:24 AM

Title: PseudoPod 679: The Woman Out of the Attic
Post by: Bdoomed on December 15, 2019, 05:00:24 AM
PseudoPod 679: The Woman Out of the Attic (http://pseudopod.org/2019/12/13/pseudopod-679-the-woman-out-of-the-attic/)

Author: Gwendolyn Kiste (http://pseudopod.org/people/gwendolyn-kiste/)
Narrator: Rachel Lackey (http://pseudopod.org/people/rachel-lackey/)
Host: Alasdair Stuart (http://pseudopod.org/people/alasdair-stuart/)
Audio Producer: Marty Perrett (http://pseudopod.org/people/marty-perrett/)

“The Woman Out of the Attic” was originally published in Flame Tree’s Haunted House anthology



Show Notes
Out this week is The Dead Girls Club (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612091/the-dead-girls-club-by-damien-angelica-walters/) by Damien Angelica Walters (http://pseudopod.org/people/damien-angelica-walters/). This coming-of-age horror novel focuses on a group who have named themselves the Dead Girls Club in celebration of the generally nameless victims of serial killers. They played a game when they were kids, leaving one of them dead. The girl’s mother took the blame and went off to jail for years. The narrative alternates between the past leading up to the events of the death, and the present, where we learn the mother has been released from jail. The pacing is excellent, cutting away from each timeline leaving us wanting to jump ahead, but we dare not.

Don’t just take my word for this. This week’s author, Gwendolyn Kiste said “Damien Angelica Walters once again proves why she’s a major voice in the horror and thriller genres…Put this on your reading list now, as it’s sure to be among the top books of 2019.”

Want a sample or a reminder of her work? Make sure to check out the stories of hers we’ve run before, including “Take a Walk in the Night, My Love” (http://pseudopod.org/2018/08/10/pp-606-walk-in-the-night-my-love/) and “Falling Under, Through the Dark” and “Scarred.” (http://pseudopod.org/2016/09/30/pseudopod-510-falling-under-through-the-dark/) Or you can check out the original story  “In the Deepest Darkest Holes” (http://pseudopod.org/year10/for-mortal-things-unsung/) that she contributed to our 10th anniversary anthology “For Mortal Things Unsung.” (http://pseudopod.org/year10/for-mortal-things-unsung/)



Here’s what you know for sure: you won’t survive the film. There’s no chance a woman like you will live to see the end credits. Heck, you might not make it through the opening credits.

But even if you’re dead before the very first frame, that doesn’t mean you’re gone. There are other ways of being in the picture. You could, for instance, linger like a ghost, there and not there. A whisper in the heroine’s ear, a dull ache in the brooding hero’s heart.

But it’s important that you remember: this isn’t your story. None of this—not the man or the glory or the happy ending—belongs to you.

Please don’t forget. Or the film will have to remind you.




Listen to this week's PseudoPod. (http://traffic.libsyn.com/pseudopod/Pseudo679_TheWomanOutOfTheAttic.mp3)
Follow us on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtLeMuTcFDtF2C3MiF6GPfQ) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/7ahtswbjEhqKQifCwMX8o1?si=GMgBgLFHRsCzJ8xlvf9nOw)!
Title: Re: PseudoPod 679: The Woman Out of the Attic
Post by: JDuckworth on May 24, 2020, 04:16:07 PM
Can't believe there aren't any comments on this story. This is one of my favorite episodes, a beautiful example of how horror can be about subversion, resistance, and hope. Also a wonderful case study in the potential of the second person perspective.
Title: Re: PseudoPod 679: The Woman Out of the Attic
Post by: Languorous Lass on May 25, 2020, 02:40:24 AM
Beautifully put!  I don’t usually comment on stories these days because I don’t seem to be able to analyze them as astutely as you’ve done for this one.
Title: Re: PseudoPod 679: The Woman Out of the Attic
Post by: JDuckworth on July 07, 2020, 03:24:39 PM
Also for anyone who enjoyed this episode I highly recommend they check out Gwendolyn's novel The Rust Maidens. I recently read it, and it's one of those rare horror books that's interested more in inspiring sadness and wistfulness than fear in the reader.