Escape Artists

PseudoPod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Bdoomed on May 01, 2021, 06:52:47 AM

Title: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Bdoomed on May 01, 2021, 06:52:47 AM
PseudoPod 755: Exquisite (https://pseudopod.org/2021/04/30/pseudopod-755-exquisite/)

Author: Alan Baxter (https://pseudopod.org/people/alan-baxter/)
Narrator: Dan Rabarts (https://pseudopod.org/people/dan-rabarts/)
Host: Alasdair Stuart (https://pseudopod.org/people/alasdair-stuart/)
Audio Producer: Marty Perrett (https://pseudopod.org/people/marty-perrett/)

“Exquisite” first appeared in the 2019 collection Served Cold.


Show Notes
“On the Eyeball Floor (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30032253-on-the-eyeball-floor-and-other-stories)” by Tina Connolly

Scarfolk (https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/)

Hookland (https://twitter.com/HooklandGuide?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)


Tim Rinneman had never met a lock he couldn’t pick. It was his expertise, his pride. And his curse, as it had become a compulsion he could not resist. He grinned as he worked at the front door of his latest target, hidden in the night shadows of the porch. He had cased the joint for nearly a week, established it was occupied by a lonely but wealthy-looking man in his late forties or early fifties, who went drinking at the Blakeley Hotel every night from seven until around nine. Easy mark.

The lock barrel turned and Tim let out an almost silent, “Yes!” He slipped his lock picks back into the pocket of his dark grey jacket—everyone knew you didn’t wear black to be camouflaged at night—and pushed the door open. His wool cap was low over his brow and a grey bandana masked the lower half of his face. Tight, rubber surgical gloves kept his fingerprints private.


Listen to this week's PseudoPod. (https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/pseudopod/Pseudo755_Exquisite.mp3)
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Title: Re: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Scuba Man on May 01, 2021, 02:39:04 PM
 ::)
What a silly bunny. Oh well... down the rabbit hole under the stairs he goes!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Álex Souza on May 01, 2021, 11:01:27 PM
Great story!

It starts as a gentleman thief and it soon turns into a hunter-becomes-the-hunt story. Or that it what it wants you to think.

This instantly reminded me of No One Lives (2012), Don’t Breathe (2016), and Martyrs (2007). It really follows the structure of these stories... only until the middle that is. There’s a twist that subverts the subgenre, and I wasn’t expecting it.

The torture descriptions are no worse than those in Hellraiser or in Martyrs. A very twisted mind is needed to do that. :o

Funny facts: The fact that the MC found women’s clothing and that the man had his penis bisected made me wonder that he was being made into a woman. But it was just the villain's mother clothes, and it was used as a cheap plot device later on. I thought the story would go like The Skin I live in (2011). Instead, it became an inverted Hostel (2005) or Oldboy (2003).

And this:
Quote
Tim cried out, his vision swimming as vomit shot into his throat and was only prevented from expulsion because his heart was already blocking the way.

Really?  ??? ??? I think the author burned too many neurons thinking about the body horror that forgot to describe everything else.

I like how the ending came so soon. Some other authors would have stretched it.

8.5/10
Title: Re: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Ichneumon on May 13, 2021, 05:40:02 AM
I was expecting the obvious with Tim getting caught by the homeowner and becoming the next victim, but I am glad the author twisted away from that.

Quote from: Álex Souza on May 01, 2021, 11:01:27 PM
The torture descriptions are no worse than those in Hellraiser or in Martyrs.

Hellraiser came to my mind too, the victim/customer must have had a very Cenobite-ish philosophy. I'm not sure why exactly, but the body-horror seemed even more extreme once I knew the torture was asked for.
One small note: I don't think a person missing eyelids and other features would be very capable of recognizable facial expressions.
Title: Re: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Scattercat on June 02, 2021, 09:14:07 AM
Just a nice old man running a bespoke private entertainment business who catches a burglar and generously lets them go with a warning and a lecture.  What's this feel-good after-school special doing in my horror feed?  T'cha. ;-)
Title: Re: PseudoPod 755: Exquisite
Post by: Scuba Man on June 18, 2021, 07:11:29 PM
Quote from: Scattercat on June 02, 2021, 09:14:07 AM
Just a nice old man running a bespoke private entertainment business who catches a burglar and generously lets them go with a warning and a lecture.  What's this feel-good after-school special doing in my horror feed?  T'cha. ;-)
You, Scattercat, seem to be raised on a steady diet of Kroft Power Hour (my spouse's thing, I was shielded by the Pacific Coast mountain ranges), and after school JP Patches (a delightfully twisted children's show that was beamed out of Seattle in the mid-1970/80s [Oooga Chugga Oooga Chugga]).