Author Topic: PseudoPod 584: ARTEMIS RISING 4: The Drowned Man’s Kiss  (Read 4340 times)

Bdoomed

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PseudoPod 584: ARTEMIS RISING 4: The Drowned Man’s Kiss


by Christine Lucas
Narrated by Andrew Leman
Hosted by Karen Bovenmyer

PseudoPod 584: ARTEMIS RISING 4: The Drowned Man’s Kiss is a PseudoPod original.

Show Notes

“The Drowned Man’s Kiss” is inspired by the works of the Greek Poet Nikos Kavvadias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Kavvadias

In his poem “Esmeralda” there’s this verse: “Come sweet dawn, the drowned man kissed you.” And the story was born from that, playing as it went with the theme of the cursed dagger, which also features in another of Kavvadias’ poem, “To Machairi” (The dagger).



Longtime listeners or backers of our Pseudopod 10 Year anniversary will be familiar with the artistic work and madcap visions of Jonathan Chaffin of Horror In Clay.  He makes fine horror-themed tiki mugs, art, and ephemera. He made a Cthulhu tiki mug, before that was a thing, and a cask of Amontillado and an Innsmouth Fogcutter.  Now, he has a warning for you. Somewhere in the infinite multiverse, or just on the other side of this shadow, the King In Yellow awaits. “The Pallid Mask” from Horror In Clay is a 8in tiki mug inspired by love for the linked short stories of Robert W. Chambers, and every subsequent writer caught by that fateful play.



Last night, I dreamt of the drowned man again.

It starts with a murmur. A prayer, slithering through a sleeping shipmate’s lips. Or perhaps a confession, or a memory caught in the fog of the ghostly hours before dawn. It lingers little down here, in the stale air heavy with the stench of urine and unwashed bodies. Soon it rises higher, amidst the sails and the riggings, hungry for fresh air. Then comes the scratching against the ship’s hull. Grip by grip, claw-like hands dig into the wood dragging upwards God knows what.





Listen to this week's PseudoPod.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Unblinking

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Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 10:00:49 PM
Nautical horror is such an interesting subgenre!  It makes a sort of "cabin in the woods" setting, because if you're on a boat in the middle of the ocean you don't have a lot of options.  This was really solid, a good example of it, I didn't foresee the identity of the drowned man until it was revealed.



Sandra M. Odell

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Reply #2 on: March 18, 2018, 04:12:39 AM
Enjoyed this story, in particular the rhythm of the prose and the deft narration.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the identity of the ghost.  The story had heart, dark and smelling of brine and decay, but definitely there.



Katzentatzen

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Reply #3 on: March 31, 2018, 09:56:14 PM
I had a hard time following what happened, but the style was quite apparent.

"To understand a cat you must realize that he has his own gifts, his own viewpoint, even his own morality."
--LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN


Moritz

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Reply #4 on: May 19, 2018, 06:07:50 PM
I loved the shout out to Hayrettin Barbaros, whose mausoleum I visited last year.
Even if the narrator butchered that pronunciation ;) The other names were correctly pronounced though.

A thing that confused me was when they talked about leaving Algiers for Crete and there was something about "South East" ?!