PseudoPod 586: ARTEMIS RISING 4: For Fear of Little Men

[Bdoomed]

PseudoPod 586: ARTEMIS RISING 4: For Fear of Little Men

by Sandra M. Odell
Narrated by Alasdair Stuart
Hosted by Alex West and Andrea Subissati

PseudoPod 586: ARTEMIS RISING 4: For Fear of Little Men is a PseudoPod original.

Show Notes

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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).


Once upon a time, there was a boy named Alton who longed to be a kobold and keep treasure in his stone shoes. . .

That is until one came to live under his bed and he learned what horrid little creatures they truly were.  The wicked thing smelled of licorice and MaeMa’s kisses when she went too long without brushing her dentures.  It hobbled around in its stone clogs in the dark of night, knocking over books,tumbling shoes off the rack.

“There is a kobold living under my bed, Mama,” he said when his mother came to see what the fuss was all about.  “I saw it with my torch.  He pinched me here, and here, and even here.”



Listen to this week's PseudoPod.

[DerangedMind]

This was an interesting one...  I'll admit, I wasn't sure, in my mind, whether the fairies were real or not until towards the end of the story.  (I went with he had a break from reality).

Having known people who have had psychotic episodes, I know how it all seems perfectly real and rational in their mind, and this story portrayed that reality very well. 

[cwthree]

This story was a wonderful, disturbing exploration of insanity on the order of "Escape to Thin Mountain" (Pseudopod 547, discussion here: http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=10171.0).

I was especially impressed with the depiction of the protagonist's development from a rather ordinary little boy, consumed by a child's passion for something (he learns about fey the way other kids acquire an encyclopedic dinosaurs, or planes, or butterflies), into a sexual predator. The author does this without relying on explicit descriptions of sex, violence, and gore, which I think really increased the sense that the protagonist is experiencing an increasing separation from reality.

[Onikaze]

Liked how this story took my sympathy for the protagonist to realization that they are actually a disturbed villain.

[Katzentatzen]

Maybe he should have left out bowls of milk instead of vivisecting them. I think maybe he was going mad at the end.

[Moritz]

The presenters compare the story to del Torro's work - was I the only one who thought this story would have been an interesting take on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ?

Excellent story and setting.

[Ichneumon]

I think maybe the fey were actually small animals and he was insane the whole time. Even if they were other-worldy creatures, why did they deserve to be exterminated? I think the story is interesting in that the narrator is a terrible person whether you interpret the story as his delusions or as facts.