Author Topic: PseudoPod 622: En Plein Air  (Read 2436 times)

Bdoomed

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on: November 17, 2018, 03:08:24 AM
PseudoPod 622: En Plein Air

Author: J. T. Glover
Narrator: Heather N. Thomas
Host: Alasdair Stuart

“En Plein Air” first appeared in volume two of Nightscript, an anthology series edited by C.M. Muller that focuses on “subtle and darksome literary horror.” Stephen Jones subsequently picked it up for reprint in his Best New Horror anthology series, for volume 28.

Show Notes
“A colleague in the English department at VCU, where I work as a librarian, gave it to the students in her Gothic seminar to read. I sent them the following notes: Writing and reading heavily, as well as being a librarian by profession, I found several years ago that I needed a pastime that was not about words. I have a longtime interest in the arts, and so I decided to try my hand at painting. As often happens, I rushed in headlong, taking classes and working late into the night. The more I painted, though, the less I was writing, and eventually I had to step back from the easel for a while. I still enjoy painting occasionally, but it’s produced an unexpected side effect. Some authors frequently use writers as protagonists, and I now have a similar tendency with artists, though I try to cycle through different media, with a sculptor in one story, a photographer in another. “En Plein Air” came along just after I’d been working on a landscape, as well as finally reading all of M.R. James’ ghost stories, so I expect both of those things influenced the story. I like to think that my art-inflected work fits into a lineage that includes The Red Tree, “Pickman’s Model,” “The Mezzotint,” The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc. These stories are a pleasure to write, in any case, and I’m always pleased when they make their way into print.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._James
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Sinclair



A gust of wind boiled off the James without warning, flattening cattails and clumps of spikerush as it swirled around the inlet where I was painting, and of course it caught my canvas. The morning’s work rushed away from me like a sailboat before a storm, taking my field easel with it. Just as I was sucking in breath to howl with frustration—it shuddered to a stop in midair. Two pale hands held it fast, reaching around from the back.




Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

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Kaa

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Reply #1 on: November 18, 2018, 08:15:26 PM
Is anyone else getting odd little audio glitches?

[ETA] Weird. I played it using VLC and it doesn't have the glitches. But in Overcast on my phone, glitches galore.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2018, 08:24:14 PM by Kaa »

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Kerra

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Reply #2 on: November 20, 2018, 02:06:34 PM
Ugh I don't understand this story. I listened to it twice and I read it. I don't see any horror. Someone changed their painting style? It's a story about a painter changing her style?!?! And wetlands have decay?
Can anyone tell me why this is supposed to be horror? What am I missing?



Sgarre1

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Reply #3 on: November 20, 2018, 02:21:26 PM
You are not missing anything. This story was chosen as an exemplar of 'Quiet Horror' - in this case, specifically a melancholia/depression/cosmic horror of bleak human absurdity story. Just mixing it up a bit, after last weeks "vampires in the snowstorm"



VTDorchester

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Reply #4 on: April 24, 2019, 09:31:25 PM
I enjoyed this episode, and what it told me about pseudopod as a new drop-in listener - that not every episode was going to be gruesome. (I wouldn't listen if they were.) I hope that in the future there are further examples of "quiet horror" - and thank Mx Glover and Mx Thomas for their writing and performance.




Fenrix

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Reply #5 on: April 24, 2019, 10:37:25 PM

I enjoyed this episode, and what it told me about pseudopod as a new drop-in listener - that not every episode was going to be gruesome. (I wouldn't listen if they were.) I hope that in the future there are further examples of "quiet horror" - and thank Mx Glover and Mx Thomas for their writing and performance.


If you want more on the quiet end of things, two artists we've done several times that would be worth your time to check out at Damien Angelica Walters and Kristi DeMeester.

http://pseudopod.org/2018/08/10/pp-606-walk-in-the-night-my-love/
http://pseudopod.org/people/kristi-demeester/

Also check out IN THE COUNTRY by Christi Nogle: http://pseudopod.org/2017/03/17/pseudopod-534-artemis-rising-3-in-the-country/

Anyone else have suggestions for good quiet horror?

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VTDorchester

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Reply #6 on: April 28, 2019, 05:51:41 PM
Thank-you, I will be sure to listen to the episodes you suggest.