Pseudopod 62: Faith in Sips and Bites

[Russell Nash]

Pseudopod 62: Faith in Sips and Bites

By Michael Chant

Read by Ben Phillips

If you are reading this, we must’ve done it. I’m going to tell as much as I can. You newspaper people will have to clean up the spelling. Going to have your work cut out for you. Make it pretty for the front page. Crazy thinking something I write is going to be on the front page. That’s the Lord working in His mysterious ways again. Got to type it out. When I write it out longhand it looks like Chinese. Just have to hunt and peck as best I can. Can’t write no more. Hands shake too much. Nerve damage. All of us got it now.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[DDog]

This one was pretty random but I liked it. Ben Phillips is a genius with the character accents. I had to look up the passage from the Bible as I wasn't familiar with it. I've heard the speaking in tongues thing as well as the laying on of hands, but I didn't know it came from a passage in the Bible that also mentions poison and snakes and that there are churches that practice those aspects as well.

Fascinating.

[Simon]

I really, really liked this one.

I got to admit - I'm not a big Pseudo-pod listener.  It's only over recent weeks that I've been putting the time in for this podcast.  I've listened to three in the last few days, and this is by far the best.

I love the narrative style, yes it was a little heavy handed but I love these looping narratives where the narrator swings back and forth to the centre of the topic (it reminds me of my favourite EP - Shadowboxer) until you hit the climax.  The "found" element made it classic horror, but the topic was dealt with in a less than horror-driven way.

All in all, I thought this was excellent.

More Please.

[Thaurismunths]

Hmm, only two replies.
This is probably one of the more under-rated stories PseudoPod has put out.

The narration was fantastic, the narrator's not-directly-explained blackouts were terrific, and I was actually chilled by the religious zealotry. I kept picturing Tim Blake Nelson as the narrator, which only added to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? feel.

This is definitely the kind of story I love to hear on P.P.

[DKT]

Actually, I think a lot of the comments were lost when the server was moved (mine was, at least).  I agree it was an excellent story -- I found the religious aspects of it, the darker side of faith, very chilling.

[Unblinking]

I really liked this story.  I like that the setting is also given in sips and bites, just like the title.  By the end you know everything you need to know, but it's all done without big infodumps.  Half the fun is just trying to figure out the setting. 

I also really like that, other than the apparently invincible stranger, there was no speculative element.  I could totally see people actually doing this, and that makes it more real.  The identity of the stranger is kept entirely in the dark, whether he is just a man with seemingly impossible poison tolerance, or if he was there to dispose of them, or to test their resolve.

I like the "third time is a charm" aspect of his blackouts, once in the light, once in the darkness, third time as yet undetermined.  Sort of makes me think of the later story "The Greatest Adventure".

Ben Phillips did the reading very well, I like the accent he used for it.

Nothing to complain about this one, great show!

[Millenium_King]

Loved it.  Solidly told.  Great voice.  Great reading.  Definately one best for audio.  My only complaint was the somewhat ambiguous ending.  Of those, I am not a fan.  I prefer it all spelled out rather than leaving the character at the crossroads.  But other than that, this was a solid piece, solidly told and solidly read.  Great episode.

I also wanted to mention how much I enjoyed the idea of a horror story centered around Snake Handlers.  I'd never read one which concerned itself with this sub-sub-section of Christianity.  Great topic.