Flash: Secret Boxes

[Bdoomed]

Flash: Secret Boxes

By Jerome Dent

Read by Ben Phillips

Music by Love Means Nothing, featuring Bill Apdale and Lee Bartow

Samuel found the secret of the death of the universe in a box. The box was small and plain, with a corked opening, like a jack in the box without a handle. Samuel forgot how he’d gotten the box before he even got home, the facts smothered and dismantled in a haze. All he thinks he knows is that there was a tree involved, sun-bleached to a moth-white with gnarled branches, fruit with eggshell skin that burst and bled crimson at the touch, a man who had misplaced his heart, and something very painfully white or made of light. But he could have picked it up at Jericho’s. Much more likely, some knickknack impulse buy that’ll prompt his roommate to ask for Samuel’s half of the rent, again.


Listen to this Pseudopod Flash.

[Kaa]

Can someone tell me what this was about? I've listened to it twice and I still don't know.

As Pseudopod episodes go, I'd say this one was down near the bottom of my list.

[eytanz]

Can someone tell me what this was about? I've listened to it twice and I still don't know.

As Pseudopod episodes go, I'd say this one was down near the bottom of my list.

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

That said, in the sub-genre of impenetrable surrealism, this was one of the better attempts. At least the images had some relation to each other and it didn't feel like a random story generator was employed.

[gelee]

Can someone tell me what this was about? I've listened to it twice and I still don't know.

As Pseudopod episodes go, I'd say this one was down near the bottom of my list.

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

That said, in the sub-genre of impenetrable surrealism, this was one of the better attempts. At least the images had some relation to each other and it didn't feel like a random story generator was employed.

Well put.  The imagery was well laid, but it was just a bit too trippy for my tastes.

[Anarkey]

Can someone tell me what this was about? I've listened to it twice and I still don't know.

As Pseudopod episodes go, I'd say this one was down near the bottom of my list.

Not that I think this will change how you felt about it, but here's a plot summary: guy finds a box that shows him the abyss and it not only stares back, but gets inside him, flays him, eats his heart like a ripe and tasty fruit, then starts eating the rest of the world too.  By knowing the end of the world, Samuel sets it in motion.

See also: Pandora's Box, only without hope at the bottom.  Or likewise, from the Cthulhu mythos: NEVER read the book!

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

I'll gleefully raise my hand as the target audience for Pseudopod flash fiction.  I quite like most of it, and am blown away by some.  Even the PP flash I find 'meh' usually has at least some aspect I can appreciate, like the zombie overlord w/the hawk story.  This particular offering struck me as interesting and well-done.  I enjoyed it.

I also liked the production values on this one.  The music was perfect!

At risk of sounding as though I've taken too many drugs and/or listened to too much Skinny Puppy and/or love Dalí way more than anyone has a right to, this didn't tip over into surreal or trippy land for me.  Baird's "Hallucigenia", now, THAT is surreal and trippy.  This here is a merry jaunt in the park by comparison. 

Seriously, though, I thought the imagery and description were extremely concrete and well-grounded.  I think it was told in a pretty straightforward way.  It wasn't particularly hard to follow, except I did wonder about why the invader entry patch was on his back in the particular spot there instead of say on his face, the part of him that was peering into the box...but eh, maybe there's something I just didn't get.

[bolddeceiver]

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

I would say it is, for the most part, exactly the same target audience, with the caveat that of course Flash is going to be more out there, because that's one of the things you can (and to some extent, have to) do with Flash.  At the same time, you don't have the space for a fully-fleshed-out story, and also can get away with a little more weirdness, because hey, it's not like they've wasted that much of your time if it totally flops for you.

[eytanz]

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

I would say it is, for the most part, exactly the same target audience, with the caveat that of course Flash is going to be more out there, because that's one of the things you can (and to some extent, have to) do with Flash.  At the same time, you don't have the space for a fully-fleshed-out story, and also can get away with a little more weirdness, because hey, it's not like they've wasted that much of your time if it totally flops for you.

My earlier response wasn't very well-thought out, in the sense that it sounded more negative than I intended to - I didn't mean "I'm not sure who the target audience is" as a criticism, but rather genuine unclarity on my part. I certainly did not mean to imply that the flash stories don't have a target audience.

That said, I still stand by it, and I think looking at the threads for PP flash stories shows that I'm right and you are not in that it is quite clearly not the same target audience. Nor do I think it's a subset of the same target audience. I think there's some overlap - maybe more overlap than I originally thought - but I think that it's far from obvious that someone who likes the flash PP stories will like the longer episodes, or vice versa.

For me, I mostly am not that interested in the flash stories, but some of them I really love. But it's pretty clear to me that the reasons I love the flash PP stories I love are pretty different than the reasons I love the full PP stories I love. I really don't think the difference between the two sets of stories is just a matter of degree; I think these are essentially two very different types of stories.

[DKT]

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

I would say it is, for the most part, exactly the same target audience, with the caveat that of course Flash is going to be more out there, because that's one of the things you can (and to some extent, have to) do with Flash.  At the same time, you don't have the space for a fully-fleshed-out story, and also can get away with a little more weirdness, because hey, it's not like they've wasted that much of your time if it totally flops for you.

I disagree with this to a certain extent, BD.  I think of all the flash we've heard on EP (and all we haven't but might have read in the contest) and I don't think it has to be so abstract or out there.  Generally the flash on PP doesn't seem to be as much of a narrative as it does trying to hit a bizarre/weird hole.  There are exceptions here of course: Why I Hate Cake, Garbage Day, Rite of Atonement.  But there's easily more stories that make me scratch my head and saying, "Huh?" by the time Anders Manga rolls in.  All in all, I don't think I'm the target audience either.

[Grayven]

I didn't get it. What happened?

[Ben Phillips]

Pseudopod flash, with a few notable exceptions, tends to be very bizzare. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is - it doesn't seem to be the same target audience as the long form stories.

I would say it is, for the most part, exactly the same target audience, with the caveat that of course Flash is going to be more out there, because that's one of the things you can (and to some extent, have to) do with Flash.  At the same time, you don't have the space for a fully-fleshed-out story, and also can get away with a little more weirdness, because hey, it's not like they've wasted that much of your time if it totally flops for you.

This is exactly the rationale I had in mind.  Our flash is intentionally more experimental (and my apologies for resorting to that word, nearly defined in this case as being undefined), although I guess you'd have to read the submission guidelines to know it since we don't like to lengthen the flash pieces with intros or explanation, leaving us with no ideal chance other than the forums to say things like this:

It's my view that horror has the purview to not just present the impossible as possible the way the rest of SF does, but also break away from standard expectations -- the most notorious of which is any expectation of victory for the protagonist, but I don't think it has to end there.  I'm tinkering with the notion that horror, among the genres, is greatly empowered to present stories in a more challenging way and thereby, potentially, enhance rather than detract from its appeal.  This is largely because the fear of the unknown is at the heart of suspense, so keeping the audience in the dark can be used as an advantage; the risk, of course, being that the audience may get bored in the dark and start throwing peanuts (meaning the piece will be so confusing people give up trying to follow it at all).

I try to find flash stories, and presentations styles for them, that are unconventional in the hopes of sparking new ideas for how fiction can be executed -- but many of these are experimental, unabashedly so, and although I certainly regret the detraction from anyone's enjoyment I feel compelled, for now at least, to reserve the right to use flash as our laboratory.  The full-length features enjoy more of my full confidence in their accessibility -- but as any horror fan should know, accessibility is not, and should never be, the final measure of art.

Although, I must say I can appreciate a good old pulp romp that happens to fit into a very short word count as much as the next guy, so I'm afraid we'll have to keep you guessing there!

[eytanz]

I try to find flash stories, and presentations styles for them, that are unconventional in the hopes of sparking new ideas for how fiction can be executed -- but many of these are experimental, unabashedly so, and although I certainly regret the detraction from anyone's enjoyment I feel compelled, for now at least, to reserve the right to use flash as our laboratory.  The full-length features enjoy more of my full confidence in their accessibility -- but as any horror fan should know, accessibility is not, and should never be, the final measure of art.

Oh, I doubt that you're detracting from anyone's enjoyment by your choice of flash pieces - additional content is additional content, and at worst you're just not adding much to some people's enjoyment with the flash pieces.

I do plan to continue expressing my confusion at the more confusing of the flash pieces, though.

[Anarkey]

It's my view that horror has the purview to not just present the impossible as possible the way the rest of SF does, but also break away from standard expectations -- the most notorious of which is any expectation of victory for the protagonist, but I don't think it has to end there.  I'm tinkering with the notion that horror, among the genres, is greatly empowered to present stories in a more challenging way and thereby, potentially, enhance rather than detract from its appeal.  This is largely because the fear of the unknown is at the heart of suspense, so keeping the audience in the dark can be used as an advantage; the risk, of course, being that the audience may get bored in the dark and start throwing peanuts (meaning the piece will be so confusing people give up trying to follow it at all).

I am SO down with this.  YES!  Ha, Ha!  I am the target audience! 

And about time, too.

[Unblinking]

This is largely because the fear of the unknown is at the heart of suspense, so keeping the audience in the dark can be used as an advantage; the risk, of course, being that the audience may get bored in the dark and start throwing peanuts (meaning the piece will be so confusing people give up trying to follow it at all).

I liked this quote a lot.

This one I had less trouble understanding than some of the others, like The Closet, and Brimstone Orange.  I do like the flashes in that they give just a brief glimpse of something friggin weird without being long to get bored with them.  I'll listen to every flash all the way through, and in the end if I don't like it, I haven't invested much into it so no big deal.  And for cases like Garbage Day, the confusing ones are totally worth it! 

[Fenrix]

I'm solidly in the same camp as Anarkey. This was a phenomenal flash with healthy dollops of both Lovecraft's Dream Cycle and Hellraiser. Maybe I've been needing more gore in my Dream Cycle so I can finally get into it. The production on this piece was top notch.

[outtops]

I'm not sure about everyone else, but this flash scared me to the core simply because of the imagery. There was this overwhelming feeling of reality falling apart and instead of it the end of all things being an all encompassing thing, it felt claustrophobic and personal. By the end there was this implicit knowledge that the death of the universe would destroy everyone in turn and would do so horribly; violently. If I where to attribute the feeling it would be like the first time I watched Darko. Something at first seemingly nothing more than a psychotic rambling, slowly manifests in physical ruptures, in this case the skinning of this man to feed the abyss and to further the rot of the universe.

[Millenium_King]

My review of this one is pretty similar to that of "The Closet."  Namely, it doesn't really feel like a story, so much as it feels like the transcription of a dream.  Very, surreal - at times vivid - but lacking in a plot or arc.  Flash can be tough because it's so short and the plot often gets crowded out in favor of imagery.