CoW Ep. 436: Encore! I Kill Monsters

[Languorous Lass]

Cast of Wonders 436: Encore! I Kill Monsters

• Author: Nathaniel Lee
• Narrator: Graeme Dunlop
• Host: Setsu Uzumé
• Audio Producers: Graeme Dunlop and Jeremy Carter
• Artist: Alexis Goble

I Kill Monsters originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction, October 28, 2011.
It was previously published in Cast of Wonders Episode 47 in 2012.

Click here to listen to Episode 436

Robbie killed monsters. He used a baseball bat, because they didn’t give better weapons to ten-year-olds. It worked well enough. He’d cleaned out his room first, the slithering whispering things under the bed and the Chatterer in the closet. Then the attic, full of Flappers and Flutterers, and one that was more like a fog or a mist than anything solid. He’d poked holes in it with the bat, then swirled the bat around until the drifting fog-thing shrieked and funneled up through a crack in the ceiling like a tornado in reverse.

Tags:  adventure, Alexis Goble, friendship, Graeme Dunlop, heroism, Jeremy Carter, Kids, loyalty, Monsters, Nathaniel Lee, Setsu Uzumé, talents, Young Adult fiction

[Álex Souza]

I just loved this. I like how disinterested it is: as the title and first line suggests, the boy just kills monsters. It also has a nice 80's feeling; reminded me of Stranger Things.

“It’s not like a real job. It’s just something I do and I have to do it because no one else does it.”

The violence surprised me, for this is a YA venue. Suprised positively of course.

Although all the other kids showing up at the last instant felt like deus ex machina, because there was no proper setup, I wanted to see that battle.

Skipping the climax was a downer. I've been seeing this a lot lately. Authors just want us to image the climax and just downright skip it. I don't understand why they do that. I know the message of the story was passed along, but the climax is the best part.

The choice of the voice actor felt a little off though. I felt like he's voice was too bad-ass for CoW 

But, coming to think of it, I Kill Monsters also is.

-Álex Souza

[Languorous Lass]

You're right about the similarity to Stranger Things!  I didn't think of it, but it's definitely there.  Nice observation!