Author Topic: Pseudopod 164: Linda’s Appointment  (Read 14914 times)

Bdoomed

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on: October 16, 2009, 06:16:22 AM
Pseudopod 164: Linda’s Appointment


By Mike Norris
Read by Cayenne Chris Conroy of Teknikal Diffikulties

Passing the hall, he heard a sigh emanate through their locked bedroom door. That was a good sign. It was an indication Linda was still breathing, at least, and probably still able to speak. The morning after an appointment, she was always so sore, so exhausted. Often, she’d sleep well into the afternoon. Sighs, coughs, little Linda-noises, they were the beacons that guided Lewis through a haze of uncertainty that filled those hours before she’d allow him to view the balance of her attributes.

Linda’s appointments were just part of the deal. She’d made that clear before they ever tied the knot. “They’ll come for me,” she’d told him, “from time to time.”



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Bdoomed

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Reply #1 on: October 16, 2009, 06:17:32 AM
just as a side note, this episode was particularly challenging to post (as is typing) because my arms are shaking.
but MY SACRIFICE WILL FEED YOUR OPINIONS!

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Old Man Parker

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Reply #2 on: October 16, 2009, 06:33:14 AM
Hrumph.
Better then the last story, but that's not saying that much.
It was ok.
But.... this IS still October.
You are blowing your chance to embrace the big horror holiday of Halloween.
I hope you got a great gothic horror story saved up for later this month.
I mean, "The Horror" and "Relic Radio" is fairly kicking Pseudopod's ass this month.
C'mon, trick or treat, baby...give us the good candy!!

"Hey you kids, get out of my pumpkin patch!"


MacArthurBug

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Reply #3 on: October 16, 2009, 03:58:16 PM
Eeewww, ick and *shudder* this one creeped me out so seriously. Horrible, terrible, dark, and so awful. Thank you for putting goosebumps on my arms mid-day on a nasty cold October day.

Oh, great and mighty Alasdair, Orator Maleficent, He of the Silvered Tongue, guide this humble fangirl past jumping up and down and squeeing upon hearing the greatness of Thy voice.
Oh mighty Mur the Magnificent. I am not worthy.


heyes

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Reply #4 on: October 16, 2009, 06:01:14 PM
NOW this is what I'm walking about.  This is horror!

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"You were not put on the Earth to get it, Mr. Burton"
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Sgarre1

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Reply #5 on: October 16, 2009, 11:39:29 PM
Old Man Parker, your comments have inspired a thread - please check out "Pseudopod's Competition" on these boards...



DKT

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Reply #6 on: October 17, 2009, 12:46:49 AM
Man, that was some creepy shit. Well done! And a fantastic reading!


gelee

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Reply #7 on: October 19, 2009, 02:55:49 AM
OK, I realy enjoyed this story, but...it seemed to be missing something. Maybe if we had a little more info about how the appointments began?  Like I said, I liked it, but seemed abbreviated, like an excerpt.

BTW, wonderful reading.  Perfect.   



gelee

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Reply #8 on: October 19, 2009, 02:56:46 AM
just as a side note, this episode was particularly challenging to post (as is typing) because my arms are shaking.
but MY SACRIFICE WILL FEED YOUR OPINIONS!

Um. Did you have an appointment?



600south

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Reply #9 on: October 19, 2009, 08:31:37 AM
Very disturbing, this one. I'm usually not a believer in suicide but it seems in this case, it should be an option.



Scattercat

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Reply #10 on: October 19, 2009, 03:42:16 PM
I approve of a story that knows where it's going, gets there, and ends when it should.



kibitzer

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Reply #11 on: October 20, 2009, 05:24:21 AM
Meh. Sorry, kinda dull.


ElectricPaladin

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Reply #12 on: October 20, 2009, 06:19:56 AM
This story scared the crap out of me. It was perfect: a perfect mix of gross body horror, the uncaring grimness of cosmic horror, and the sheer hopeless helplessness of any kind of horror. I loved it, and I will never, ever listen to it again.

Good show.

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Help my kids get the educational supplies they need at my Donor's Choose page.


Unblinking

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Reply #13 on: October 20, 2009, 04:40:52 PM
Didn't really enjoy this one, though the twist at the end was quite strong.  I just found it hard to believe that she was supposedly so unrestrainable.  A "Linda-shaped hole in the wall"--what are the walls made of?  Why not some steel manacles?  I would gladly shackle myself if the alternative was having bits of me cut off.



Bdoomed

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Reply #14 on: October 21, 2009, 01:49:44 AM
creeeepy.  I laughed when he ended up in Australia. :D

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


kibitzer

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Reply #15 on: October 21, 2009, 10:03:39 AM
What's so funny about Australia??


Bdoomed

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Reply #16 on: October 21, 2009, 05:24:46 PM
It's like the canada of ... Canada

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


kibitzer

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Reply #17 on: October 21, 2009, 09:24:29 PM
Ah! I see your point. ???


eytanz

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Reply #18 on: October 22, 2009, 08:14:22 PM
I thought this story was extremely creepy, in the good sense of creepiness. It certainly unsettled me.

As Gelee mentioned, it would have been nice to have a bit more background - not explaining who the attackers were, but rather more about how this started.



kaybee

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Reply #19 on: October 23, 2009, 02:50:30 PM
This was my first Pseudopod story, and I didn't think it would get under my skin enough to inspire me to join the forum, but here I am.

And, just.. uwah, dark and disturbing, that was.  I didn't find the choice of "bad guys" particularly frightening, but the total helplessness Linda endured throughout the years?  Like 600south, suicide isn't something I believe in, but if a lifetime of that was my alternative..

« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 02:52:34 PM by kaybee »



nihilistx

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Reply #20 on: November 01, 2009, 08:47:14 AM
Great little story.  I have to say I saw the ending coming, but it was still horrifically effective.

My blog, Nihilist X: http://nihilistx.wordpress.com


Loz

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Reply #21 on: November 01, 2009, 05:20:49 PM
The last ninety seconds or so were an effective capstone to what had seemed before that like a story not firing on all cylinders. It's hard to tell what is worse, what the strange beings have done to his wife, or what they are preparing to do to him.



yicheng

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Reply #22 on: November 06, 2009, 05:35:46 PM
Didn't really enjoy this one, though the twist at the end was quite strong.  I just found it hard to believe that she was supposedly so unrestrainable.  A "Linda-shaped hole in the wall"--what are the walls made of?  Why not some steel manacles?  I would gladly shackle myself if the alternative was having bits of me cut off.

I thought about that too.  Steel chains grounded into the house's foundations.  Reinforced doors.  Heck, drug her out with any number of substances so she's unable to move for 24 hours.  I would have thought of doing something to my body to make myself value-less to the abductors, like infecting myself with any number of diseases (HIV, syphillis, herpes, hepatitis).  It would definitely suck less than being taken apart piece by piece.



wakela

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Reply #23 on: November 10, 2009, 05:10:24 AM
Great, creepy, utterly hopeless story.  Also worked as a love story.  For some reason for me there is nothing more sweet and innocent than a packed lunch; they set off the horror, nicely.  They also highlighted the impotence of the husband.  That simple act was all he could do for her.  We don't even know if she enjoyed the lunches, but he did it anyway.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.  On one hand, the twist worked for me, but on the other hand it made the story more like a twilight zone episode, and I think the story was better than that.  I don't know how else I would have ended it, though.



goatkeeper

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Reply #24 on: November 12, 2009, 02:32:12 AM
Aw man, I listened to this on the way back from seeing a 10:30 showing of the Fourth Kind.  Literally not 15 minutes after seeing the movie. 
Now you can check me in the same loony bin as Alasdair.