Author Topic: Pseudopod 024: Honest Ghosts  (Read 13513 times)

Bdoomed

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on: February 10, 2007, 12:23:17 AM
Pseudopod 024: Honest Ghosts


By Stephen Dedman
Read by Ben Phillips

“I thought that having the name would be enough - I remember you saying that we remember the Ripper and the Boston Strangler and Zodiac because they had cool names, while almost nobody remembers John Haigh or George Smith or Jerry Brudos. I wrote to the police and the papers, but I don’t think they’ve taken me seriously… but if you were to write a letter, it’d be different. You’re a writer, you know how it should be done, what it should say.”


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?


Russell Nash

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Reply #1 on: February 10, 2007, 04:01:39 PM
I don't have those kinds of fans :-[



Gary

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Reply #2 on: February 12, 2007, 10:22:52 PM
"Fan Mail".  - Nice! 
Got to be one of the best "final twist, ending sentences" EVER!!!!

Oh... and I really liked the rest of the story as well.  ;D
Nice build up, nice delivery.



Jonathan C. Gillespie

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Reply #3 on: February 12, 2007, 11:01:57 PM
This was great.  Really, honestly, great.  That's how you do an effective twist ending -- I don't think anyone saw that coming.

And the narrator did a great job, too!

Published genre fiction author with stories in print and upcoming.

Official site: http://jonathancg.net/ | Twitter: JCGAuthor | Facebook


Bdoomed

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Reply #4 on: February 12, 2007, 11:35:50 PM
im still kinda lost on the twist ending... can someone explain it to me?  i usually dont get lost on these kinds of things but im really not gettin this one.

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


Ken

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Reply #5 on: February 13, 2007, 12:55:44 PM
Great story!  Great ending!  Even the clever title sucks you in.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #6 on: February 15, 2007, 01:37:17 PM
im still kinda lost on the twist ending... can someone explain it to me?  i usually dont get lost on these kinds of things but im really not gettin this one.

Ok, so the scene opens with the ghost writer hitting on some young goth girl, but she blows him off. At the end of the story he really was getting contacted by all those psychos, and wannabe psychos and one of them saw the girl blow him off. As a kind gesture, the psycho kidnapped the goth girl and tied her up in the writer’s room, leaving her as a "gift" or piece of fan mail.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Elthiar

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Reply #7 on: February 16, 2007, 06:53:34 AM
I loved the ending.

They are able because they believe they are able.


wakela

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Reply #8 on: February 23, 2007, 08:50:33 AM
Mr. Cynical is back.  I knew this guy was a reporter and a cop, but an author, too?  I'm surprised he has the time what with all the sitting in bars smoking, drinking whiskey,and telling his life story.  He didn't complain about his ex-wife in this one (it's not her fault, really, he just has a hard time with relationships) , so maybe that's giving him a few more minutes in the day.  But he would have to be pretty effing cynical to not call the cops when a serial killer makes contact with him! 

The dialogue-within-dialogue was kind of awkward.  "'What?', I said," he said.

On a personal note, I'm from New Orleans, so when we find out the convention is there I was hoping for some old skool French Quarter ghosty action.

The description of his Hollywood experience was a little cliche.

But it was a cool idea, and I did not see the ending coming.  It's refreshing to have a horror story that does not involve the supernatural.




Monty Grue

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Reply #9 on: February 23, 2007, 06:47:55 PM
Out of the four Dedmen stories read in Pseudopod, I think this one had the strongest impact, especially with the zinger of an ending, though all of them have been pretty good.  I purchased his story collection Never Seen By Walking Eyes afterwards.



DKT

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Reply #10 on: February 23, 2007, 09:18:27 PM
Have you read it yet?  I've enjoyed the stuff by him Escape Pod, too (A Single Shadow and Depth of Field).  This one's grown a lot on me, too.  I see he's got a couple of novels out and would be curious about those as well. 

Then I think about my Reading Pile *coughbookshelfcough* at home. 
« Last Edit: February 23, 2007, 09:20:02 PM by DKT »



Monty Grue

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Reply #11 on: March 01, 2007, 09:30:40 PM
Then I think about my Reading Pile *coughbookshelfcough* at home. 

A reading pile that doesn't consider an apocalypse as a possibility is the work of an amateur.  Pile the books on.   :)


I'm only half way through the Dedman collection, but there are a few stories I suspect could make it Pseudopod someday.



Bdoomed

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Reply #12 on: March 12, 2007, 02:47:51 AM
im still kinda lost on the twist ending... can someone explain it to me?  i usually dont get lost on these kinds of things but im really not gettin this one.

Ok, so the scene opens with the ghost writer hitting on some young goth girl, but she blows him off. At the end of the story he really was getting contacted by all those psychos, and wannabe psychos and one of them saw the girl blow him off. As a kind gesture, the psycho kidnapped the goth girl and tied her up in the writer’s room, leaving her as a "gift" or piece of fan mail.
oooooooh hah now i feel dumb. thanks for the explanation!

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


Grim Gnome

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Reply #13 on: April 15, 2007, 07:39:29 PM
Yup, really liked this one in spite of a prejudice I had against it initially. (Just about had my fill of stories about writers, movies about film-makers, -- like shying away from Tequila after getting sick on it, I'm a recovering postmodernist who gets a bit queasy with even the smell of self-referentiality.) I loved the tone of the story, the gentle repartee even though I agree with wakela that some of the specific dialogue creaked a bit.  I liked the suggestion that serial killers are publicity obsessed, slightly pathetic dorks looking for their 15 minutes of fame and willing to pay for it. And the zinger was VERY nice and cleanly presented. I've gotta admire a story that gets in, takes care of bidniz and leaves with a flourish.  I gotta track down other stories by this guy.



Unblinking

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Reply #14 on: September 14, 2009, 08:09:14 PM
The body of the story was reasonably good, but the ending really made it. :)



kibitzer

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Reply #15 on: September 21, 2009, 03:22:32 AM
Loved the idea, loved the ending.


Kira

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Reply #16 on: September 27, 2009, 02:00:05 AM
my favourite, out of all the episodes



Millenium_King

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Reply #17 on: August 19, 2010, 10:12:04 PM
I really liked this one!  Very strong.  Great concept.  Easy to follow and an absolutely wonderful ending.  Very twisted.  However, I have a hard and fast rule against stories about writers, so I won't put this in the top 10.  I wonder also, being a writer myself, if I only got as much of a kick out of this one because I could relate so much to the struggles of writing.  Ergo, I cannot honestly say someone else would like it as much.

Visit my blog atop the black ziggurat of Ankor Sabat, including my list of Top 10 Pseudopod episodes.


Fenrix

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Reply #18 on: August 20, 2010, 07:43:02 PM
I really liked this one!  Very strong.  Great concept.  Easy to follow and an absolutely wonderful ending.  Very twisted.  However, I have a hard and fast rule against stories about writers, so I won't put this in the top 10.  I wonder also, being a writer myself, if I only got as much of a kick out of this one because I could relate so much to the struggles of writing.  Ergo, I cannot honestly say someone else would like it as much.

I respect the rule against characters who are writers. However, as a consumer, I will share that I enjoeyd the story. However, it was the ending that secured it for me.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”