Pseudopod 206: Flash on the Borderlands IV

[Jabari Woods]

I am so glad to have found pseudo and happy to begin following their podcasts. They always produce stunning content with well established writers. Voice, music, and plot are always intriguing to me. Very enjoyable start for this year.

[Unblinking]

Ah, so nice.  Yay.

Man, I would pay five dollars a month just to have Alasdair read random snippets off the Internet for a while.  He has such a soothing host voice.

Wasn't too thrilled with the stories overall.  Mostly in the "Okay" to "Good" range.  "A Natural" was cute but gimmicky (and predictable.  The only thing I didn't see coming was that it was his wife who he'd had to chop up.)  "Shadows' Bride" was intriguing but kind short and plotless.  "Is This a Horror Story" was heartfelt and a titch gruesome and probably my favorite of the three, though if we're going to talk about skin-crawling flash fiction about pedophiles, "Exit Exam, Section III: Survival Skills, Question #7" is one of the most goddamned horrifying things I've ever read or heard.

Is it unfair to compare PP to PP?

I wouldn't necessarily say plotless. I would say with the fact that it is flash fiction plot is really hard to come by at all. I think word choice and message is the importance behind flash fiction. Is This A Horror Story is good proof of that.

It is very possible (though difficult) to write flash fiction with a plot.  Lots of entries to the recent flash fiction contest, for instance. 

[ElectricPaladin]

Wow, did I ever miss Pseudopod. I even downloaded the opening theme music (BOOM BOOM bugata boom buga boom boom BOOM BOOM bugata boom buga boom boom...) and got all wistful every time it came on. Welcome back!

I'm also pleased with the reopening pieces. Some nice, subtle, creepy horror. Very good, solid stories. Especially the Brennan - I didn't know that she wrote horror and I was pleasantly surprised. Do you think it was meant to be a riff off Sleeping Beauty, or was that just me?

Anyway, welcome back!

[zoanon]

for me, act natural suffered from TMI.
there was no reason to have "that was before the gun shot" and no reason for the exposition at the end describing exactly what had happened, it was VERY obvious after the girl was in the closet that it was his wife that he had chopped.

is this a horror story, very creepy, very good.

[Marguerite]

Do you think it was meant to be a riff off Sleeping Beauty, or was that just me?

I hadn't thought of it that way before and I can see your point, but ... that doesn't ring true to me.  I read Sleeping Beauty as being more about the curse she's under and the struggle to wake her, whereas this flash story/poem seemed simultaneously focused on the entities of the dark and their goal of a child.  The bride is the vessel they use and practically inconsequential.

[Millenium_King]

Glad to see you guys back!

The Natural: I think I'll give this one just a shrug.  It's a pretty straightforward "killer vs. cop" story with a twist at the end.  Because the twist was due entirely to withheld information, I felt a little cheated - rather than impressed.  Narration was excellent though, the best narration of the three.

Shadow's Bride: This one was not for me.  Even as a prose poem, it felt vague.  I didn't get much of a sense of anything from it.

Is this a Horror Story?  This one was excellent.  Very powerful - landing with all the more force because it was true (probably?).  Great narration too.  This one definately leaves an aftertaste of dread and disquiet.

Again, glad to see PP back in action!

[The Far Stairs]

if we're going to talk about skin-crawling flash fiction about pedophiles, "Exit Exam, Section III: Survival Skills, Question #7" is one of the most goddamned horrifying things I've ever read or heard.

Thank you, Scattercat!! That story, and Al's reading of it, stands out as one of the best reading/listening experiences I've had in any genre in my short life. It's like a perfect little uncut jewel of dread. The most foul, raw, insane human perversions hidden in a cute little fuzzy costume. Hearing it makes you feel like you yourself are losing your mind. Plus, it raises a very, very, intensely relevant moral question. It's like a philosophical treatise which uses the horror genre to address the issue in a completely new and affecting way; it slips the issue past your safeguards and makes you feel like you're thinking about it for the first time. Like Emily Dickinson said, "Tell all the truth, but tell it slant." Oh, "Exit Exam, Section III: Survival Skills, Question #7!" Will I ever find another like you?

As for these stories, I liked "The Natural" okay. I mostly appreciated it for its tricky construction. "Shadow's Bride" was great. I'm a big fan of the context-less dreamy fable which allows you to invent your own story to go around it. I think Ben's comparison to Bradbury was right on. "Is This a Horror Story?" was very well done. My favorite thing about it was the way it lifted the idea of horror out of the realm of the "horror story" and pointed out that horror is something that actually happens to people. The image of the writer unable to think of any conceit that would match the horror of what he'd seen in real life was priceless.

The only thing that confused me was the last line: "If this is a horror story, is it one or two?" The meaning of that eluded me. Can anyone help?

[Millenium_King]

The only thing that confused me was the last line: "If this is a horror story, is it one or two?" The meaning of that eluded me. Can anyone help?

Here's how I took it:

The narrator finds himself asking: is what happened to me a horror story?  But worse, is what is represented by the pictures also a story with a horrific ending? ie. was the little girl molested? He will never know for sure.

[Scattercat]

The only thing that confused me was the last line: "If this is a horror story, is it one or two?" The meaning of that eluded me. Can anyone help?

Here's how I took it:

The narrator finds himself asking: is what happened to me a horror story?  But worse, is what is represented by the pictures also a story with a horrific ending? ie. was the little girl molested? He will never know for sure.

That was about how I read it; I think the policeman's offhand remark about "knowing" the name on the envelopes was meant to imply that he'd already seen the guy come through the system for similar crimes, which in turn implies that something horrific did happen that wasn't documented in those pictures.

[Sgarre1]

Yes, that's my take on the ending - is this just my horror story, or was it also a horror story for someone else?  That last line stayed in my mind since the mid-90s when I read the story and was the motivator for me to contact Scott Edelman about purchasing the story.

[Ben Phillips]

Alasdair's voice was so fantastic (well, it always is but -this time- with a new mic) and his intros/outros were ideal.

Actually the same mike, but different miking.  Long story.

[stePH]

Alasdair's voice was so fantastic (well, it always is but -this time- with a new mic) and his intros/outros were ideal.

Actually the same mike, but different miking.  Long story.

Whatever. I'm glad for the improvement, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

[Marguerite]

That story, and Al's reading of it, stands out as one of the best reading/listening experiences I've had in any genre in my short life. It's like a perfect little uncut jewel of dread. The most foul, raw, insane human perversions hidden in a cute little fuzzy costume. Hearing it makes you feel like you yourself are losing your mind. Plus, it raises a very, very, intensely relevant moral question. It's like a philosophical treatise which uses the horror genre to address the issue in a completely new and affecting way; it slips the issue past your safeguards and makes you feel like you're thinking about it for the first time.

*Points*  That, yes that.  Exactly that.  Perfectly said.

[kaliara]

I really liked "A Natural" though it wasn't quite as good on the second listen.  However, the last story was thoroughly disturbing, and not really in a good way.

[rotheche]

Whatever the new mic dealio is, it's paying off.  Alisdair's always had great things to say and great delivery, and now the audio quality matches that of the contents

'Is This a Horror Story'...man, that gave me chills.  Like others, it took me back to the Exit Exam story.  Jeez.

[Fenrix]

Nice collection of stories here.

Is this a first?  I'm relatively new to Pseudopod (first episode was "Bone Mother", #128) but I can't remember there being another episode with effects like this.

Off hand I can remember only one, another flash piece called "Scarecrow" (http://pseudopod.org/2008/08/15/flash-scarecrow/).

No wait, there was one other with minor effects, "Furnace Room Lullaby" (http://pseudopod.org/2008/10/24/pseudopod-113-furnace-room-lullaby/).

There's probably others.

Ah, musical fiction -- my only original conceptual contribution to EA.  It's always an experiment.  My favorite is actually one I had no hand in producing, "Rite of Atonement" by Melinda Selmys, scored and narrated by W. Ralph Walters a.k.a. The Zombie Astronaut.

My favorite is the Hellraiser-ish Secret Boxes.

Also Connecting Door has nice audio production in it without veering into radio theater.

One (re)request - any possibility to the flash pieces being made available individually? I often find myself wanting to share one of them, but not another, or knowing that one would NOT go down well with someone.

Yeah, I'd like to relisten to the middle one a bunch to try to get all the tidbits and nuggets it has to offer. And I would like to recommend along a different Borderland minus the poop demon baby story.

Regardless, thanks for what you do. I need to send off my annual Halloween check.

[The Far Stairs]

I loved "Secret Boxes"! Genuinely terrifying.