Author Topic: Pseudopod 251: Yardwork  (Read 9228 times)

Bdoomed

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on: October 15, 2011, 05:36:54 PM
Pseudopod 251: Yardwork

By Bruce Blake.

Bruce also has a blog here. E-book versions of his works are online at Smashwords.

Read by Brian Rollins.

“Tim made a special trip to buy the shovel he used to bury the nameless man. It was easy: a lady in a blue vest helped him without a second thought. A fifteen-year-old buying a spade doesn’t raise concern; it’s not like purchasing a gun or machete, though a shovel could be as deadly. The shovel didn’t kill the man, Tim used it to bury the bits and pieces.

In the end, his father’s garden shears killed the nameless man.”




Listen to this week's Pseudopod.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2011, 07:00:58 AM by Bdoomed »

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Scattercat

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Reply #1 on: October 16, 2011, 04:45:34 AM
Well, that existed.

A little too close to straight-up splatterpunk for my taste.  I appreciate Pseudopod's dedication to variety, but I will never be a fan of stories that just go, "Hey, look, a serial killer killing people!"



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Reply #2 on: October 17, 2011, 05:37:23 AM
It was a pretty unpleasant story to sit through, but the read was spot-on, sounding like a very disturbed young man dealing with an abusive situation. Arrogant and confident.

Chilling but a pretty "messy" story.



Unblinking

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Reply #3 on: October 17, 2011, 01:43:29 PM
I listened to this one for a little while, but didn't really feel like finishing.  Serial killer stories have to have a little something extra to really hold my interest. 

There was nothing there to really establish tension for me.  We knew from the first scene that the nameless man was a goner, and I didn't feel any empathy toward any other character.  The only thing left unknown after that first scene is the details, and well I don't really care to learn the details in this case.

I figured that he would escalate and start offing his family members, but that kind of progression isn't something I enjoy, so I took a pass and I'll wait for next week's episode to get my Pseudopod fix.



Fenrix

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Reply #4 on: October 18, 2011, 02:03:41 PM
I think the ending was at a good point. Allowing us to fill in the mother's reaction to suit our needs, rather than present it all.

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


ElectricPaladin

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Reply #5 on: October 18, 2011, 03:06:59 PM
This story didn't strike me as enormously powerful or deep, and I don't think it was intended as such. It was a short, dirty, and brutal little piece of gross-out horror with a psychological angle. I enjoyed it about as well as I enjoy such things, which is to say that they are amusing diversions but don't add a lot to my life. No criticism intended - I liked it. It was gritty and awful and weird. Two severed thumbs up.

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Unblinking

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Reply #6 on: October 18, 2011, 04:25:25 PM
Two severed thumbs up.

But how do you get them to stay upright?  Silly Putty?



ElectricPaladin

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Reply #7 on: October 18, 2011, 04:31:43 PM
Two severed thumbs up.

But how do you get them to stay upright?  Silly Putty?

Greenstuff.

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Listener

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Reply #8 on: October 18, 2011, 08:25:04 PM
It was a short, dirty, and brutal little piece of gross-out horror with a psychological angle.

I wouldn't call it "short". Average-length, perhaps.

I think everyone knew where the story was going to go from the moment it began (or maybe that's just me... but then, I do watch Criminal Minds). The whole thing with the drifter felt forced, and it chewed up a big chunk of time, but I guess it was necessary. It did force the ending to be a little too quick, though; we got some revenge on Kyle, but by the time Tim killed his father, most of it happened off-screen anyway.

Kyle's casual brutality, though (the bottle scene, et al), is (to me) the worst part of the whole thing. Here's a kid who, despite being a chip off the old block, is still sometimes beaten by his father, although not to the extent Tim is. And Kyle is only a year younger. Having never been in a situation like this, I don't know what I'd do, but it annoyed me on some level that Kyle was just a carbon-copy of his dad. I don't want to open a huge can of worms here, but I idly wonder if Tim could've been saved if Kyle had simply been on his side.

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ElectricPaladin

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Reply #9 on: October 18, 2011, 08:28:05 PM
It was a short, dirty, and brutal little piece of gross-out horror with a psychological angle.

I wouldn't call it "short". Average-length, perhaps.

I think everyone knew where the story was going to go from the moment it began (or maybe that's just me... but then, I do watch Criminal Minds). The whole thing with the drifter felt forced, and it chewed up a big chunk of time, but I guess it was necessary. It did force the ending to be a little too quick, though; we got some revenge on Kyle, but by the time Tim killed his father, most of it happened off-screen anyway.

Kyle's casual brutality, though (the bottle scene, et al), is (to me) the worst part of the whole thing. Here's a kid who, despite being a chip off the old block, is still sometimes beaten by his father, although not to the extent Tim is. And Kyle is only a year younger. Having never been in a situation like this, I don't know what I'd do, but it annoyed me on some level that Kyle was just a carbon-copy of his dad. I don't want to open a huge can of worms here, but I idly wonder if Tim could've been saved if Kyle had simply been on his side.

Yes.

There is evidence that it can take just a single ally to introduce a huge degree of resiliency (the psychological term that means "ability to eventually recover from f%*<ked up shit") into a person's life.

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Reply #10 on: October 19, 2011, 01:34:49 PM
I think everyone knew where the story was going to go from the moment it began (or maybe that's just me... but then, I do watch Criminal Minds).

The story told you pretty much directly where it was going. Before we met the drifter, we followed the boy as he was going to buy a spade for disposal of a nameless corpse.  So at some point before that, there had to a nameless living person that met his end.  In the scene after that the nameless drifter shows up, so there was no mystery that he was a goner from the time he stepped onscreen.



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Reply #11 on: October 19, 2011, 02:25:02 PM
I think everyone knew where the story was going to go from the moment it began (or maybe that's just me... but then, I do watch Criminal Minds).

The story told you pretty much directly where it was going. Before we met the drifter, we followed the boy as he was going to buy a spade for disposal of a nameless corpse.  So at some point before that, there had to a nameless living person that met his end.  In the scene after that the nameless drifter shows up, so there was no mystery that he was a goner from the time he stepped onscreen.


There were opportunities for side trails - there was a chance that in purchasing the shovel he was assisting his father. I entertained that possibility for a bit.

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


blueeyeddevil

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Reply #12 on: October 20, 2011, 03:36:39 PM
Mmmmmm....

I'm not on board with the 'he could have been turned away from the dark side' vibe I'm getting in the comments.

The kid was already a sociopath. He had two of the unholy trinity (animal abuse, arson, and bet-wetting) found to be nearly universal in serial killers. There was no journey to the dark side here, no chance that he could turn around. There was, indeed, something broken in this person, but it wasn't something broken by the events of his life. Current studies indicate that true sociopathy and psychopathy are proclivity found in brain structure, it may take certain things to activate them, or it may not.
Conflicted people don't find intruders in outbuildings and immediately, and without hesitation, go to imprisonment and torture for courses of action.

The story certainly did not 'turn the camera away' from the action when it got gruesome. I don't attribute this to bravery so much as narrative clumsiness. The language was rather clunky in the story.



ElectricPaladin

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Reply #13 on: October 20, 2011, 03:40:40 PM
Mmmmmm....

I'm not on board with the 'he could have been turned away from the dark side' vibe I'm getting in the comments.

The kid was already a sociopath. He had two of the unholy trinity (animal abuse, arson, and bet-wetting) found to be nearly universal in serial killers. There was no journey to the dark side here, no chance that he could turn around. There was, indeed, something broken in this person, but it wasn't something broken by the events of his life. Current studies indicate that true sociopathy and psychopathy are proclivity found in brain structure, it may take certain things to activate them, or it may not.
Conflicted people don't find intruders in outbuildings and immediately, and without hesitation, go to imprisonment and torture for courses of action.

The story certainly did not 'turn the camera away' from the action when it got gruesome. I don't attribute this to bravery so much as narrative clumsiness. The language was rather clunky in the story.

Ah, but there's a difference between "sociopath who expresses himself socially" and "sociopath who expresses himself violently." For that matter, there's a difference between "untreated and/or untreatable sociopath" and "sociopath who can be taught to value some lives and still become a productive member of society."

Also, brain structures are influenced by experience, blurring the line between organic disorders and organic disorders acquired through life events. It may be possible to be sad so long - for totally understandable reasons - that you become depressed. The same may be true for abuse and sociopathy. So thbthbthbt. :P

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Reply #14 on: October 21, 2011, 03:44:53 AM
Maybe it was just me, but I kept expecting to find out that the dad had brought the drifter home for the son, and that they were a family of serial killers.

Maybe I've just seen too much Dexter. :)

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ElectricPaladin

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Reply #15 on: October 21, 2011, 05:11:08 AM
Maybe it was just me, but I kept expecting to find out that the dad had brought the drifter home for the son, and that they were a family of serial killers.

Maybe I've just seen too much Dexter. :)

I expected that, too, at some point. I've never seen any Dexter...

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blueeyeddevil

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Reply #16 on: October 21, 2011, 12:03:52 PM

Ah, but there's a difference between "sociopath who expresses himself socially" and "sociopath who expresses himself violently." For that matter, there's a difference between "untreated and/or untreatable sociopath" and "sociopath who can be taught to value some lives and still become a productive member of society."

Also, brain structures are influenced by experience, blurring the line between organic disorders and organic disorders acquired through life events. It may be possible to be sad so long - for totally understandable reasons - that you become depressed. The same may be true for abuse and sociopathy. So thbthbthbt. :P

First, this kid is already killing and dismembering large animals; the "sociopath who expresses himself socially" boat has already sailed, fought through pirates, lost half its crew to scurvy, lost half of the remaining crew to syphilis, and has dropped its cargo in a distant port.

Second, 'thbthbthbt'? Really?
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« Last Edit: October 21, 2011, 12:17:15 PM by blueeyeddevil »



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Reply #17 on: October 25, 2011, 02:24:59 AM
For that matter, there's a difference between "untreated and/or untreatable sociopath"
Norman Bates
and "sociopath who can be taught to value some lives and still become a productive member of society."
Dexter

Serial killers are so funny. They've become like mythic figures in our culture, even though we know so little about what it's really like inside their heads. It's like the heroes and monsters of the old legends got combined into one person, and the classic good/evil struggle is going on inside them. I wonder if we're fascinated by them because they're alien, or because they're a little too familiar?

To me, the interesting thing about this story was the lack of any sense of morality. A lot of serial killer stories imply that the sociopath antihero is opening some kind of Pandora's box of forbidden knowledge and power, but that the price will be the loss of his humanity. This one didn't seem to have that moral framework going on. It did seem like the protagonist was lost from the start, but there wasn't even any judgment of his actions. It was like the reader was being invited to participate in his demented world and get off on the same things he did. Maybe that's why a lot of listeners found the experience uncomfortable and unpleasant. I can't say I really enjoyed it either, but it was interesting to read something so weirdly vacant. I haven't read much Splatterpunk, so maybe it's all like that.

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Reply #18 on: November 01, 2011, 08:33:23 PM
I really liked this episode.  I'm in the camp that empathizes with the kid, and I think that's what makes it a good horror story (as Al said).  Yes, the murder is gross, but that isn't really the point, and it's thankfully not as splattery as it could have been.  The most horrifying thing in the story is Tim's home life, and the scary part is that (ironically due to empathy) I can see where he's coming from.  Obviously becoming a serial killer is not a reasonable answer, but given Tim's predilections, you can see how he kind of needs it.  He has no other outlet for his anger, and more importantly, for his powerlessness.  That homeless guy learned Tim wasn't powerless, goddamnit, and then his brother and dad learn their lessons too.  I didn't see it purely as revenge, more as Tim seizing power back that had been taken from him.  The fact, as mentioned above, that the story passes no moral judgments is what made this one work for me.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you watch Fringe?  This story reminded me of "One Night in October", the one with the two alternate universe versions of the serial killer/psychology professor.  It's the best episode this season by far, so maybe that gives me a better impression of this story, but I'm wondering if anyone else had that mental connection?



Marlboro

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Reply #19 on: December 19, 2019, 04:29:26 PM
Is there something wrong with this episode? I can hear the host's intro and outro but the story itself seems to be absent.



Fenrix

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Reply #20 on: December 20, 2019, 12:07:02 AM

Is there something wrong with this episode? I can hear the host's intro and outro but the story itself seems to be absent.


Playing it straight from the website worked for me.

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


Marlboro

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Reply #21 on: December 20, 2019, 12:25:54 AM

Is there something wrong with this episode? I can hear the host's intro and outro but the story itself seems to be absent.


Playing it straight from the website worked for me.


Hmmm...I tried that and all I'm getting is static for the story portion. Intro plays fine.


Edited to add: if I listen closely I can hear the narrator, but it is buried under a ton of static.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2019, 01:01:47 AM by Marlboro »



Marlboro

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Reply #22 on: December 20, 2019, 03:45:02 PM
One last update: It sounds fine on my PC.  The story portion still sounds insanely garbled on my Kindle (both downloaded and directly from the site) and also on my father's cellphone. Very strange.



Bdoomed

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Reply #23 on: January 22, 2020, 04:37:41 AM
Works for me on the website at least...

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Marlboro

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Reply #24 on: January 22, 2020, 02:02:23 PM
Try it on your phone or a Kindle if you have one handy. This and Riding Atlas were the only two stories that I found that had this issue. I think previous posters in the Riding Atlas thread mentioned having similar problems.