Author Topic: Pseudopod 258: The Stink of Animosity  (Read 8477 times)

Bdoomed

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on: December 02, 2011, 08:08:24 PM
Pseudopod 258: The Stink of Animosity

By Rob E. Boley
Rob would like you to visit Mission: Wolf and learn about wolf conservation.

Read by Rish Outfield, say it with me…Dunesteef!

“‘“So, what did she do?”

These are the first words the stranger says to you as he takes the bar stool on your right. The hotel lounge has at least two-dozen seats scattered between the bar and four tables, and only half of those seats are filled. Yet he sits next to you. His voice is almost a growl – all gravel and broken glass – too ragged for someone his age.

Judging from his unblemished skin, you guess the stranger is no more than nineteen or twenty. You search your memories, wondering if he’s one of your students at the college. But no, you would remember him. He’s got an unkempt, patchy beard and dirty, long hair. Everything about him says wannabe hippie or beatnik: his worn boots, his thrift store brown leather jacket, and his dirty grey t-shirt. His eyes are wild, like he’s been chewing on a handful of random pills.

“Who? What are you talking about?” you ask, trying to sound abrupt but not aggressive. You’re not looking for a fight. At least, not with him.

“You got the stink of animosity on you, is all. I can smell it; it’s so strong. It’s not hard to see that you’re pissed at someone.””




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?


Unblinking

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Reply #1 on: December 05, 2011, 02:45:59 PM
I liked this reasonably well, although the 2nd person narration was (as pretty much always) nothing but a distraction.  I like how it wasn't immediately clear that the other man was a werewolf, and the reveal that he isn't there quite for what he claimed.

Any thoughts on why the werewolf bothered approaching him before starting the hunt?  I'm thinking that perhaps the wife contracted him that way.  She wanted to make sure the bastard really deserved it, and so she wanted to make sure that he would arrange a hit against her with little provocation if the opportunity arose. 

So, was there any point of the panties exchange? Maybe she just realized he'd swiped her undies, and this was a very roundabout way to get her knickers back.  (hell, maybe she really liked those skivvies, to the point that she hired the werewolf primarily to retrieve them)



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Reply #2 on: December 06, 2011, 03:56:22 AM
So, was there any point of the panties exchange? Maybe she just realized he'd swiped her undies, and this was a very roundabout way to get her knickers back.  (hell, maybe she really liked those skivvies, to the point that she hired the werewolf primarily to retrieve them)

Brenton is double-dipping.  He was probably already going to kill and eat Andrea (or maybe already did), and this is just a way to get more money/play with his food first.



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Reply #3 on: December 06, 2011, 02:51:36 PM
So, was there any point of the panties exchange? Maybe she just realized he'd swiped her undies, and this was a very roundabout way to get her knickers back.  (hell, maybe she really liked those skivvies, to the point that she hired the werewolf primarily to retrieve them)

Brenton is double-dipping.  He was probably already going to kill and eat Andrea (or maybe already did), and this is just a way to get more money/play with his food first.

That makes sense.



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Reply #4 on: December 06, 2011, 04:21:43 PM
I'm not a big fan of second person stories, it seems like they are most common in the horror genre, and I don't think it is needed to pull the reader into the store.  That said, I really enjoyed this story.  The whole thing gave a great sense of "being there", I could practically feel Brenton's hairs against my face when he got in close to the narrator.  I did feel that when the handkerchief with his initials was recognized that the story could have ended, or at least stop with the flashbacks, but I liked the savagery of Brenton not waiting for his prey to be dead before eating him - it really drove home the point about how foolish it was to trust him in the first place.



Kaa

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Reply #5 on: December 09, 2011, 06:16:15 PM
I'm also not a fan of second person, but this one worked for me. The structure of the reverse-flashbacks coupled with the dawning realization that Brenton had another purpose.

Really enjoyed it.

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yaksox

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Reply #6 on: December 10, 2011, 01:06:13 PM
I really liked this one. There was a lot of familiarity about it but it pretty much managed to avoid cliche.
The character of Brenton shaped itself really well.
I was lolin' at the line, "Honestly who names a kid Randy? Randy Anderson."


Is it Graham who has the thankless task of audio production? If so, thanks. It's the kind of thing where people only ever notice it when there are problems, and never when things are fine. It sounded like this one might've been fixed up to be barely noticeable.



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Reply #7 on: December 10, 2011, 04:56:19 PM
So, was there any point of the panties exchange? Maybe she just realized he'd swiped her undies, and this was a very roundabout way to get her knickers back.  (hell, maybe she really liked those skivvies, to the point that she hired the werewolf primarily to retrieve them)

Brenton is double-dipping.  He was probably already going to kill and eat Andrea (or maybe already did), and this is just a way to get more money/play with his food first.

Ooooh,  I never thought of that. My own naivete presents Brenton as more honorable than that.  Given this realization and the way Brenton acted... Double Dipping is exactly what Brenton would do.  Or as Unblinking more pithily put it:  That makes sense.

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Reply #8 on: December 12, 2011, 02:32:29 AM
Great narration, not to mention great casting. Rish was the perfect guy to read this story.

Are there other stories out there about werewolf hitmen? If not, this one gets double points for a great concept. As soon as I thought about it, it made perfect sense; if I were a werewolf, that's exactly what I would do. Either that or I'd only kill bad people: some real Batman-style vigilante justice. Well, more Dexter-style, I guess. Batman doesn't kill people. I've just been playing so much Arkham City that I see Batman everywhere.

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kibitzer

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Reply #9 on: December 12, 2011, 02:56:07 AM
Is it Graham who has the thankless task of audio production? If so, thanks. It's the kind of thing where people only ever notice it when there are problems, and never when things are fine. It sounded like this one might've been fixed up to be barely noticeable.

Yup, that's me. Thanks!


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Reply #10 on: December 13, 2011, 04:46:25 AM
Are there other stories out there about werewolf hitmen?

I don't know about any specifically intended as hitmen, but I've read/seen any number of werewolf stories in which the werewolf gets the idea to use him/herself as a sort of living weapon by making sure he/she is near those he/she wants to see dead when he/she wolfs out.  Heck, even the Dresden Files series used that as a red herring.

---

I hadn't actually said so before, but I liked this one.  I could come up with some minor nitpicks (especially the internal justification for continuing to speak to Brenton, which seemed like the weakest point in the story), but nothing was a deal-breaker, and Brenton was a really entertaining character.



kibitzer

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Reply #11 on: December 14, 2011, 01:55:44 AM
Are there other stories out there about werewolf hitmen?

There's a Robert R McCammon one about a secret agent that's a werewolf called "The Wolf's Hour". I quite enjoyed it -- it's basically James Bond as a werewolf but nicely done. --> on Amazon
« Last Edit: December 14, 2011, 02:04:16 AM by kibitzer »



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Reply #12 on: December 15, 2011, 05:56:03 PM
Excellent, thanks.

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Listener

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Reply #13 on: December 15, 2011, 06:05:11 PM
Are there other stories out there about werewolf hitmen?

I don't know about any specifically intended as hitmen, but I've read/seen any number of werewolf stories in which the werewolf gets the idea to use him/herself as a sort of living weapon by making sure he/she is near those he/she wants to see dead when he/she wolfs out.  Heck, even the Dresden Files series used that as a red herring.



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Reply #14 on: December 21, 2011, 02:30:56 PM
(I just had to.)

Haha!  I had seen the Red Herring character years before I understood what a red herring was supposed to mean.  I always think of the character first when I hear it.  :)



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Reply #15 on: December 22, 2011, 08:53:37 PM
I'm not unhappy that I managed to completely miss that cartoon. I'll take my Scoobies as adults, thank you.

On topic: The part of the story I enjoyed most was the dawning realization of the double betrayal followed by the revelation of all the lies in the sales pitch.


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Reply #16 on: January 08, 2012, 05:21:45 AM
I do love a good wearwolf story, but this one is almost predictable and I didn't feel any affinity to the character. I'm not a middle aged man who is being left for another though. It is well written thoug and the twist at the end was foreshadowed breifly and not expected.



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Reply #17 on: January 09, 2012, 05:33:25 AM
The structure of the reverse-flashbacks coupled with the dawning realization that Brenton had another purpose.
Really enjoyed it.

I liked that the funeral in the flashbacks turned out to ultimately be irrelevant. For a while I was thinking his son was dead, or maybe even his wife's new lover. I also enjoy the possibility that the werewolf hit man IS his wife's new lover; his description and one appearance is vague enough to be a possibility.

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Reply #18 on: January 10, 2012, 04:04:18 PM
I'm not a middle aged man who is being left for another though.

Or are you?  This story says otherwise, and who am I going to believe, you or a story?   Okay, fine, I'll believe you.