PC176: Middle Aged Weirdo in a Cadillac

[Unblinking]

This was a pretty fun story.  A bit fluffy, but fun. 

I liked that the girl did not turn out to be the predator too, have seen too many of those from writers trying to be clever.  And I'm glad the demon wasn't either.  And I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a story with a moral.  Life doesn't always follow morals, so neither should stories.

All in all, fun.

[Unblinking]

And what girl would really get into a Cadillac driven by a middle aged weirdo?

I am certain that some girls would.  In high school I went out of town to visit a friend in the city (yes the sprawling metropolis of Sioux Falls SD, but it is a city compared to Irene SD).  We went out with some of his high school classmates.  Among them was a large group of girls (at least a dozen) who would talk about how they made their money doing sexual favors for a 40-something bachelor who lived in their neighborhood.  These were fairly upscale suburban neighborhoods, and they were discussing this in a large group of friends as if it was no big deal. 

So, after that, it's pretty easy to believe this one.

[deflective]

and there was the ouroboros
it's why she was stayed at a party long after she should have left.  it's also why she got into the car and provoked a demon.  the ouroboros destroyed itself.

i never actually got the predator vibe from the girl.  dunno why not, looking back on it.  it might have been a case of not paying enough attention to the story but i suspect it was because of the intro and story title.  predator/victim twist stories overwhelmingly have an ambiguous title that's reinterpreted after you read it.

[LaShawn]

I read this in Strange Horizons, but listened to it because our own dear Norm Sherman narrated it. Very good choice. Vaguely creepy, but also most amusing.

[Fenrix]

I'm glad I don't own a car rental center!  Whew!

Imagine the car rental center at the hell mouth, like an airport center but so much worse. I'd love to hear a story about the poor clerk who has to deal with rentals and returns.

2. The biggest entrance to hell is in New Jersey? Are you kidding?! Everybody knows that it's in New York!

It was in New York, but because of traffic too many demons couldn't make it by dawn so they built a tunnel to it with the entrance in New Jersey.