Pseudopod 256: Repler

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 256: Repler

By Jonathan Lowe
Click his name to visit his website - Tower Review! His audio book review column for Myshelf.com, “Audio Buzz”, can be read at the link.

Read by John Meagher, who writes and narrates the ongoing swashbuckling fantasy audio series TALES OF THE LEFT HAND (link under his name - don’t tell your right hand!).

“‘Then, as he was about to ascend, he noticed the closed pantry door. Not wanting to, but feeling compelled, he paused to twist the knob and nudge the door open with his foot.

The shelves inside were lined with skulls. Canine and feline. Beneath a row of glasses were several stacks of torn magazines. Glossy photos of nude women. He kneeled almost involuntarily, reaching for a small skull among others. Practically indistinguishable, except by shape.

The skull of a baby.”



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[Fenrix]

I am king under the mountain and I sit on a pile of clean-picked skulls.

I wish I could be more positive. I liked the atmosphere, but I wasn't really grabbed by the story until he started the trips through the attic crawl space. The end left me a bit confused and wondering if I missed something.

I liked the concept of a nursemaid to a pack of Brown Jenkinses, but I must have missed something as it seemed to come out of nowhere.

[ElectricPaladin]

Definitely a creepy, atmospheric little story. Not very striking or memorable, but I definitely enjoyed it.

[Bdoomed]

I am king under the mountain and I sit on a pile of clean-picked skulls.

Yeah... sorry about that, I was really hungry and picked off all the leftover meat from those skulls.  I should have left you some tasty morsels to nom on.

[Scattercat]

Nothing wrong with a quick atmosphere piece.  I was expecting a bit more of an involved plot, what with all the build-up and sidetracking, but it's a pretty cool image regardless.

[yaksox]

I really quite liked this one. Had a nice turn of phrase to it. There was a real air of the realistic about it, maybe apart from all the bats in the coat at the end. A lot of the description inside the house and whatnot was the kind where I half wonder what pieces of it are first-hand experiences of the author's.

[Sgarre1]

Yes, the unrelenting reality and bleak grimness of the setting were what attracted me to this.  The bats in the coat, of course, are the small but crucial manifestation of the weird into the real world...

“It is the sheer ugliness and banality of everyday life which turns my blood to ice and makes me cringe in terror.”
Jean Lorrain, “The Possessed”

[Unblinking]

This one didn't do much for me.  I was intrigued by the end, but it ended before that went anywhere.  Up until that point I was expecting Repler to turn out to be imaginary because it had a very similar (though non-comedic feel) to the Merwin Remis story ran here not too long ago.  I guess I'm not a huge fan of atmosphere pieces.  *shrug*

He kneeled almost involuntarily, reaching for a small skull among others. Practically indistinguishable, except by shape.

This line bothered me as I was listening, trying to parse this.  Aren't all skulls practically indistinguishable, except by shape?  This is true if you are looking at an alligator skull next to a sparrow skull next to a human skull next to a hippopotamus skull.  They're all made of bone, so the shape has to be the distinguishing factor.  But the sentence seems to be trying really hard to tell me something novel, and I can't figure out what that is.  Anyway... probably not important, I just kept trying to figure it out.

[empathy44]

He kneeled almost involuntarily, reaching for a small skull among others. Practically indistinguishable, except by shape.

This line bothered me as I was listening, trying to parse this.  Aren't all skulls practically indistinguishable, except by shape?  This is true if you are looking at an alligator skull next to a sparrow skull next to a human skull next to a hippopotamus skull.  They're all made of bone, so the shape has to be the distinguishing factor.  But the sentence seems to be trying really hard to tell me something novel, and I can't figure out what that is.  Anyway... probably not important, I just kept trying to figure it out.

It's evocative, not just in it's content, but in the way it's meted out. I think it gives the sensation of something grabbing his attention visually. Since it's skulls on parade, you have the lingering feelings of disgust and worry informing your perceptions. You just know it can't be good. At the same time, by delaying the substance of the discovery I think it evokes a feeling of quick dread. I don't know about anyone else, but I immediately thought it was going to be a baby's skull. At the same time, I immediately started thinking about the possible sources for that skull, was it dead when it had been found? Basically, it caused me to check out a bit mentally in a way that was more suited to reading than spoken text.

[Unblinking]

He kneeled almost involuntarily, reaching for a small skull among others. Practically indistinguishable, except by shape.

This line bothered me as I was listening, trying to parse this.  Aren't all skulls practically indistinguishable, except by shape?  This is true if you are looking at an alligator skull next to a sparrow skull next to a human skull next to a hippopotamus skull.  They're all made of bone, so the shape has to be the distinguishing factor.  But the sentence seems to be trying really hard to tell me something novel, and I can't figure out what that is.  Anyway... probably not important, I just kept trying to figure it out.

It's evocative, not just in it's content, but in the way it's meted out. I think it gives the sensation of something grabbing his attention visually. Since it's skulls on parade, you have the lingering feelings of disgust and worry informing your perceptions. You just know it can't be good. At the same time, by delaying the substance of the discovery I think it evokes a feeling of quick dread. I don't know about anyone else, but I immediately thought it was going to be a baby's skull. At the same time, I immediately started thinking about the possible sources for that skull, was it dead when it had been found? Basically, it caused me to check out a bit mentally in a way that was more suited to reading than spoken text.

Good that it worked for you.  The first sentence is good.  The second one makes no sense to me, and throws me right out of the story immersion that I like to get into.  To me it kind of sounded like this:  "The square peg sat next to the round peg, the triangle peg, and the star-shaped peg.  It was practically indistinguishable, except by shape."  Well, yes, the shape is the primary defining characteristic, but these are not "practically indistinguishable".