Author Topic: Pseudopod 292: Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You  (Read 10334 times)

aesdweller

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Reply #25 on: August 14, 2012, 09:21:32 PM
Perhaps I simply have a warped sense of humor, but I thought Schow's story was funny (and yes, I'm disgusted by roaches). What I particularly enjoyed by the story, other than being entertained by the quirky narration, was the underlying message, at least the underlying message that I perceive.

It is this: you've got a curmudgeon-y Vietnam vet who has a really negative view of everyone and everything around him. And yet he, like everyone else in the story, is nothing but a product of the sort of depraved environment Schow has created. When the protagonist, at the end, hollers in the street like a mad man, it became clear to me that he was, like everyone else, crazy, especially crazy.

The ending, I thought, for the story was perfect. The cockroaches pouring out from his prosthetic leg was the perfect symbol to convey that he's no different than everyone else around him. Cockroaches, to humans, are all equally disgusting. They are homogenous in this regard. As were the characters (sort of) in Show's story.



Wizard of Gore

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Reply #26 on: August 16, 2012, 02:08:14 AM
After I listened to this at work, I went home and watched the last segment of Creepshow. As far as "gross" not being horror, is Creepshow not horror? I'm pretty sure gore plus roach zombies equals horror in any event, even if there is a healthy dose of Hobo With a Shotgun. Picture the usher walking around with the top of his head blown off spraying blood everywhere. Splatter is a subset of horror, like dubstep is a subset of electronic music.



Balu

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Reply #27 on: August 19, 2012, 12:52:22 AM
See also one of the quirks of human psychology when money gets involved, i.e. we drop out of our social-reciprocal mindset and got straight to maximizing returns (etc)

Top rant, Scattercat :)

I think you're right, and I'm reminded of why you don't get paid for giving blood in the UK. In another country (Canada?) they switched from paying nothing to paying a bit and the donors just vanished. It's like, when you introduce cash, you force people to start thinking along mercenary lines.

Anyway, fuck the old guard and their agents with the same empty bottle. The best stuff on here is always new anyway.



Bdoomed

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Reply #28 on: August 22, 2012, 06:18:57 AM
*shudder* I hate cockroaches. The idea of people puppeted by some evil cockroach hivemind is deeply disturbing.

Not so sure about the ending, but it is kind of funny. "Fuck it, it's too much, and I just can't care that much, it's not worth it."

I found the beginning of the story awesomely cinematic. I could really picture him brushing through the crowd, getting pushed, teased, hating everyone and everything, etc. Really powerful stuff there. :)

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Fenrix

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Reply #29 on: October 15, 2012, 10:24:25 PM
"I recognize terror as the finest emotion...and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find I cannot terrify him/her, I will try to horrify; and if I find I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud."

For me the real horror was not the bug gross-out, but the sense that all of this may very well be in his head. Could just be the production, but the radio bursts impressed in me that the protagonist was already receiving messages from inside his head. And like identified above, the screaming in the street reinforces this. Dude was nuts. I'd say bug-eating crazy, but that's unfortunately not appropriate for this story. Just imagine a crazy on that level. It's just as plausible that he's a LOT nuts as only a LITTLE nuts. And if that's the case, he just blew away two innocents in the movie theater.

I like it that you can take it either way. Good stuff.

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