Author Topic: Pseudopod 411: Flash On The Borderlands XXIII: Grief  (Read 3495 times)

Bdoomed

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on: November 10, 2014, 05:23:36 AM
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” – C.S. Lewis



Poor Me and Ted” by Kate Jonez.

“Poor Me, and Ted” first appeared in ATTIC TOYS an anthology published by Evil Jester Press and edited by Jeremy C. Shipp. “Every day we go about our lives navigating through crowds on busy city streets, riding buses or trains filled with strangers. Most of the time, individuals barely register in the sea of humanity. We don’t know, or perhaps even care, what lurks in the mind of nondescript passers-by. We should care.”

KATE JONEZ is a student of all things scary and when she isn’t writing she loves to collect objects for her cabinet of curiosities, research obscure and strange historical figures and photograph weirdness in Southern California where she lives with a very nice man and a little dog who is also very nice but could behave a little bit better. She writes dark fantasy fiction. Ceremony of Flies published by DarkFuse is available in limited edition hardcover and ebook. Her Bram Stoker Award nominated novel Candy House is available at Amazon in print and ebook. She is also chief editor at Omnium Gatherum, a small press dedicated to publishing unique dark fantasy, weird fiction or literary dark fiction in print & ebook. Three Omnium Gatherum books have been nominated for Shirley Jackson Awards.

Your reader – Tatiana Gomberg – is a New York City based actress and audiobook narrator. She has performed Off and Off-Off Broadway as well as regionally and internationally. Her work in The Night of Nosferatu garnered her an NYIT award nomination for Best Featured Actress and her portrayal of a drone pilot in Hummingbirds earned her a Best Actress Nomination through the Planet Connections Awards. She also played leads in two seasons of classics at Theatre 1010 and toured the United States with TheatreworksUSA. You can hear her narration work on audible.com, tv, radio, and numerous podcasts. She blogs at TatianaGomberg.com.

“Glory, Glory, Glory. That’s about the stupidest name you can give a person like me. But my mom had high hopes like lots of hard-working folks do. They use fancy names like they’re magic spells. As if naming a kid could somehow make it better than it really is. I don’t go in for that kind of crap. I named my kid John. Simple. John.

‘I know that mess is up here somewhere, Ted. I know it is.'”



The Beachcomber “ by L.R. Bonehill.

“The Beachcomber” was originally published in May 2013 by Dark Fuse at Horror D’oeuvres. “It is one of those rare stories that came to me more or less fully formed after spotting a strange, slightly disturbing figure ambling across a rain-soaked beach in Wales. There was no way I wanted to talk to this odd man, but, from a safe distance, I wanted to know what clacked and rattled inside his bag. He’s still out there somewhere, I’m sure. So, like all Pseudopod stories, this one is most definitely true.”

L.R. BONEHILL is a writer from the dark heart of England. His work has appeared in various haunts including Hint Fiction, Fifty-Two Stitches, This is Horror, and Cast Macabre. He is lucky enough to have been published alongside some of his literary heroes including Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Braunbeck, and Peter Straub. This never ceases to make him smile. He blogs at Bonehill’s Boneyard. His latest tale of woe can be found in an upcoming DARKFUSE anthology.

Your reader – John Michnya – is an actor, illustrator, and screen printer living in Pittsburgh PA.

“All that came back from the cold sea was Little Rosie-Cheeks. Washed ashore one late afternoon as rain whipped down from a slate-grey sky and a rough wind snapped across the beach. Face down in a rock pool, stranded in shallow water and silt. Red cheeks washed pale, white dress smeared with grime the colour of tobacco. A deep gouge cut across her forehead, the seams flecked with grit.

David held the doll now as he walked along the quiet beach. Held it by the hand as if it were a child at his side. It bumped and knocked against his leg as a litter of shells crunched underfoot. Water leaked through a split in the bottom of one shoe. He could taste salt in the breeze, the tang of brine on his tongue.”




Sanctuary” by Steve Calvert

“Sanctuary” makes its first appearance on Pseudopod. “‘Sanctuary’ began as a story about fear, and how it can sometimes feed on itself and grow stronger. Later I realized it was also a story about prisons and how—sometimes—the worst prisons are the ones we build in our minds.”

STEVE CALVERT (usually) lives in the UK. He usually writes horror fiction, but occasionally writes in other genres. His fiction has been published in Arkham Tales, Hub, and Necrotic Tissue. You can learn more about Steve at his website and further slices of his fiction can be read in his horror anthology Written in Blood, which is available in the Amazon Kindle store.

Your reader – Roberto Suarez – is a proud supporter and periodic narrator for all Escape Artists productions. He co-hosts of “A Pod of Casts”, the Game of Thrones Podcast! His blog can be found here.

“Raoul had been sleeping. He did not know what had awakened him. Perhaps his body had grown tired of sleep. Raoul slept a lot–too much–
but his hiding place was small and dark, so there was nothing else for him to do.”




Interstitial music is “Fearless Bleeder” by Chimpy, available from Music Alley.



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?


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Reply #1 on: November 11, 2014, 04:35:19 PM
Wow, this episode was heavy, to say the least.

Poor Me and Ted
Felt very real.  I could see this as a biography.  I figured by the way she was phrasing things that Ted wasn't a person.  I didn't until just this very moment realize it's a teddy bear--duh, the name is right there, man.  I had been wondering why she could take a cat/dog/ferret/whatever on the train.  So it's a teddy bear bomb?  And she gives it a kid?  Yikes.  I can't say I love a story where a grieving mother blows up a train and purposefully puts a child at the epicenter of the explosion, but it felt real anyway.

The Beachcomber
When in the depths of grief, I can understand wanting to give it away, just anything to make the pain stop.  I was expecting him to go home numb so the extra turn of the suicide took me by surprise.  Though it also seemed to kind of undermine the giving away of the grief because if he gave it away, why does he commit suicide?  Or does that mean that, like love, giving it away does not diminish it?  Or something.

Sanctuary
I felt bad for the poor kid, though I figured from the first paragraph or two that he was just a ghost now.  I think the story would've hit harder if I hadn't realized he was dead already, but that's a particular twist I watch for these days.



Dwango

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Reply #2 on: November 19, 2014, 09:03:07 PM
On the Beachcomber, I don't think you really can give away your grief.  The suicide was him avoiding the grief he felt and not dealing with it.  There is always a price.