Pseudopod 433: 20 Simple Steps To Ventriloquism

[dixbam]

This is a tremendous story, tremendously read. It is terrifying. Thank you so much for sharing it.

[Jon Padgett]

Many thanks to all of you for listening (and responding) to "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism."  It was a beast to write, but I'm finally satisfied with it and am gratified that listeners/readers have consumed the thing and--for the most part--enjoyed it.

As a writer who has written almost completely in private for decades and whose work was previously seen by only a handful of people, this thread has been immensely invigorating and encouraging.  Again, my deepest thanks to you all.

[Chairman Goodchild]

My insomnia has been flaring-up recently and this recording hasn't aided in my quest for slumber. I forgot just how unsettling this story is.

I've been very pleased with the stories that Pseudopod has been airing as of late, and some of them have been completely excellent and hit the top of the bar.  This is definitely one of them. 
I have to admit that I wasn't the fastest catching on at first to the fact that the static was intentional in this episode.  It took a bit to sink in.  Anyway, great job on the vocal work.  And, I have to confess, I don't know who the slush reader is for Pseudopod, but that person has been gathering some gems. 

I don't know what to say about this episode that hasn't been said before, but there's a great sense of progression here from the mundane to the terrifying, told in simple steps.  And it's very well constructed, and that's part of its brilliance to me.  It's hard to point out the exact moment that the story steps out onto the void.  Certainly, step 8 (I believe) was the breaking point, but the story still seems grounded past that point as a natural progression of what came before, and combining that with the foreshadowing in steps 1-7 really blurs the the boundaries quite well. 

A very well constructed story, read with great skill and with top-notch production values.  This is already going to be on my shortlist for voting for year's best. 

[Sgarre1]

And, I have to confess, I don't know who the slush reader is for Pseudopod, but that person has been gathering some gems.

Actually, there are 7 slushers filtering out fictional "pure water" to my "read" box and they are some of the hardest working people I know (while all genres have their specific "painful failings", one might reasonably expect that - given its general subject matter - the "painful failings" of submissions in the horror genre are more likely to be cumulatively deleterious to the slush reader).

We have a rather kooky system in place for assigning slush involving the alphabet, so while I can't be *exactly* sure who passed it through to me, odds are likely that the fact that the title starts with a numeral (see, kooky, like I said...) means it was Joe Fitzpatrick who deserves the accolades.

Glad you liked it - this Friday shifts things around again to different types of/approaches to horror, now that "Ligotti-fest" has played out and limped its tattered self back into the shadows...

[Unblinking]

Actually, there are 7 slushers filtering out fictional "pure water" to my "read" box and they are some of the hardest working people I know (while all genres have their specific "painful failings", one might reasonably expect that - given its general subject matter - the "painful failings" of submissions in the horror genre are more likely to be cumulatively deleterious to the slush reader).

Yes, that is surely true.  I've done slushreading for 4 publications, and the Drabblecast was the roughest to read because they asked for the weird and gross and horror.  About half the stories were about serial killers (I don't have a blanket dislike of serial killer stories but it was rare to see anything compelling done with one) or about a person killing their spouse or kids, and some just made me want to scrub the memory out of my brain with steel wool.  Yet what Drabblecast actually publishes is one of my favorite set of works--amazing the work that goes into that process.

[Jon Padgett]

Just wanted to share this with PSEUDOPOD and the listeners who enjoyed my story:

The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett.
Coming in 2016 from Dunhams Manor Press. 300 copies (200 hardback / 100 paperback). Cover and interior art by Dave Felton.
Introduction by Thomas Ligotti.

I don't have much to add to this.

Literary legend Thomas Ligotti will indeed be writing the Introduction to my first short story collection.

To say that I'm honored and thrilled would be an understatement. I'm also more than a little intimidated, but I'll do my very best not to disappoint Ligotti or the book's readers.

Thanks again for your kind and insightful responses.

[Unblinking]

Just wanted to share this with PSEUDOPOD and the listeners who enjoyed my story:

The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett.
Coming in 2016 from Dunhams Manor Press. 300 copies (200 hardback / 100 paperback). Cover and interior art by Dave Felton.
Introduction by Thomas Ligotti.

I don't have much to add to this.

Literary legend Thomas Ligotti will indeed be writing the Introduction to my first short story collection.

To say that I'm honored and thrilled would be an understatement. I'm also more than a little intimidated, but I'll do my very best not to disappoint Ligotti or the book's readers.

Thanks again for your kind and insightful responses.

Wow!  Congrats!  No pressure, right? 

[kibitzer]

Gratz Jon, that's pretty damn awesome!!

[The Snee]

Hello, I'm de-lurking on this one too.

I just listened to this in the car this morning. Absolutely chilling in the best possible way. The bait-and-switch on the type of horror we are seeing here was great, and the gradual escalation of weirdness crossed lines again and again, all the while assuring me it was normal. So many things had layered at the end that I was not sure which part was the worst; the body horror, the raw nihilism, the "there all along" factor, or the fact that all these things are presented as desirable. Excellent work.

Between this, The Blistering, and The Screwfly Solution, I am easily convinced to throw in and support the podcast. It's been darkening up my commutes for a while now.

[kibitzer]

Nice to have you aboard, Snee! Thanks for stopping by.

[shanehalbach]

Absolutely knocked this one out of the park. Lately, each episode has been better than the previous. Jon's story was fantastic, but absolutely enhanced by his calm, even, "Mr. Rogers" narration. One of my favorite episodes in a long, long time.

seems like I'm disliking more stories than usual lately

It seems Unblinking has gone crazy...

I don't actually think there's an evil version of myself living in a mirror and biding its time until I open the gateway and it can swap with me and then do horrible things while wearing my face.

...oh, well I guess he cleared that up. Not crazy after all! 

[Unblinking]

I don't actually think there's an evil version of myself living in a mirror and biding its time until I open the gateway and it can swap with me and then do horrible things while wearing my face.

...oh, well I guess he cleared that up. Not crazy after all! 

I'm so glad I could put your mind at ease, Shane!  I think that if we would all start every conversation with a statement of "I am not insane" that would help us all get along better.  Then no one has to wonder.

[shanehalbach]

One should start every conversation with the statement, "I don't actually think there's an evil version of myself living in a mirror and biding its time until I open the gateway and it can swap with me and then do horrible things while wearing my face."

Then, no one has to wonder.

[Fenrix]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

[Unblinking]

One should start every conversation with the statement, "I don't actually think there's an evil version of myself living in a mirror and biding its time until I open the gateway and it can swap with me and then do horrible things while wearing my face."

Then, no one has to wonder.

I'm game.  I'm assuming that this should come even before "Hello"?  Otherwise, as we're each saying "Hello" for that interminable half-second I'm only going to be anticipating what the other person will say next and tensing myself to run if they don't say what is naturally expected of any sane individual.

[Unblinking]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

I do not, but sometimes I wonder if my mirror-double does.  

Sometimes I wake up in strange places with one of his books in my hand.

There is a character in a Sutter Cane novel with my exact name and description.

I've never heard of him.

[Metalsludge]

Nice to hear a story that finally has clear and faith affirming statements about the existence of a higher power and how it affects all our lives. 

Seriously though, it's an impressive thing to pull off horror that feels new in dealing with the familiar theme of ventriloquism. I was annoyed at the static sound at first, until I realized it indicated an old recording of instructions, and then it all fit together wonderfully. As others have noted, the mirror sequences were quite creepy.

Coincidentally, just recently finished reading an article about how exercises while observing one's self in a mirror have been very helpful to people with certain neurological problems, as it's a way to perceive the connections between the brain and the working of one's limbs such that that very perception can straighten out confused nerve impulses. I won't be looking at any mirrors while in the dark for a while though after hearing this story.   

[CogShoggoth]

I hate the fact that I understand just enough to see the strings. Clamping down the reactive behaviors drives just me, mad as hell, yet going with the pull that is ever so delayed gives me perverse pleasure. Yank the string from the subconscious. Better to gain the respect of the collective unconscious puppeteer than its apathy.

[Moritz]

I am still catching up with some Pseodopod stories... this one was sooo creepy, I had to stop twice. I was so afraid of some subliminal messages/ dummy laughing/ screams in that static sound (especially because it's kind of foreshadowed) that I listened to the last half with only one headphone and the sound turned down. It didn't help that I listened to most of the story while hanging up the clothes in that scary attic of ours that is connected via an unlocked door to the neighbouring, empty (or is it?) house.

[South of No North]

I'm not insane.
I know the man in the mirror isn't waiting to come thru to take over and do things wearing my face, because I beat him (Just not sure which side of the mirror I landed on)

I've been a lurker for a while. Thuroughly enjoying the stories and Alasdair's intro/outros but not having an account. I got an account so I could enter the Flash contest and this has allowed me to now acknowledge the great work all around that is done here.
This story was nicely creepy, a crawling threat that is larger than anything one can comprehend and will probably destroy you even if you become a part of it

I did like how the early steps had example sentences that were just a little off, but not anything too loud about it. "Melting the wino"(not exactly right) I caught it and thought of" the tephen King story where a character thought he saw the cop car decal read "To pummel and sever." Instead of protect and serve, but Nah, prolly meant nothing.
Just well written disturbing fun, well read.






I did like how the early steps had example sentences that were just a little off, but not anything too loud about it. "Melting the wino"(not exactly right) I caught it and thought of" the Stephen King story where a character thought he noticed the cop car decal read