Author Topic: Pseudopod 433: 20 Simple Steps To Ventriloquism  (Read 42975 times)

South of No North

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Reply #50 on: September 23, 2016, 02:04:48 AM

Been keeping my EYE out for this coming out for a while.

After seeing that cover no more delay could be allowed.

Pre-order placed. Now I watch the mail.

Congratulations Jon, I am looking forward to reading more of your creepy tales, and at my finger tips at any time of night!

"Yes, of course I can blame you. Without them, where would all of us outlaws be? What would we have? Only a lawless paradise...and paradise is a bore. Violence without violation is only noise heard by no one, the most horrendous sound in the universe." --The Chymist by Thomas Ligotti


JessyHere

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Reply #51 on: February 04, 2017, 03:09:12 PM
I just want to say, out of all the Pseudopod episodes I have listened to this one has stuck with me the longest.  When I first listened to it, I made all my friends listen too.  We still talk about it to this day.  This one is my favorite episode.  Bravo, Pseudopod and Jon Padgett, for haunting my nightmares for over a year!



Jon Padgett

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Reply #52 on: February 13, 2017, 07:58:59 PM
Thanks again for all the wonderful commentary and kind words.

Just an update:

As of today, my book has become available in audio format via Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

The collection is also available in trade paperback and Kindle editions.

The Secret of Ventriloquism was selected last week as the Best Fiction Book of 2016 by Rue Morgue Magazine and is the winner of the 2016 Golden Ghoul Award for Fiction (Foreign).

The book has also gotten quite a number of reviews, all of them (thus far) favorable ones. Here are some highlights:

"The Secret of Ventriloquism is horror with a capital H. Some of Padgett's lines raised the hair on my neck."
--Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase

"Padgett proves with his stunning debut collection to be a worthy successor to Thomas Ligotti. There's no gristle, no bone, no dilly-dallying here: only pure meat whose terrors seamlessly grow into the metaphysical. This volume is jam-packed with the stuff that nightmares are made of."
--Dejan Ognjanovic, Rue Morgue Magazine

"...Greater Ventriloquism is the fictional philosophy cutting through all of the stories in this collection, giving them a much appreciated spine of intent and eerie energy. When we understand that we are no better than dummies--when we see the strings that move us and hear the voice that animates us--we become the uncanny object, as opposed to the dummy. Our own embodiment thus becomes a vessel for great horrors."
--Adam Mills, Weird Fiction Review

"There's quite enough variety of tone, setting, and focus here to surprise and disconcert any reader, and leave preconceived expectations flopping and gasping in the cold black mud of Padgett's imagination...Padgett is a chilling master in his own right."
--Paul StJohn Mackintosh, Associate Editor of Teleread

"...for those who enjoy fiction of a weird nature with a capital 'w' The Secret of Ventriloquism should not be missed."
--Kev Harrison, This Is Horror

"...Jon Padgett [is] one of the best writers you might not have heard of yet..."
--Kayleigh Marie Edwards, Ginger Nuts of Horror

"Jon Padgett's The Secret of Ventriloquism may very well be at the vanguard of a new movement in American Weird,where the lessons of Thomas Ligotti are recontextualized and used to birth something as frightening and bizarre as it is different."
--Simon Strantzas, author of Burnt Black Suns
« Last Edit: February 13, 2017, 08:03:07 PM by Jon Padgett »



Bdoomed

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Reply #53 on: February 14, 2017, 01:03:03 AM
I got my copy in the mail last week as well as I have the Kindle version (and a long flight on a few hours)' can't wait to check it out!

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


Jon Padgett

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Reply #54 on: March 22, 2017, 06:35:12 PM
For a limited time, the Kindle edition of Secret is free.  For a couple bucks more, you can also have the audio version via Whispersync.

Click here to order it.



Metalsludge

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Reply #55 on: March 24, 2017, 11:01:32 PM
For a limited time, the Kindle edition of Secret is free.  For a couple bucks more, you can also have the audio version via Whispersync.

Click here to order it.

Think I paid for the Kindle version already, if I remember the transaction correctly. But that's fine, it was a worthwhile purchase. Good job on the book, hope we see more soon.



Scuba Man

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Reply #56 on: March 25, 2017, 07:56:36 PM
Blech. Meat puppet.  :o :o

I'm a stand-up philosopher until 2024. Then, I move onto my next gig. I'm a gentleman forester and farmer. I also enjoy jumping into Lake Huron and panicking the fish.


Jon Padgett

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Reply #57 on: April 11, 2017, 06:01:58 PM
I recently was interviewed by Gordon White of HELLNOTES, specifically about "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism."

This is a deep dive specifically into the inner-workings of the story, which took nearly two decades to get right.

Thomas Ligotti is featured prominently as part of the process, especially in the first section of the interview, as I couldn't have written what would become 20SS without his help.

Also, the Pseudopod production and Shawn Garrett's brilliant notes and sound design are discussed.

Hope you all enjoy!



dagny

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Reply #58 on: April 12, 2017, 10:29:02 AM
Jon--that was a fantastic interview. I'm sharing it with everyone.

"Wolfman's got nards!"


Jon Padgett

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Reply #59 on: May 24, 2017, 08:09:11 PM
« Last Edit: May 24, 2017, 08:12:04 PM by Jon Padgett »



Jon Padgett

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Reply #60 on: March 26, 2018, 07:37:29 PM
Description

"20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism" is an instructional piece of short fiction by weird/horror writer and (lapsed) professional ventriloquist Jon Padgett.

This edition by Tallhat Press includes 20 previously unpublished black and white illustrations by artist and (lapsed) squirrel rehabilitator Yves Tourigny.

8.5" x 5.5"
52 pp.






Purchase here for $12.06 USD (plus shipping)

Description:

“20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism” first appeared in the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award winning anthology, THE GRIMSCRIBE PUPPETS. “When I was a child, my first ventriloquist dummy came with a pamphlet entitled “7 SIMPLE STEPS TO VENTRILOQUISM.” Though the following ventriloquist story went through a tremendous number of transmutations from its inception two decades ago (when it was first conceived), that pamphlet from my past proved to be the key to what “20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism” would finally become. Practice the first seven steps enough, and you may one day be able to throw your voice with the best of the showbiz ventriloquists out there. Practice the rest of the steps at your own risk.”

"'20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' is what might be deemed an ultimate horror vision. What makes such a piece always resides in an ambition to transcend literature itself. As purely a matter of literary taxonomy, I would place this magnificently executed short story in a class with Lovecraft’s 'Call of Cthulhu,' Blackwood’s 'The Willows,' and Jorge Luis Borges’s 'The Lottery in Babylon.' These are tales that lead one to say, 'This is a revelation of how things are.' Like them, '20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' pulls out all the stops to convey a towering perspective that encompasses and reveals the essence of existence. That is its scope. That is how it affects those exposed to the story. When it comes to a close, one’s reaction is, 'There is nothing more to be said.' And, of course, what has been spoken by '20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' is by necessity deftly strange and awful, like life itself once its façade has been peeled away little by little. That is how an ultimate horror vision works its wonder." —Thomas Ligotti

Please note: This is a handmade item, and may present very minor imperfections.

Also note: In the coming weeks, Cadabra Records is launching a vinyl edition of 20 Simple Steps and will also offer this chapbook as a bundled deal.  Sound Patterns by Pseudopod co-editor, Shawn M. Garrett!



Jon Padgett

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Reply #61 on: April 06, 2018, 02:26:23 PM


"ON SALE NOW! Jon Padgett’s, 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism LP. Two variants are available. Narrated by Jon Padgett. Art by Yves Tourigny and Dave Felton. Sound patterns by PSEUDOPOD Co-Editor Shawn M. Garrett.

Includes a brand new Foreword by Thomas Ligotti. Here’s an excerpt:

"'20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' is what might be deemed an ultimate horror vision. What makes such a piece always resides in an ambition to transcend literature itself. As purely a matter of literary taxonomy, I would place this magnificently executed short story in a class with Lovecraft’s 'Call of Cthulhu,' Blackwood’s 'The Willows,' and Jorge Luis Borges’s 'The Lottery in Babylon.' These are tales that lead one to say, 'This is a revelation of how things are.' Like them, '20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' pulls out all the stops to convey a towering perspective that encompasses and reveals the essence of existence. That is its scope. That is how it affects those exposed to the story. When it comes to a close, one’s reaction is, 'There is nothing more to be said.' And, of course, what has been spoken by '20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism' is by necessity deftly strange and awful, like life itself once its façade has been peeled away little by little. That is how an ultimate horror vision works its wonder."

We have very limited quantities, as this is a small print run. Don’t sleep on this!"

Please order from one of three variant LPs here.



allegedparadise88

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Reply #62 on: August 24, 2018, 03:54:28 PM
Everything about this one is perfect to me. The background static, the tone of the reading, the repetitive instructional nature of the words, the imagery it provokes... This story made my stomach knot and turn while somehow mesmerizing me in a way that I couldn't have turned it off even if I had wanted to. Love it.



Marlboro

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Reply #63 on: October 21, 2019, 01:09:55 PM
I'm new to Pseudopod. Hi guys!

I was very impressed with this episode. Not only with the unique story, but also with the excellent performance of the reader. On top of that, this is one of those rare stories that really takes advantage of the audio only format. It's very much like some of the best of old time radio in that regard.



Marlboro

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Reply #64 on: December 31, 2019, 12:44:30 PM
Two months later and I am no longer new to Pseudopod. After listening to 600 plus episodes, I think this one is my favorite.


« Last Edit: December 31, 2019, 01:50:23 PM by Marlboro »



ironysteeth

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Reply #65 on: January 01, 2020, 03:51:22 PM
This is one of my faves. I cycle through the 13 seasons of no sleep podcast and the 600+  episodes of pseudopod (this is my 4th rotation) and I have to say this but of scary holds its own against any bit of audio horror I've heard yet.



JDuckworth

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Reply #66 on: February 23, 2020, 03:24:13 PM
This one made for very creepy listening while driving in the dark of Texas.

Wonderful work, incredible pacing, terrifying even in the quiet parts, suffused with an ever-mounting sense of dread.



Jon Padgett

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Reply #67 on: November 06, 2021, 09:19:03 PM
Thanks again, everyone!

I thought I'd let you all know that a closely connected story, "Flight 389," is now available to read or listen to here (for free) in the October 2021 issue of Nightmare Magazine.