Pseudopod 043: Everything Is Better with Zombies

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 043: Everything Is Better with Zombies

By Hannah Wolf Bowen

Read by Mur Lafferty

“You don’t know that she’s a zombie,” Lion says as we walk our bikes back up Salt Hill. The side that sweeps down to the cemetery is steep and we’ve no momentum to carry us up. Instead, we’ll trudge to the top of the hill and remount there to go zipping down. “She could be a ghoul or a ghost or a skeleton. We could’ve made her up.”

“You saw the footprint,” I remind him. “We didn’t make her up.” We’d followed the trail to the highway. We’d paced along the shoulder, searching for the spot where she’d stepped back off the pavement. We hadn’t found anything. But even Lion had agreed that the print by the creek was beautifully clear. “And if she’d been a skeleton, it would have just been bone. And ghosts wouldn’t leave any prints at all.”

“They might,” Lion says, “if they were acting out their deaths.”


Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

Note: sorry for the post delay guys!

[sirana]

Great Story.
Not so much scary, but very endearing.

The reading once again reminded me why Mur is my favourite EP/PP reader.

Also, there should be a Zombie milkshake. NOW with 65% more ZOMBIES!

[Russell Nash]

Where are the non scary supernatural stories going to go?  This is the second one in a row on PP and EP had Mayflies at the same time.  After the Fantasy podcast is launched where do they go? 

Is supernatural a subset of Fantasy?  A lot of horror is a subset of supernatural, but as we see here not all supernatural is horror.  As we get more podcasts from this "Network" I hope they don't get so specialized that some stories get passed over just because they don't have a place.

[DKT]

This story was very entertaining.  I can't wait to listen to it again.

Where are the non scary supernatural stories going to go?  This is the second one in a row on PP and EP had Mayflies at the same time.  After the Fantasy podcast is launched where do they go? 

Is supernatural a subset of Fantasy?  A lot of horror is a subset of supernatural, but as we see here not all supernatural is horror.  As we get more podcasts from this "Network" I hope they don't get so specialized that some stories get passed over just because they don't have a place.

It's going to be interesting.  I'm really glad Pseudopod buys stories like this (and "What Dead People Are Supposed to Do") as well as "Counting Down from Ten," "Fingerbones Like Mobiles," and "Bliss."  I'd be bummed if they showed up in the fantasy podcast.  I don't think that's going to happen -- instead  I think a lot of the Escape Pod stories that have supernatural elements in them will obviously go to the fantasy podcast. 

I wonder how Escape Pod's submission guidlelines change when the new podcast is introduced. 

[eytanz]

Even though I found "Fingerbones hung like mobiles" to be scarier than this story, I think that if I were to classify stories, I might put it on a fantasy podcast, but I'd certainly leave this story on Pseudopod. This, to me, was a true horror story - the fact that the horror was subtle didn't make that less so.

[Thaurismunths]

I love the fact that her friend is a red-shirt, and they both know it.
"Did they bite you?"
"No, not yet."
and
"I'm going to miss you."

Great story, and I'm looking forward to the next one! : )

And speaking of zombie jokes:
What does a zombie engineer say?
Traaaains.

What does a zombie plumber say?
Draaaains.

What does a zombie construction worker say?
Craaaanes.

edit: yeah, yeah Russell. You're sooo smart. 

[eytanz]

I love the fact that her friend is a red-shirt, and they both know it.
"Did they bite you?"
"No, not yet."
and
"I'm going to miss you."

I don't think he's a red shirt by any means - he's a major character planning suicide by zombie.

[Thaurismunths]

I love the fact that her friend is a red-shirt, and they both know it.
"Did they bite you?"
"No, not yet."
and
"I'm going to miss you."

I don't think he's a red shirt by any means - he's a major character planning suicide by zombie.

Did I miss something?

[Dutch Monkey]

I love the fact that her friend is a red-shirt, and they both know it.
"Did they bite you?"
"No, not yet."
and
"I'm going to miss you."

I don't think he's a red shirt by any means - he's a major character planning suicide by zombie.

Did I miss something?

I think you did. Many clues were given that Lion was sick and getting sicker. Repeated doctor's visits, his limping, etc. And he was brash and uncaring for basic "Zombie Hunting" precautions: no flashlight and running into the dark woods by himself. Lion's tone was very dismal and defeatist. He also kept asking questions about what it would be like to be a zombie.

[Thaurismunths]

I love the fact that her friend is a red-shirt, and they both know it.
"Did they bite you?"
"No, not yet."
and
"I'm going to miss you."

I don't think he's a red shirt by any means - he's a major character planning suicide by zombie.

Did I miss something?

I think you did. Many clues were given that Lion was sick and getting sicker. Repeated doctor's visits, his limping, etc. And he was brash and uncaring for basic "Zombie Hunting" precautions: no flashlight and running into the dark woods by himself. Lion's tone was very dismal and defeatist. He also kept asking questions about what it would be like to be a zombie.

*Shakes head* See.. this is what you get for mixing 'Zombies' with 'Plot'.
*sigh*

[Russell Nash]

What does a zombie construction worker say?
Craaaains.

Poor zombie construction worker had to drop out of zombie high school to get a zombie job after he got his zombie girlfriend knocked up.

[Thaurismunths]

What does a zombie construction worker say?
Craaaains.

Poor zombie construction worker had to drop out of zombie high school to get a zombie job after he got his zombie girlfriend knocked up.

They got married and raised their zombie child together, but eventually his affair with the ghoul next door was unearthed and he lost half of the farm he'd bought.

[wakela]

It's very possible that I missed something, because I was not listening to this story undistracted.  But are we sure that there was a zombie, or was it a couple of bored kids with good imaginations?

Also, zombies craving brains is a pet peeve of mine.  The zombies of the "Night of the Living Dead" movies have no preference for any particular organ.  I think the brains thing started with "Return of the Living Dead," and I might hold this movie in higher esteem if it hadn't so transparently pretended to be a sequel to "Night of the Living Dead."   The narrator admits her knowledge of zombies comes from zombie movies, but zombies don't eat brains in most of the movies.  This is maybe the stupidest nitpick of a story I have ever written, but it did make me feel that the writer could have been more informed.

I thought this was a cute slice of life in a small town story with a supernatural vibe.   I don't think it was horror, and depending on the results of my first question, it may not even be fantasy.  Mur's reading was fantastic.

[eytanz]

It's very possible that I missed something, because I was not listening to this story undistracted.  But are we sure that there was a zombie, or was it a couple of bored kids with good imaginations?

That's a good question, actually. But the narrator mentioned that the grave was disturbed, and it was a grave of a young woman (the narrator gave her birth date which was in the mid Eighties), and the narrator did mention something about there being a lot of new graves. I spent some time trying to figure out if there's some subtext here I'm missing that would explain what's going on, but I couldn't, and the disturbed grave tipped the balance to me toward deciding that there were real zombies of some kind or other in the story.

[wakela]

It's very possible that I missed something, because I was not listening to this story undistracted.  But are we sure that there was a zombie, or was it a couple of bored kids with good imaginations?

That's a good question, actually. But the narrator mentioned that the grave was disturbed, and it was a grave of a young woman (the narrator gave her birth date which was in the mid Eighties), and the narrator did mention something about there being a lot of new graves. I spent some time trying to figure out if there's some subtext here I'm missing that would explain what's going on, but I couldn't, and the disturbed grave tipped the balance to me toward deciding that there were real zombies of some kind or other in the story.

This is the problem I have being a skeptic and a lover of SF and H.  Of course I know that I'm listening to a horror story, so the second I come across nothing more than a flattened dandelion in an industrial park that was at one time a cemetery, I should cry out, "Zombies!  We need boards, nails, guns for the time being, swords and bats for later! Don't overlook bottled water and canned goods!  Aim for the head!"   But in reality the evidence required to prove or even suggest the existence of zombies is weighty to say the least.   Even if a see a zombie, the odds are much greater that I am crazy.   Or in an Apple store.   If you were in a cemetery and saw a grave completely dug up with an open coffin, would you immediately suspect zombies?   

[eytanz]

  If you were in a cemetery and saw a grave completely dug up with an open coffin, would you immediately suspect zombies?   

Of course not. But I don't require of a story that it's events would be something I'd actually believe in. All I require is that the story be written enough for me to be able to suspend my disbelief.

For this story, I was able to suspend my disbelief. What I'm not sure about, however, is whether I was actually supposed to or whether I'm missing something about what is supposed to be going on.

[wakela]

 

If you were in a cemetery and saw a grave completely dug up with an open coffin, would you immediately suspect zombies? 

Of course not. But I don't require of a story that it's events would be something I'd actually believe in. All I require is that the story be written enough for me to be able to suspend my disbelief.

For this story, I was able to suspend my disbelief. What I'm not sure about, however, is whether I was actually supposed to or whether I'm missing something about what is supposed to be going on.

Sorry, eytanz, I didn't mean to imply that you believed in zombies too readily.  I agree completely with your response.

In an abiguous story like this I think I'm supposed to be left feeling, "Well, I certainly don't believe in the existence of zombies, but there was that footprint, and the disturbed grave...what if...."  But if it's not clear I have to default to realism and believe that the kids were running around in the woods making stuff up.  This brings up something that I've been wanting to talk about on these forums.  I heard a story on This American Life about a cruel babysitter who pretended to be a werewolf and scared the bejesus out of the poor kids.  He cut the power to the house and ran around on the roof howling.   If the last line of the story had been, "before going back into the house he examined his fingernails.  The claws and almost receded into becoming fingernails" then it's no longer an NPR story and it's a Psuedopod story.  If the last line had been, "He entered the house laughing to himself until he saw little Timmy just sitting on the couch.  He was the only one not hiding. 'What are you waiting for.  Go ahead and kill me."  Then it's NPR and not Psuedopod.   But 99% of the story is exactly the same.

I'm not interested in a "what is horror" discussion.  For some reason the genre-defining threads end disastrously.   But I do think it's interesting that you can switch the genre of a story with just a few words at the end.

[floatingtide]

Outside of any question about whether a Pseudopod story is horror is the question of whether a horror podcast should only put out the grim and terrifying.

I say no. Too much strict horror and will know what to expect from every twist. If too many stories end in death, madness and despair, then they'll all loose their punch.

Rock on, Pseudopod!

[eytanz]

Outside of any question about whether a Pseudopod story is horror is the question of whether a horror podcast should only put out the grim and terrifying.

I say no. Too much strict horror and will know what to expect from every twist. If too many stories end in death, madness and despair, then they'll all loose their punch.

Rock on, Pseudopod!

I'm more than willing to accept a broad definition of horror for PseudoPod, broader than the way I would use the term. Certainly, there is horror that is not grim, and - while I'm not sure there is no horror that isn't at least somewhat terrifying, there is plenty of horror that is subtly so, or not solely so.

But there are stories that are not horror at all, and I feel they have no place on PseudoPod.

Note that this story, in my view, certainly belonged on PseudoPod.

[darusha]

I really enjoyed this story, but my reading (listening?) of it makes me think it's not horror.  I saw them as kids who use thier imaginations to cover for their feelings for each other.  Lion is pretty sick - maybe with a non-supernatural possibly terminal illness and the narrator is moving to a different town soon.  Hence his apathy, the line "not yet" and her "I'll miss you".

But, it works on both levels, and that's really cool.

[Leon Kensington]

Simple title, simple story, simple truth. 

[Unblinking]

I loved the title, and enjoyed the philosophy, but in the end wasn't really sure what happened.  It sounded like they got away from whatever it was they saw, though I think it was just in their imaginations.  But then there were almost-hints that Lion didn't make it that I didn't understand.  After reading some of the other comments, I can see how those were hints towards his illness, but did not get that from the story myself.

[Fenrix]

I'll chime in with another vote for this solidly belonging in PseudoPod. The protagonists view the world through a lens of horror films and video games. This allows them to believe that every minor event is some harbinger of doom.

All in all, an enjoyable story with a solid reading from Mur.

[Scattercat]

I would just like to note, with this story randomly bumped up the queue, that this is hands-down and no-holds-barred my very favorite Pseudopod episode.  I regard this one as truly high literature.  Deeply subtle and interwoven with complex themes, openly inviting of multiple interpretations, and skillfully read.  Hits on every cylinder.

[Sgarre1]

openly inviting of multiple interpretations

   Hey now, watch out!