Author Topic: Pseudopod 478: ARTEMIS RISING Women In Horror Showcase: Jay’s Place  (Read 3344 times)

Bdoomed

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Pseudopod 478: ARTEMIS RISING Women In Horror Showcase: Jay’s Place

by E. Lee McVicar.

Not only is Jay’s Place a Pseudopod original, but also the author’s first professional publication sale. PseudoPod couldn’t be prouder to introduce you to this author.

E. Lee McVicar grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Western Massachusetts, where she works at a small publishing company. When she’s not working, painting, or watching birds, she’s hiding under the covers reading ghost stories. When she was writing this story, she was thinking about the frustration and terror of being unable to understand something angry, and how we just want things to make sense, both around us and inside of us.

Your narrator – Joe Scalora is a senior marketing manager at Del Rey Books and Del Rey Star Wars. He is a curator of Geek pursuits and has narrated for Pseudopod and The Double Shadow, the Clark Ashton Smith podcast. Follow him on twitter @JoeScalora

Your guest audio producer – Chelsea Davis is a scholar of Gothic fiction. She’s currently at work on a dissertation about supernatural war literature. In her spare time, she produces radio, & gets a huge kick out of reading killer Pseudopod submissions as an Associate Editor.

Your guest host – Julie Hoverson is the writer and producer of such audio dramas as 19 Nocturne Boulevard and Fatal Girl (both available at [b=http://www.19nocturneboulevard.net/]19 Nocturne Boulevard[/b]), has now turned her hand to audiobooks and can be found on audible.com narrating such diverse pieces as Jake Bible’s Dead Mech / Apex Trilogy and several novellas that are part of Brian MacLellan’s Powder Mage series, most recently the short story collection In The Field Marshal’s Shadow.



The road looked like it was there by accident. Turnoff so steep it felt like driving straight into the trees. Houses set far apart, hiding suspiciously at end of long dirt driveways, husks of cars crouched on their lawns. These were not the kind of people who made friends with their neighbors, but that was all right for now.

His place was second from the end of the street, a rocky oval where lost souls could pull a three-point turn and get back to the interstate. The house looked like it was built more recently than its neighbors. It was a little too narrow for its two stories, but the siding was all attached and the roof hadn’t yet shed any asphalt tiles. Jay examined it critically from the end of the unpaved driveway. Even this late in the evening, he had to shield his eyes against the fierce glare of the sun.

“No one’s been in there for a while,” said his brother, “but I just got it inspected and the inside’s actually all right. Hot water works, electricity’s not gonna kill you.” He leaned against his truck, boots crunching in the gravel.

“What’s it need done?” Jay asked.

“Well, once the yard is cleared out, I figure we’ll fix up the porch. Windows are okay but the screen door needs replacing. The rest is for you to figure out. Once they demo that dump next door, I think we may have a chance of selling.” He gestured to the neighboring property, barely visible behind a tangle of underdeveloped trees.





Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

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adrianh

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I listened to this in bed before going to sleep.

Dumb, dumb move.



Fenrix

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It was just the house settling. Don't worry.

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


Bdoomed

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Seriously this story made me go "what the fuck" out loud in my car.

Bravo.

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


Not-a-Robot

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This was a very effective horror story as well as extended metaphor.

I liked a lot of the imagery and foreshadowing in the beginning (the porch trying to escape...) .



Unblinking

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Ah, the killer house horror story.  It was pretty clear that was where this story was going from the beginning, but I thought it did reasonably well with the premise.  The image of the animals, including the policeman, literally battering themselves to death against the outer walls was a creepy and striking image. 

The battery of the protagonist's wife seemed like it was revealed to be a surprise, but I had kindof assumed that to be the case before that, assuming that one usually doesn't get locked out of the house with threats to call the police without some strong cause for it. 


This was a very effective horror story as well as extended metaphor.

I'm assuming the metaphor had something to do with domestic abuse, but I'm not sure I quite grasped it.  Something to do with the safety of home being subverted into a lethal trap?




ELeeMcV

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Author here - Y'all are TOO kind! I was so nervous to listen for the first time but Pseudopod and Joe Scalora did a really fantastic job. I could not be happier, thank you so much!



Bdoomed

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Great to have you!

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


dagny

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Finally got to listen to this story today, and I'm so glad I did. Bravo!

"Wolfman's got nards!"