Escape Artists
PseudoPod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Bdoomed on May 07, 2016, 07:49:14 PM
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PseudoPod 489: The Devil In Rutledge County (http://pseudopod.org/2016/04/28/pseudopod-488-a-thing-of-terrible-beauty/)
by Victoria Hoke (https://sub-q.com/).
“The Devil In Rutledge County” first appeared in LORE Vol. 2, #4, December 2013.
VICTORIA HOKE writes, draws, and codes in Los Angeles. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Drabblecast, and Three-lobed Burning Eye. She grew up in North Carolina and still gets cravings for hush puppies and butterscotch candy. She’s editor-in-chief of sub-Q (https://sub-q.com/), a new online magazine for interactive fantasy, science fiction, and horror. If you like stories that get under your skin, or you’d like to create some yourself, visit sub-Q (https://sub-q.com/) for resources, submissions details, and a look at what they publish.
Your narrator – Laura Hobbs (http://soapturtle.net/) – works in infosec by day and is a random crafter by night. Twitter is her social media of choice, and she despises the word “cyber”. When asked nicely, she sometimes reads things for people on the internet. You can find her online at SOAPTURTLE.NET (http://SOAPTURTLE.NET)
It was my fault. It happened ’cause I prayed to the Devil.
Of course I prayed to God first. I prayed every night since I realized Pa was a drunk. Not a joker or a hothead or a layabout — a drunk. I prayed God would make him quit drinking. I prayed God would turn him back to the easy-laughing man who took us fishing on Saturdays.
I prayed whenever I heard Pa retching in the backyard at dawn.
I prayed whenever the constable’s boys dragged him home at midnight.
I prayed when Essie got bit on the heel by a copperhead, and Pa was face-down in bed, and there was only one other person we could turn to.
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Listen to this week's Pseudopod. (http://traffic.libsyn.com/pseudopod/Pseudo489_TheDevilInRutledgeCounty.mp3)
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I loved,loved,loved this one. The imagery was vivid without being in love with itself. I could immediately picture the scenes without effort, and certain ones, like the river and the hallway, will always be in my mind. The narration of this and Escape Pod are always top-notch, but rarely do I remember one in which the narration fit the story better. I've already gushed enough, but this is one of my all-time favorites. I'll listen to it again, which I never do.
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Really liked the child's voice on this — both in the story and in the narration. Great fun.
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Solid story through and through. There are some tropes that rarely get old for me, and "deal with the devil" stories are one of those sort. I appreciated the variations in this one, how the origin was based in prayer rather than a more conventional method, how in a lot of ways her life was actually better with the devil for a Pa but the ways in which it wasn't better were significant.
I thought the child's POV was written convincingly well, and narrated very well also.
Very very good. Thanks for running it!
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Thank you for the kind words! It means a lot y'all took the time to write.
It's a monster honor to be a part of PseudoPod. Thank you for listening, and thank you for reaching out. Here's to many more happy heebie-jeebies.
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Thank you for the kind words! It means a lot y'all took the time to write.
It's a monster honor to be a part of PseudoPod. Thank you for listening, and thank you for reaching out. Here's to many more happy heebie-jeebies.
Great to hear from you! I bookmarked sub-Q, but wondered where else I could find your work in print?
Thanks!
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Thank you for the kind words! It means a lot y'all took the time to write.
It's a monster honor to be a part of PseudoPod. Thank you for listening, and thank you for reaching out. Here's to many more happy heebie-jeebies.
Great to hear from you! I bookmarked sub-Q, but wondered where else I could find your work in print?
Thanks!
Try here?
http://www.toryhoke.com/publications/
(I don't know if that's entirely up to date, mind you, but it at least has this story and some others on it!)
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Try here?
http://www.toryhoke.com/publications/
(I don't know if that's entirely up to date, mind you, but it at least has this story and some others on it!)
Thanks man!
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This was excellent. The story was compelling and the narration was spot on. Thank you.
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I thought this wonderfully written and so well read. I would call this one almost perfect.
I know the devil was called, got what he wanted - tears of innocence - but I feel she got rid of the devil a little too easy. I would liked to see her do something with the skin. By the way it remind me of an edgar suit.
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Holy cow this one knocked my proverbial socks off. Top notch job on the story, and the narration was absolutely perfect.
This was my kind of deal-with-the-devil story.
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Holy cow this one knocked my proverbial socks off.
Where do you buy your proverbial socks? Is there a special store? :)
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Holy cow this one knocked my proverbial socks off.
Where do you buy your proverbial socks? Is there a special store? :)
special? No...just Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/ORIGINAL-CREATORS-Scripture-Custom-Nike/dp/B00LZ9DIAO#immersive-view_1464013686198)
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This one was my favorite from the more recent Pseudopod stories. I expected it to go on for a little longer and see the broader effects on the town from the devil's visit but I think I prefer keeping it simple.
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I enjoyed this one as much as everyone else seemed to. I particularly enjoyed the notes from the devil character about the cost of impatience and the associated guilt, which seemed to wrap up the tale nicely, though it nastily implies the grim reality of addiction mixed with child care - that a dead version of her drunk father may have been a better option all along, if she had just been patient enough to wait for it. I somehow doubt there have never been adults, as well as children, who have considered who or what to pray for in desperation when dealing with this disease.
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I enjoyed this one as much as everyone else seemed to. I particularly enjoyed the notes from the devil character about the cost of impatience and the associated guilt, which seemed to wrap up the tale nicely, though it nastily implies the grim reality of addiction mixed with child care - that a dead version of her drunk father may have been a better option all along, if she had just been patient enough to wait for it. I somehow doubt there have never been adults, as well as children, who have considered who or what to pray for in desperation when dealing with this disease.
Except that little detail of him killing a cat or whatever every day. Maybe that's just the price to pay for magic (I've been binge watching Once Upon a Time), but it hints at darker things to come. And in this world, Hell seems to be a literal reality, so she might damn herself to an eternal afterlife of horror in order to keep the better version of her father around.
I suppose there's an alternate version of this story that you hint at, where society has it wrong and dark magic actually brings mercy.
I don't see a way to read the full text to recap, but wasn't there a strong implication that the pastor thought the girls were being sexually abused, and looked the other way? That was the most chilling part of the story for me. Not the supernatural, but the mundane evil.
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I don't see a way to read the full text to recap, but wasn't there a strong implication that the pastor thought the girls were being sexually abused, and looked the other way? That was the most chilling part of the story for me. Not the supernatural, but the mundane evil.
That or general abuse. And the neglect was evident.
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I enjoyed this one as much as everyone else seemed to. I particularly enjoyed the notes from the devil character about the cost of impatience and the associated guilt, which seemed to wrap up the tale nicely, though it nastily implies the grim reality of addiction mixed with child care - that a dead version of her drunk father may have been a better option all along, if she had just been patient enough to wait for it. I somehow doubt there have never been adults, as well as children, who have considered who or what to pray for in desperation when dealing with this disease.
Except that little detail of him killing a cat or whatever every day. Maybe that's just the price to pay for magic (I've been binge watching Once Upon a Time), but it hints at darker things to come. And in this world, Hell seems to be a literal reality, so she might damn herself to an eternal afterlife of horror in order to keep the better version of her father around.
I suppose there's an alternate version of this story that you hint at, where society has it wrong and dark magic actually brings mercy.
I don't see a way to read the full text to recap, but wasn't there a strong implication that the pastor thought the girls were being sexually abused, and looked the other way? That was the most chilling part of the story for me. Not the supernatural, but the mundane evil.
Oh, sorry, I didn't mean the dead/devil version of the father being better, but rather the father simply dying naturally, as he would have without all the black magic stuff, being better, which the Devil seems to imply would have been a better option if she had just waited for it. The old "Sometimes, dead is better." of stories like Pet Sematary. Addicts can slowly bleed the life out of a family, such that many eventually ostracize them, cut them out of the will... and/or live with them until they finally destroy themselves, and guiltily just breathe a sigh of relief when they are finally dead and hopefully more at peace. The girl of the story desperately tries to find an alternative, a magic "fix", but it just makes things worse in the long run.
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I enjoyed this one as much as everyone else seemed to. I particularly enjoyed the notes from the devil character about the cost of impatience and the associated guilt, which seemed to wrap up the tale nicely, though it nastily implies the grim reality of addiction mixed with child care - that a dead version of her drunk father may have been a better option all along, if she had just been patient enough to wait for it. I somehow doubt there have never been adults, as well as children, who have considered who or what to pray for in desperation when dealing with this disease.
Except that little detail of him killing a cat or whatever every day. Maybe that's just the price to pay for magic (I've been binge watching Once Upon a Time), but it hints at darker things to come. And in this world, Hell seems to be a literal reality, so she might damn herself to an eternal afterlife of horror in order to keep the better version of her father around.
I suppose there's an alternate version of this story that you hint at, where society has it wrong and dark magic actually brings mercy.
I don't see a way to read the full text to recap, but wasn't there a strong implication that the pastor thought the girls were being sexually abused, and looked the other way? That was the most chilling part of the story for me. Not the supernatural, but the mundane evil.
Oh, sorry, I didn't mean the dead/devil version of the father being better, but rather the father simply dying naturally, as he would have without all the black magic stuff, being better, which the Devil seems to imply would have been a better option if she had just waited for it. The old "Sometimes, dead is better." of stories like Pet Sematary. Addicts can slowly bleed the life out of a family, such that many eventually ostracize them, cut them out of the will... and/or live with them until they finally destroy themselves, and guiltily just breathe a sigh of relief when they are finally dead and hopefully more at peace. The girl of the story desperately tries to find an alternative, a magic "fix", but it just makes things worse in the long run.
Oh, yes! Sorry, I had forgotten that part.