Author Topic: Pseudopod 021: Fetal Position  (Read 9539 times)

Russell Nash

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on: January 20, 2007, 09:05:37 PM
Pseudopod 021: Fetal Position


By Joel Arnold
Read by Jason Adams

And now Rudy opened the box’s lid, his fingers responding to the familiarity of his name carved carefully into the top. He lifted the dried cord from it and placed it carefully in the water. It reacted to its new environment, expanding and uncoiling in the water’s warm comfort. He took a small penknife from his pant’s pocket and jabbed his middle finger. Small droplets of blood welled from the wound and he let them fall into the warm tap water. A few drops were all it needed.

The thing in the sink squirmed and writhed. He took off his shirt. Took a deep breath. Looked at himself in the mirror.  Funny, the little surprises life tosses you, he thought.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.



Jonathan C. Gillespie

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Reply #1 on: January 22, 2007, 11:05:42 PM
I didn't care for this one.  Yes, it was disgusting, and very original, but that alone didn't jive well enough with the horror-related elements to produce a terrifying tale.  My attention actually drifted away several times.  The writer seemed to take the Eli Roth approach, i.e. when in doubt, throw in another several gallons of blood.  It wasn't scary, just gory.

It was well-written, and I'm sure others will like it; just not my cup of tea.

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Bdoomed

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Reply #2 on: January 23, 2007, 05:51:06 AM
i gotta say this story didnt agree with me.  well written, but i didnt much care for the main act itself... tad bit discusting no?

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


darusha

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Reply #3 on: January 23, 2007, 10:39:05 PM
I think this was my favourite Pseudopod story yet.  It was the first one that actually gave me a physiological reaction.  My idea of really great horror is when you can't recommend it to anyone, but you really want to.  This story did that for me.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #4 on: January 24, 2007, 04:09:36 PM
Why oh why didn't you save this for Mother's Day? :)
Good story, great imagery, though the climax was a little flat.

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Russell Nash

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Reply #5 on: January 26, 2007, 09:55:49 AM
ewwwww



Leon Kensington

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Reply #6 on: February 01, 2007, 04:25:14 AM
Thanks alot Pseudo!  Now I can't look at my mom without cringing.



obuchiteck

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Reply #7 on: February 06, 2007, 03:29:48 PM
OK, yea, the story was freaky and gory but am I the only freak here. When he was talking about being all cozy in the womb, I was thinking, wow that doesn’t sound to bad..

Shudders. I’m going to see my shrink now.



fiveyearwinter

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Reply #8 on: February 07, 2007, 03:09:25 PM
::shudder::  :-[



Kenny Park

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Reply #9 on: February 10, 2007, 04:02:44 PM
I think this was my favourite Pseudopod story yet.  It was the first one that actually gave me a physiological reaction.  My idea of really great horror is when you can't recommend it to anyone, but you really want to.  This story did that for me.

Here, here.  I didn't find it gratuitously gory at all, just disturbingly real.  The scariest bit for me was the itching navel.  Now THAT freaks me out!



Jim

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Reply #10 on: March 05, 2007, 12:12:07 PM
That was one out of a deep pit of nightmare.

I wish that all the Pseudopod episodes had the same Author tag so that they would appear under one tag in the Podcast Genre part of my iPod instead of each episode being listed under its own author.

In order to listen to a handful of Pseudopod episodes in order, I have to back up to the main menu on my iPod and then find Pseudopod in the Album list and go into it from there.

Or, I can manually change the Artist on the episodes in iTunes and deal with it that way, but it confuses me that Escape Pod has "Steve Eley" as the Artist in each episode while Pseudopod's episodes have the week's artist in the Artist tag.

iTunes ought to incorporate a new tag like "Broadcaster" or something and use that for the Artist tag.

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clichekiller

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Reply #11 on: April 17, 2007, 03:12:26 AM
Overall I didn't like this one.  It seemed to ramble and not really be well defined. 



Unblinking

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Reply #12 on: September 08, 2009, 04:54:36 PM
Wow.  Creepy to the max, and I'm glad I waited til this morning to listen to this instead of listening to it over the weekend--my mom was here to visit and would've created some uncomfortable moments, methinks.

I did have some difficulty with suspension of disbelief near the end.  I mean, the living cord and yearly parasitic connection aside, it just doesn't make sense for him to fit entirely inside her without popping her like an over-ripe melon.  And birth of a child is already straining the bounds of the physical limits of the human body, but ejecting a grown man without permanent harm to either one is just too far for me to believe.



kibitzer

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Reply #13 on: September 21, 2009, 03:28:45 AM
This is the only one I've found disgusting so far. Not saying the story was bad, just describing my reaction to it -- eewww!!! The very idea makes me feel a little ill. Blech.

My reaction surprised me a bit, actually. Not any of the body horror (right label??) stuff I've heard on PP has bothered me. Not 'Orifice', not the one with the screaming turds, not the one with the flying sharpies in the MRI scanner. There you go. I've learned something.


Millenium_King

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Reply #14 on: August 18, 2010, 10:39:05 PM
This one was pretty good.  Really squicky.  However, for such an intimate story, it was a little light on the characterization.  I would have liked to know more about the mother and son's grotesque relationship - rather than more blood and guts.  Good job with the beginning - it kept me listening, wondering what was going to lead to it.

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