PseudoPod 749: Notes on a Resurrection

[Bdoomed]

PseudoPod 749: Notes on a Resurrection

Author: Natalia Theodoridou
Narrators: Scott Campbell, Graeme Dunlop, Kitty Sarkozy, Kat Day, Alex Hofelich, Jamie Grimes, Shawn Garrett, Karen Bovenmyer, Adrian Howard, Timothy Menzel, Christiana Ellis, Nika Harper, and Marguerite Kenner
Host: Alasdair Stuart
Audio Producer: Marty Perrett

“Notes on a Resurrection” was originally published in Strange Horizons (July 2019).


Show Notes
The Feast Day of Lazarus is March 17 for the Eastern Orthodox Church.


the reporter

I heard about the story from the friend of a friend of an acquaintance, and didn’t put any stock in it at first. In my profession, you hear things like this with some frequency. You’d be a fool if you went running every time you heard someone cry fire. And if you end up getting your whiskers singed once or twice, you should consider yourself lucky.

But this?

I keep asking myself why didn’t I stop them. I was there. I was the only sane one, right? Personally unaffected by the tragedy. That’s what the judge said, anyway, even though I was never prosecuted. Not by the law, anyway. People stopped asking eventually, but I never stopped asking myself, all these years. Probably never will. For a long time I hid behind professional clichés: we’re there to report, not influence, blah blah blah. All I can say now in my defense is: who would want to be the person who robbed a people of their miracle? No matter how certain your lack of faith, how level your head. You know?

And in the end, I wonder, did we kill a kid or did we kill a god, and does it possibly make a difference.


Listen to this week's PseudoPod.
Follow us on YouTube and Spotify!

[Álex Souza]

This story was… OK.

I usually don’t listen to the stories; I prefer to read the stories because it’s faster when you read on your own. However, when the entire cast serves as narrators, you must listen. I didn’t think the ensemble was necessary, until the end. The story builds up with different POVs of the same event (the resurrection, duh), which is a biblical rip-off.

The dread in this story doesn’t come from blood or gore or even psychological horror. The dread comes from grief. And in that it delivers.

The boy Lazarus not exactly being Lazarus anymore reminded me of Pet Sematary.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending, narrated by almost everyone, wouldn’t be the same if it were read by a sole narrator. It reminded me of Frankenstein.

[Scuba Man]

I found this story a tough one to finish. I liked how it was told from different points of view.