Author Topic: Pseudopod 105: Pattern Masters  (Read 15468 times)

Bdoomed

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Reply #25 on: September 08, 2008, 01:21:57 PM
haven't read survivor yet but it's been on the list for a while

this story reminded me of Diary, mostly because of the artist slant

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


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Reply #26 on: September 08, 2008, 02:29:52 PM
Uggh.  I didn't care for Diary.

Just did a little research, and I hadn't realized that Choke had been made into a movie.

Maybe we could all write letters to Mr. Palahniuk and ask him to submit something to PP? 

Nah.



gelee

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Reply #27 on: September 09, 2008, 03:05:39 PM
Reminded me of the chick from Fight Club. 

Really?  I've watched Fight Club literally more than 200 times, and read the book several.  (Paluhnik is one of my favorites).

I didn't see any of Marla in her.
To be perfectly honest, I'm hard put to justify my association, but I still couldn't help seeing Marla (from the movie) in every scene.  I certainly don't mean it as a put down.  I havn't read the novel, but I love the movie.  Perhaps a shared ickiness, for lack of a better term.  Just something vaguely not right in the head, maybe a little self-destructive, with very odd tastes in men.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #28 on: September 09, 2008, 08:59:20 PM
Reminded me of the chick from Fight Club. 

Really?  I've watched Fight Club literally more than 200 times, and read the book several.  (Paluhnik is one of my favorites).

I didn't see any of Marla in her.
To be perfectly honest, I'm hard put to justify my association, but I still couldn't help seeing Marla (from the movie) in every scene.  I certainly don't mean it as a put down.  I havn't read the novel, but I love the movie.  Perhaps a shared ickiness, for lack of a better term.  Just something vaguely not right in the head, maybe a little self-destructive, with very odd tastes in men.
I think what you were seeing is someone who is overtly sexual/uses sex as a tool, and exists on the farthest fringe of society, seeming to operating with out care for social norms.
I agree with Zathras that I don't see it myself, but I understand how you could.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Coyote

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Reply #29 on: September 12, 2008, 04:27:12 AM
This story was one I really enjoyed, because, well, when an author can throw two people together with bad blood between them, similar creepy fascinations, and a power-saw, and manage to not end up with body parts strewn around, then you know for sure that they have some real imagination.

Though I don't recall the Pseudopod story's name, there was another one which was practically the opposite of this one. It starts off with a man with the power to change his appearance to that of anyone, the author tried to make you believe that he has got his lucky day, but because it was on Pseudopod, when the "twist" came and revealed to us that: Shocker! Things weren't going to be okay after all, I just sort of shrugged and said "... and?" This one had me expecting blood and viscera, but instead I found an interesting story, which was exactly the sort of twist I didn't see coming.

The following sentence is false. The previous sentence is true.


Thaurismunths

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Reply #30 on: September 12, 2008, 09:27:07 PM
Though I don't recall the Pseudopod story's name, there was another one which was practically the opposite of this one.

Hmm.. story doesn't ring a bell. Remember anything else about it?
Oh, wait, do you mean "Wild Y" where his power is revealed to him, only to find out he's now a woman?

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DKT

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Reply #31 on: September 12, 2008, 09:32:54 PM
Though I don't recall the Pseudopod story's name, there was another one which was practically the opposite of this one.

Hmm.. story doesn't ring a bell. Remember anything else about it?
Oh, wait, do you mean "Wild Y" where his power is revealed to him, only to find out he's now a woman?

That's the one that sprung to my mind, as well.


Unblinking

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Reply #32 on: November 02, 2009, 09:26:30 PM
This one had some cool ideas, particularly the picture sculpture.  I do find the idea of both the Pattern Master's obsessions extremely creepy.  Makes me think twice about developing photos at a story or over-using my credit card. 

In the end I didn't find it particularly horror-like, but I don't mind that from time to time.



Millenium_King

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Reply #33 on: July 01, 2010, 10:36:02 PM
I wasn't quite sure what to think about this one.

On the one hand: I thought it was well told, I was definately kept interested throughout the second act, I enjoyed all the little twists and turns.

But on the other: I wasn't really sure where this story was going in the beginning, it wasn't too horrific (although I thought it fit right in here at PP) and once or twice I got a little bored during the 1st act.

Also, Patternmaster is a novel by Octavia E. Butler (whom I loathe) - so the title threw me for a little bit.

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Sgarre1

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Reply #34 on: July 23, 2015, 01:51:11 PM
COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

TALES TO TERRIFY's version of "Pattern Masters" (starts at about the 23 minute mark)

http://talestoterrify.com/tales-to-terrify-181-ahern-carlson/



The Far Stairs

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Reply #35 on: July 30, 2015, 06:42:21 PM
Yeah, I knew I remembered hearing this before (on TTT). If two separate horror fiction podcasts think it's horror, it must be horror  ;)

I actually liked this a lot. I'd much rather hear something like this on Pseudopod than another zombie story. I think Clarkesworld has a strict no-zombie policy, and I would love to see Pseudopod do the same.

What's great about this, I would agree, is the subversion of expectations. There's a creeping sense of dread right up until the end, which is probably what qualifies it as horror. The dread gets short-circuited in an unexpected way, and I like that. It's like an experimental genre piece that goes against type. Awesome.

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Sgarre1

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Reply #36 on: July 30, 2015, 06:51:38 PM
Sorry, zombie stories already scheduled for the future.  If we had such a policy in place, we'd never been able to run "Sweetness", which a number of messages indicate was found quite moving by the audience. (same thing holds true for all the supposedly exhausted tropes - Lovecraftian Mythos, English Ghost Story, vampires - no plans to put in blocks - you are a large audience and different people like different things)

All kinds of horror out there, folks. Haven't even begun to scratch the surface. You'll have to trust our instincts...
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 06:56:57 PM by Sgarre1 »



The Far Stairs

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Reply #37 on: July 30, 2015, 08:39:45 PM
Haha, it's cool. I really shouldn't be suggesting some kind of zombie segregation. Zombies are people too. Used to be people, anyway.

Jesse Livingston
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