Pseudopod 106: Jihad over Innsmouth

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 106: Jihad over Innsmouth

By Edward Morris

Read by Ben Phillips

A cold, black, liquescent fear laps at the edges of my heart as I approach the first gate in the long Caliph’s Maze of Airport Security. Some darker force is trying to sway me unobtrusively away, to make me renege my retainer’s oath, cut my losses and run headlong to South America with the dwindling remains of my bank account.

Should I die on my quest, a first-class seat in Paradise awaits me. In my time, I have lived through every hell Shaitan could possibly devise right here on Earth, moving behind newspaper headlines which even Al-Jazeera fears to run. Enquiring minds want to know, but some truths are better left to the darkness at the center of the universe, to be drowned out by the skirlings of the blind piper and his retinue of idiot flute-players...



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[DKT]

Great story from Edward Morris.  I've read several things by him in MD that I liked, but this is easily my favorite.  The idea of the faithful Muslim Arab on an airplane being part of the last line of defense between us and true terror was fantastic -- as Alasdair said, it played with tropes and subverted them. 

Great reading by Ben, of course.  I especially liked his "pilot" voice.

I picked out that Stephen King (Dick Bachman) was the narrator's writing sponsor.  I couldn't quite figure out who the comic book writer was, but I had a few ideas (BKV or maybe Steve Niles -- I figure it's got to be a younger guy as the "kid" nickname).

Anyway, good stuff. 

[Zathras]

I started out not caring too much for this story.  I really thought I was going to get hit upside the head with the stereotype stick through the whole thing.  I was thrilled with the direction it took.  I thought the comic writer was a nice touch.

Oh, and clobbering the YUPPI?  Priceless.

[Chivalrybean]

I was stoked as soon as I saw the title in my iPod. I started the story with baited breath. The story did not disappoint. I started listening, and I was expecting to hear from the perspective of an Innsmouthian, so having it be an Muslim was a surprise and thus lured me further into the story. As soon as he sat next to the tacklehead (rimshot), I was truly hooked into the story. When i had finished listening, I weighted it on the scales of entertainment, and it was not found wanting. I come from the school of Lovecfraft fans, and I am glad to have heard this tail.

I think I'm out of puns now. Go fish.

In other news, coincidentally, just two days ago I finished my rough draft of a story that takes place UNDER Innsmouth. Spooky. 

[gelee]

YAY.  So often, writers work with the old Lovecraft material by trying to imitate HPL.  That might make sense if most of his fiction weren't coming up on 80 years old.  Great job of taking an old idea in a NEW direction.  Great reading from Ben, as always.  I also really appreciated Al's comments about the story at the end of the episode.  Nice job of helping me understand why I liked this story so much.  Incidently, I'd like to point out that Al has become my favorite podcast host, even surpassing Steve Eley in his Magnificent Host-iness.  Good job, Pseudopod Team!

[MacArthurBug]

This really threw me for a loop. Not much need be said beyond "wow!"

[Void Munashii]

  I really enjoyed every minute of this story. It was well read, well written, and well paced. The imagery was fantastic, I could easily see the semi-human devouring his sushi.

  I too got a kick out of the Stephen King reference, and take comfort knowing that all the money I have spent on his books over the years is going towards eradicating monsters.

[600south]

(much welcomed and unexpected) plot directions aside, i really loved this one. i felt the writing was rich and vivid to the point where i felt i was sitting next to the main characters on that plane. the Reverend was so well-done i could almost smell him. probably one of my favorite Pseudopods ever, so thanks!

[MacArthurBug]

I also caught and appriciated the Stephen King reference! Thought that was a fun touch!

[JoeFitz]

Very worried that this would go horribly wrong. And it did; but didn't! Well done PP!

[bolddeceiver]

Damn, that was great, and as I mentioned before I'm not predisposed to like anything Lovecraft-related.

[Thaurismunths]

Based on the title I was ready to listen to a modern horror piece about Muslim extremists. Even as he wound through the Caliph's maze I thought the horror must be from seeing a suicide bombing from the inside (sounded terrifying to me), or perhaps the atrocities carried out by our 'civilized society' in the name of safety? Imagine my joy.. er, terror when it was Dagon! Woo-Hoo!

Personally, I think it's pretty damn cool that you guys ran a story with a Muslim hero.
Maybe Allah vs. Cthulhu will be the next Pirates vs. Ninjas?

[contra]

That was awesome.  Thanks.
I was expecting a cliche or something of terrible taste that would put me off Pseudopod for a while...

But no.  My fav one so far.  Well top 5.  Easily.

Thank you.

[cede]

great story, long live richard bachman!!

[Listener]

I didn't expect it to be lovecraftian. The twist of the trope -- which I half-expected given that the main character is of Arabic descent -- was at least somewhat interesting.

I did not like the references to Mr. Bachman and "growing up in Arkham". They made the story less interesting to me, and more clever/cutesy.

I liked the surreal elements.

Is it really a two-hour flight from LaGuardia to Logan? Kayak.com says about an hour.

[Loz]

That was really fun, having read very little actual Lovecraft I suspect that there was a lot that went over my head, but it still left enough for me to enjoy. It left me wanting to know 'the kid's story, what he was doing being there.

It also leads me to hope that Pseudopod does 'Shoggoth's Old Peculiar' by Neil Gaiman at some point, though it would probably leave half it's audience going "What the hell?" 

[evo.shandor]

Great piece, great ride, great fun.  With plenty of inside references to keep me interested and let me know you're one of "us".

Probably the best Lovecraft-inspired story I've come across since John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness that proposes Lovecraft's monsters are real and are in contact with Stephen King...or something.  It's a twisty movie, but fun.

Back to this one, I think the whole idea of Dagonism as the motivation for terrorism against the west.  Imagine a novel of this where an Islamic assassin and his Arkham-born partner are America's last hope against the supernatural power-wielding terrorists...and their giant sea creature gods, of course.  Cloverfield meets 24.

[Animite]

I must agree with the masses on this one. This story was a new twist on an old story that worked. The ability to take an old tale and rearrange it to fit the current climes of the times can take some imaginative brain power, but here it is executed with panache.

I loved the descriptions of the fish/reverend. Slurping sushi, speaking in slow slurs, and causing paranormal havoc on the airflight only added to the overall creep factor.

Now if only there were some way in the real world we could convince the followers of Islam of something fundamentally more corrupt than the decadent West? 

[eytanz]

I didn't expect it to be lovecraftian. The twist of the trope -- which I half-expected given that the main character is of Arabic descent -- was at least somewhat interesting.

I did not like the references to Mr. Bachman and "growing up in Arkham". They made the story less interesting to me, and more clever/cutesy.

I agree regarding the Mr. Bachman mention, but - given that the word "Innsmouth" doesn't automatically register with you as Lovecraftian - I'm assuming you're taking the name "Arkham" to be a reference to Batman, and are unaware that Batman borrowed a name from Lovecraft there, and that the city of Arkham is an integral part of the Lovecraft mythos?

[Listener]

I didn't expect it to be lovecraftian. The twist of the trope -- which I half-expected given that the main character is of Arabic descent -- was at least somewhat interesting.

I did not like the references to Mr. Bachman and "growing up in Arkham". They made the story less interesting to me, and more clever/cutesy.

I agree regarding the Mr. Bachman mention, but - given that the word "Innsmouth" doesn't automatically register with you as Lovecraftian - I'm assuming you're taking the name "Arkham" to be a reference to Batman, and are unaware that Batman borrowed a name from Lovecraft there, and that the city of Arkham is an integral part of the Lovecraft mythos?

I didn't know that. My entire experience of Lovecraftian fiction is from Pseudopod and the occasional fantasy/horror anthology.

[DKT]

I didn't expect it to be lovecraftian. The twist of the trope -- which I half-expected given that the main character is of Arabic descent -- was at least somewhat interesting.

I did not like the references to Mr. Bachman and "growing up in Arkham". They made the story less interesting to me, and more clever/cutesy.

I agree regarding the Mr. Bachman mention, but - given that the word "Innsmouth" doesn't automatically register with you as Lovecraftian - I'm assuming you're taking the name "Arkham" to be a reference to Batman, and are unaware that Batman borrowed a name from Lovecraft there, and that the city of Arkham is an integral part of the Lovecraft mythos?

So...who was that comic book writer?  I would've guessed Grant Morrison, except he was name-checked.

[taueret]

I liked this story!  Nice twists.

[Leon Kensington]

Favorite PP yet!  I want more Lovecraftian horror!!!

[jalan]

This...was...fantastic

[goatkeeper]

I second everything Chivarlybean said.

The Esoteric Order of Dagon vs Muslim extemists?  Nothing cooler, sorry. Except maybe colossal squid vs sperm whales.

Personally I was rooting for the fish folk, but they never seem to win (in the short term at least).  They don't call 'em the 'Old Ones' for nuthin!"

[Sgarre1]

I enjoyed this.  Lots of fun, pulpy ideas.

There was a little too much pop-culture name-checking (the very INVISIBLES-esque "forcing out the attempted possession" bit would have worked a bit better if we hadn't have had Grant Morrison name-checked for no really discernible reason except, hey, he's cool - which he is, and so is WSB, but come on) and I generally find that stories in which mankind has any hope at all in defeating Lovecraftian entities miss the point of Lovecraft entirely.  But then, this is pulp and so we have to have a protagonist to root for, I guess.

And I can't help but find it funny that the story gets praised for having a non-stereotypical "Muslim in hijacked airplane scenario" with nary a peep about a twinkling Dr. Smith (another name check, that) stereotype breezing through. Less prickly subject, I guess.

But it was all meant in good fun and good fun it was. Looking forward to more from this writer.

Also, as I never tire of this interesting subject, this was a another good example of a story that "read" well - I mean that not as a comment on whether it was good or bad story (I'm sure much Tom Clancy technospyfetishcrap "reads" well to whatever poor sods buy those audiobooks) or a well or poorly written story, but that the style lent itself to being read aloud.  An example in the other direction was "The Teacher" which seemed like a story I probably would have enjoyed more on the printed page, but found a bit muddy and unfocused when read aloud (and, again to clarify, that's no comment on the reader's abilties either, which is another factor in the mix).  There's no quantifiable approach to my theory-in-progress yet (other than the obvious "first person narratives work better"), but I'm beginning to feel that something more than personal subjectivity might be at work.

No comments on the preceding few stories as they didn't impress ("Pattern Masters" had promise, even with the un-engaging slacker artist characters, but for the monumentally underwhelming yet over-considered ending.  "Dear Killer" - what can I say except that I saw this on an Alfred Hitchcock Presents repeat from the 1960's when I was 8 and then read it in an issue of "House Of Secrets" when I was 10 and then...).

Thanks For Listening

“One must be cold if one wishes to savor chaos.”
Ferdinand Hardekopf, “The Mental Link” (1912)

[Corydon]

This was my first Pseudopod story.  I'm not really that interested in horror, but I do have a soft spot for Lovecraft (whom I see as more fantasy, and not that scary, anyhow), and was intrigued by the title.  It didn't disappoint, for all the reasons that others have outlined above: great mood, exciting story, neat inversion of the terrorism trope.

Two minor beefs, concerning two minor characters.  I found the swishy flight attendant was a little grating (and yeah, an unnecessary stereotype).  And the comic book guy read as a real Mary Sue: the unexpectedly badass geek who tags along, unfazed by a little supernatural violence.  Which, given the knowing (and sometimes winking) pastiche that makes up the rest of the story, may have been intentional- but it was a false note in an otherwise terrific story.

[Unblinking]

This was a cool idea.  I liked how the obvious stereotypes in the beginning were turned on their head.  I'm not familiar enough with Lovecraft's work to get the Arkham reference or know who the Dagons are.

But, there were a few places it fell flat for me, which dropped the story from a "love it" to a "pretty good".
1.  The Stephen King name drop was pointless.  I'm supposed to like the story because it mentions a famous horror writer?  Nah.
2.  The Dagon, after being described as being such a major threat, is taken down too easily.  After the whole flight is terrified including this guy, and then he takes him out in a couple seconds without any particularly spectacular moves.
3.  The guy who helped him suddenly turning out to kick ass was kind of tacked on, like the writer wrote himself into a corner and didn't know what else to do.

[jalan]

story=ugh.

[Unblinking]

For anyone who liked this story, but isn't caught up on Escape Pod stories, you might want to check out the outro for EP228:  Everything that Matters. In the outro is closing music titled "Heartache Over Innsmouth" by Norm Sherman, which is a love song about a man who is in love with a Dagon(sp?) girl.  It's really hilarious.  How can you not like a song with the phrase "quasi-Icthian angel"? 
http://escapepod.org/2009/12/10/ep228-everything-that-matters/

[Fenrix]

This was a cool idea.  I liked how the obvious stereotypes in the beginning were turned on their head.  I'm not familiar enough with Lovecraft's work to get the Arkham reference or know who the Dagons are.

But, there were a few places it fell flat for me, which dropped the story from a "love it" to a "pretty good".
1.  The Stephen King name drop was pointless.  I'm supposed to like the story because it mentions a famous horror writer?  Nah.
2.  The Dagon, after being described as being such a major threat, is taken down too easily.  After the whole flight is terrified including this guy, and then he takes him out in a couple seconds without any particularly spectacular moves.
3.  The guy who helped him suddenly turning out to kick ass was kind of tacked on, like the writer wrote himself into a corner and didn't know what else to do.

I don't mind the Stephen King name drop. King name drops HPL and his mythos on a regular basis. I recall a section in Needful Things where a character goes to some other town to get a car. Spraypainted on the wall of the storage garage was "Yogg Sothoth Rules!" I recall this because the edition I was reading had the spray paint artist rendered and covering at least half a page. Checking the checker is an acceptable practice; being a fanboi of a fanboi does not necessarily make a story fanfic.

The creature was becoming a Deep One. Dagon is their god (based on an old Philistine or Moabite god), one of the Great Old Ones who lives under the sea and will one day rise up and devour us all. I recommend picking up a copy of Shadow Over Innsmouth and giving it a read (or pick up the movie Dagon, which is a pretty decent interpretation of that story) and this story will make more sense. There's probably a bunch of other stories that will make more sense after reading that. I'd categorize that story as one of the keystone stories in the HPL mythos.

I saw the extra guy as the another player character, and this story was the introductory portion of a Hunter campaign. I'm ok with that.

Thanks for the EP recommendation. I've put it in my queue.

[Millenium_King]

Yuck.  I just started listening to this one (I'll edit this and finish my review when I'm done).  I found the author's attempt to immitate Lovecraft's voice clumsy and irregular.  It's really off-putting to suddenly hear "shew" in the middle of a story which is otherwise told with very modern diction, cadence and syntax.  It's like the story was written in modern tone, then a "find-and-replace" search done with a Lovecraft dictionary.  I also disliked the "cramming in" of as many mythos elements as possible in the first minute or so (Azathoth, the pipers, the Black Man etc.).

[Millenium_King]

Okay, I listened to the rest of it.  I'll offer a dissenting opinion here and say I was pretty underwhelmed.  My gripes about the jarring inclusion of archaic and Lovecraftian words still stand and I found the concept as a whole a little shallow.

I am naturally predisposed against these sort of takes on the mythos, however.  I feel confused when other people call them "original takes" on the mythos.  The way I see it, Lovecraft did all the heavy lifting: inventing brooding worlds of terror, monstrous inhuman abominations and an atmosphere of encroaching cosmic madness.  These sort of works take his elements, cram them into a more modern plot and expect them to stand on their own.

Any fear or dread elicited by the fishy-horrors in this story were entirely Lovecraft's doing.  The author said the words "Innsmouth" and "Dagon," but relied on Lovecraft to make them scary.  If the Innsmouth creatures were replaced by identical, but differently named creatures unatached to the mythos, they would come across as goofy and relatively non-threatening.  Only because Lovecraft already did all the hard work of making them scary does this story work.  In my opinion, that's more than a little lazy, and doesn't really hold a candle to other mythos works - even those derivitive ones by other authors ("Terror in Cut-throat Cove" by Robert Bloch comes to mind).