Pseudopod 146: The Button Bin

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 146: The Button Bin

By Mike Allen
Read by Wilson Fowlie

Willett’s thin, angular face, with the stubble-shrouded cleft in his chin, remains handsome, or would have without the fleshy puckers where his eyes once were. But it’s as if those scars can see, because he turns to you.

You’re finally here, he says. His voice sounds choked with grit.

Do you know where Denise is?

He laughs. It’s a bark tinged with hysteria. Yes. Yes. Lenahan has her. He put us both deep under but he only kept what he wanted from me. Denise, he kept all of her. He planned to all along.

Who’s Lenahan?

Maybe, maybe – and now he’s struggling to speak, as though someone just told him an incredible joke and he’s still gasping for breath — maybe if you ask nice he’ll bring her back. He wanted me to tell you if you asked. He told me to.

Who is he?

And Willett tells you.

This week’s episode sponsored by Audible.com, who offers Pseudopod listeners a free audiobook download of their choice from Audible’s selection of over 60,000 titles.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[H. Bergeron]

Haven't listened to this version yet, but I've already heard the story over at Starship Sofa (and loved it there).

Just wondering - why does it seem like there have been a bunch of story overlaps with the Sofa?  Is it intentional, or a result of some mechanism that I am unaware of?  It it just that both Escape Artists and the Sofa pick awesome stories?

[Zathras]

Big solid meh.

[Zathras]

Al just gets the blood

[deflective]

plot wise this felt like Clive Barker, which i intend as a compliment.

on the other hand the second-person narrative is a hard device to use in any situation.  it takes two or three pages for the reader just to settle down and get used to the style, there needs to be a real reason for an author to use it.  in this story there were moments when the pov and present tense writing started giving me a sense of immediacy but then the non-linear timeline would shatter it completely.

second-person narratives almost always come off as a writing exercise instead of a subtly chosen device, this story didn't break that trend.

[MacArthurBug]

I liked this one- seriously skin crawlie creepy.
I'm a.. collecter of odd things. I swore I recognised some of the buttons described and am now only more then half tempted to expand my button clooection- if only for the sheer glee of popping out of a bin of them and going "ooga booga!"

[Portrait in Flesh]

This probably explains why the Amish don't like buttons.

[Listener]

The reading was up to this reader's usual high standards.

I think the real creepiness of the story is the relationship between Shawn (Our Hero) and Denise, especially when it's revealed at the end that he had sex with her when she was underage. It was hard to figure out the exact relationship, since I think they have the same father but he's referred to as an uncle... or something? I kept coming back to that, trying to figure out how they were related. If Shawn could have saved her -- if Linehan had just had her in a closet or something, locked up -- what would he have done? Tried to form a relationship with her? Become abusive if she said no? He seemed to be kind of a messed-up dude to begin with -- not necessarily obvious, but I knew there was something off about him from the moment we heard about the cheering for Denise in softball.

Anyway, good story, though I felt it might have been a little long and the detour off to Billy Willett's house was overly drawn-out.

[Wilson Fowlie]

It was hard to figure out the exact relationship, since I think they have the same father

No, not quite.

Denise's mother was Sean's half-sister; Sean's father is Denise's grandfather. So Sean is Denise's (half-)uncle. 

Denise's father was the guy described near the beginning as the guy who was jailed for abusing Denise's mother.  Neither of them, nor Sean's mother, is named, so it's a little hard to keep track of the family tree.

[RolandSwift]

The story was dampened by the 2nd person perspective. Otherwise, the use of the button was a sold device.

[eytanz]

First, let me agree that the second person narration was a major mistake, nearly destroying an effective creepy tale.

Second, Denise the niece? Ok, maybe this was a bigger groaner in audio than in print, but seriously.

Once I managed to get over the above, however, it was, as I said, quite effective and creepy.

[Wilson Fowlie]

Second, Denise the niece? Ok, maybe this was a bigger groaner in audio than in print, but seriously.

You know, I'm usually quite attuned to wordplay, plus I've heard that old joke dozens of times. And I still didn't catch that until you said it (well, until I read you saying it ).

[Ben Phillips]

Just wondering - why does it seem like there have been a bunch of story overlaps with the Sofa?  Is it intentional, or a result of some mechanism that I am unaware of?  It it just that both Escape Artists and the Sofa pick awesome stories?

We sometimes pull stories from between the cushions of the Starship Sofa while searching for loose change.

[Russell Nash]

I really liked the storyline and the visuals.  The second person POV annoyed me too.  The fact that I still really liked it tells me that this could have been a total kick ass story if it had a standard POV.

[DKT]

Second, Denise the niece? Ok, maybe this was a bigger groaner in audio than in print, but seriously.

Huh. I totally missed that. I can see how it would be jarring.

Once I got into the story and got past the second-person narrative, I found this to be pretty damn creepy and very well done.

[Zathras]

I can see how it would be jarring.

Groan

[DKT]

I can see how it would be jarring.

Groan

Huh-wha?

[Zathras]

I can see how it would be jarring.

Groan

Huh-wha?

Your mother, or grandmother, never had a button jar?  I thought you were making a pun.   

[Bdoomed]

I can see how it would be jarring.

Groan

Huh-wha?

Your mother, or grandmother, never had a button jar?  I thought you were making a pun.  

dont worry zorag... i thought it was a pun too, even though i never had a button jar.

[DKT]

I can see how it would be jarring.

Groan

Huh-wha?

Your mother, or grandmother, never had a button jar?  I thought you were making a pun.   

Ah. No, my mother never had a button jar. But now I understand why you felt so...oh, nevermind

So...does this qualify as you outgroaning yourself?

[thomasowenm]

Didn't do much for me, although  in fairness my attention was not fully engaged on the story, driving does that to me.

I found the narrative styling very irritating.   I hate flashbacks, with very few exceptions, but constantly being thrown out of the narative made me realize why.  I would start to get into the story and bang here comes another flashback causing me to recalibrate without really adding anything new to the narrative.

And I too like Listener had thought Denise was the Protags half sis up until the end.  It left me with a WTF moment.

[umamei]

I liked this story.  It was a little hard to follow while walking home from classes--lots of traffic here, have to walk with one ear listening for cars--but overall I thought the imagery was very cool, and the ending became creepier than I had expected.  This was not a story whose ending I could have predicted, and I appreciate that.  And who knew buttons could be so creepy?

[Jagash]

Have to say that I wasn't a fan myself.  This story falls into the new weird category imo and it's odd pacing and general weird vibe didn't add to my enjoyment.  I actually couldn't listen to the story continuously, first time I heard it was on Starship Sofa and it put me to sleep there as well.   It's a pity, but this was one of the few I didn't appreciate nearly as much.

[Unblinking]

This story was very good, but it could have been fantastic if 2nd person hadn't been used.

I never would have suspected buttons could be used as a horror device so effectively, nice to give creepy new implications to everyday mundanities.  I really liked the ending and the questions of what will happen next.  If you "wear" someone else's entire body, who will be in control?

I do have to wonder why 2nd person was chosen for this, it was a constant annoyance throughout the whole thing, and its a testament to the contents of the story that I was able to finish it at all.  I mean, the story's being told as though I experienced it, but I didn't.  And even if I did, why would I need someone to tell me what I experienced?  Without a justification for that question, any 2nd person story is certain to annoy me (even if the plot itself is fantastic).

[Sgarre1]

I mean, the story's being told as though I experienced it, but I didn't.  And even if I did, why would I need someone to tell me what I experienced?  Without a justification for that question, any 2nd person story is certain to annoy me (even if the plot itself is fantastic).

Maybe because someone is wearing your entire body and they're in control?