Pseudopod 152: Hometown Horrible

[Bdoomed]

You sir, are awesome.

[Millenium_King]

Snore.  This is not an original idea.  Not for the author and not for the Lovecraft-pastiche Helmut Finch:  Robert W. Chambers wrote this story back in 1895 and it was called "The King in Yellow."  Furthermore, the pseudo-science of memetic theory certainly predates that quack Richard Dawkins.

I don't know if it's because I despise stories about writers, or because I found the idea of a Lovecraft pastiche to be very, very well-worn ground (people were writing Lovecraft pastiche's when he was ALIVE for the love of God - "The Shambler from the Stars," "The Shadow from the Steeple" et al) but this story was DULL as dishwater.

This is another story where it's entire success or failure rests on "the big reveal" at the end (ie. the action and tension in the plot center around the revelation to the reader, not to the characters).  Revelations like that have to be truly BIG and original to work; anyone familiar with Lovecraft saw this one coming a mile away.

[ThinlyVeiledAlias]

I thought this one was really well done.  Millenium King complained about it covering ground already covered by Robert Chambers and Lovecraft.  I read it as more of a stalker's love letter to Chambers, Lovecraft and all the great old practitioners of weird fiction. Bravo.

[m_bey]

For everyone who enjoyed my retrospective article on the works of Helmut Finch, it has come to my attention that a new Helmut Finch story has been unearthed by author C. Deskin Rink. This is a very exciting time for Finch scholars, it's been only a few months since I unveiled the previously unknown "The Mind Worms" at the Duluth BoneCon.

The story is "What They Consumed" and it's read by our very own Alasdair Stuart at Cast Macabre. This story is required listening for anyone who considers themselves a serious Finch fan.

[kibitzer]

For everyone who enjoyed my retrospective article on the works of Helmut Finch, it has come to my attention that a new Helmut Finch story has been unearthed by author C. Deskin Rink. This is a very exciting time for Finch scholars, it's been only a few months since I unveiled the previously unknown "The Mind Worms" at the Duluth BoneCon.

The story is "What They Consumed" and it's read by our very own Alasdair Stuart at Cast Macabre. This story is required listening for anyone who considers themselves a serious Finch fan.

I feel a bit like a carnival barker or something...

Listened to "What They Consumed" over on Cast Macabre and really enjoyed it. Worth a listen, folks.

[Fenrix]

Loved the story and have downloaded the Cast Macabre follow-up.

[Fenrix]

The story is "What They Consumed" and it's read by our very own Alasdair Stuart at Cast Macabre. This story is required listening for anyone who considers themselves a serious Finch fan.

Creepy story. Helmut Finch is definately a contemporary of Lovecraft, but not nearly as adept a wordsmith. Alasdair did a great job with the narration, but a Wisconsin accent would have been really interesting to hear.

[Millenium_King]

The story is "What They Consumed" and it's read by our very own Alasdair Stuart at Cast Macabre. This story is required listening for anyone who considers themselves a serious Finch fan.

Creepy story. Helmut Finch is definately a contemporary of Lovecraft, but not nearly as adept a wordsmith. Alasdair did a great job with the narration, but a Wisconsin accent would have been really interesting to hear.

Finch is a bit of a hack.  I would not expect too much from him.

[Fenrix]

After reading The King in Yellow, I appreciated this story more. For anyone who appreciated this story, do yourself a favor and go grab a copy and read it (available for free over at Gutenberg) or grab the audio from Libravox. There's a narration by Peter Yearsley that's significantly better than your average Libravox entry.

"Best New Horror" didn't make me think of this one at all. I may have to re-read that one and look for the viral aspect. I mostly thought of slush reading and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[The Far Stairs]

I think this may still be my favorite long-form Pseudopod story of all time. Four words: "...dancing in diseased wickedness..."

[generalvostok]

I absolutely loved this story.  Being a fan of Lovecraft, his correspondents, and successors, this use of a false canon of an obscure author really resonates with me.  It's not an arcane tome like the Necronomicon or a single decadent play like The King in Yellow, but instead a group stories poured over lovingly by a small set of kooks.  As someone who's combed the web for long out of print anthologies, chased the fabled Deep One romance novel of Brian McNaughton, and listened to the difficulties of a friend searching through old dirty magazines for the pseudonymous stories of a small time author, this story strikes a deeper chord with me than any other on this podcast.

As for Yearsley and his King in Yellow reading, I agree that it's excellent.  He's also done an M. R. James reading that's equally excellent.

[Fenrix]

As for Yearsley and his King in Yellow reading, I agree that it's excellent.  He's also done an M. R. James reading that's equally excellent.

Thanks for the tip! It's easy to overlook good stuff when perusing Libravox.

[doctornemo]

I finally got to listen to "Hometown Horrible" after somehow missing it when it first appeared.  Someone cited it recently, and I didn't recall the story, so dug it up and stuffed it into my ears.

What fun!  The satire is extensive and cruel, from Derleth to Lovecraft to horror fans.  The author clearly knows his upper midwest.  The metafiction felt like a tribute to Chambers et al, and a knowing one.

[shanehalbach]

I had reason to think of this story today, and I just wanted to pop in here and go down on record saying this is one of my favorite episodes of all time. Here we are, what, 6 years later? And I could still recall the title to this one.

[Marlboro]

For everyone who enjoyed my retrospective article on the works of Helmut Finch, it has come to my attention that a new Helmut Finch story has been unearthed by author C. Deskin Rink. This is a very exciting time for Finch scholars, it's been only a few months since I unveiled the previously unknown "The Mind Worms" at the Duluth BoneCon.

The story is "What They Consumed" and it's read by our very own Alasdair Stuart at Cast Macabre. This story is required listening for anyone who considers themselves a serious Finch fan.

Thanks for the heads up! Alasdair sounds a lot like his dad in portions of this story. Particularly the "plunged it into that abomination's fetid heart" line.