Pseudopod 013: Redmond’s Private Screening

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 013: Redmond’s Private Screening

By Kevin J. Anderson
Read by Scott Sigler

Redmond laughed nervously. His face had too many freckles, his skin was too pasty, his personality too slippery. “A lot of people are trying to get into this new movie business, but not usually by killing themselves on film.” He sheathed the blade and handed the slim katana back.

Michael frowned at how low he himself had fallen, how disappointed the spirits of his own dead family must be. “Most directors do not wish to photograph such a spectacle either, and most patrons do not wish to see the result. But there are exceptions everywhere.” He gave Redmond a cold stare. “You and I know how to find them.”

The director raised his chin, pontificating. “Fifteen years ago, people flocked to nickelodeons to see a man sneeze, to watch a waterfall or a running horse. Today, we’ve got to give them something more for their money, eh?”

“I’m sure we do.”

With a deaf ear for his assistant’s sarcasm, Redmond strutted around the floor, looking at the natural light, at the position of the white blanket, but Michael had already set everything up perfectly. The three Japanese followed the director with their eyes, like animals in a cage.


Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[kibitzer]

OK, now this one surprised the hell out of me. Since Mr Anderson has written so many "fanfic" works, I assumed he was a hack-for-hire. Let me say, then, this story shattered that illusion entirely.

I had a genuine sense of many emotions from this:

• fascinated yet ashamed car-crash bystander (could not look away)
• horrified participant in a suicide
• outrage
• feeling of inevitability of the (sometime) meanness of humans (a buck is all that matters)
• revenge
• justice, of a sort

Nicely done. Loved it.

[DKT]

I remember reading this story waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in Weird Tales (I think). I wasn't feeling particularly good when I started, and by the time I finished, I felt genuinely sick.

Nice job, Other Kevin Anderson!

[Unblinking]

I enjoyed this one, and was excited to come across Kevin J. Anderson since I have interacted with him on a couple places on the Interwebz.  The reading was overall very good, though I found the director's voicing distracting.  I do wish the protag had been more actively involved.  As it was, it wasn't really his story.  But overall, very good.  The details of the disemboweling made me queasy.  I thought the cultural details were very interesting, particularly the trapped situation of the parents.

One thing that bugged me though is how easy the decapitation was.  Granted, I've never seen a decapitation, so maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it's as easy as all the movies and books make it out to be.  I mean, to sever the head you have to sever the spine, which is made mostly of bone.  Even with a very sharp instrument and a high speed swing, I'm skeptical.  With that kind of momentum, something's got to give, but rather than the bone splitting, I think it much more likely that the sword would make a partial cut through the spine and the rest of the momentum would be transferred to knocking the man over with his head still half attached.  To sever in one swing, I think the body really has to braced against something--that's why a guillotine is so efficient, the body is held against the block, so the momentum of the blade can't shift it.  But anyway, making that more realistic wouldn't really affect the story, it was just a detail that bugged me.

[kibitzer]

Because of their method of manufacture, samurai swords were amazingly sharp and deft. Or so I'm told.

[Unblinking]

Because of their method of manufacture, samurai swords were amazingly sharp and deft. Or so I'm told.

True, and while they are very light and keen weapons, they are designed to kill, not to sever bones.  It could likely sever a head if the body were braced, but I still don't think it would work for someone who is upright.

[Millenium_King]

Eh.  I listened to half of this then tried to finish it the next day, but just couldn't.  The concept of filming Seppuku was interesting, but the first 50-60% of it was just the description of a snuff film.  Not enough to hold my interest.