Pseudopod 015: Regis St. George

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 015: Regis St. George

By Maria Deira
Read by Mur Lafferty

“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. Regis St. George hell,” he moaned.

“Yeah, I sent you to hell,” I said.

“Why, please, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa?” He looked at me, his crooked fingers pulling at his hair. I almost felt sorry for the little bastard.

Almost.

“Because that’s where you belong.”

“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. Deal. Regis St. George. Deal. Hell not deal,” he said, shaking his head.

“First of all, you ate my cat,” I said.

Regis St. George grinned at me, baring a mouth full of sharp, little teeth.

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[Fenrix]

I'll start out a bit controversial and say that I'm not a huge fan of Mur's reading style. That being said, she nailed this one. The story was fun and Mur made the characters really come alive. The whole was definately better than the sum of its parts.

[Scattercat]

Mur's reading makes this story one of the winningest of all wins.  This one and "Dedicate Your Life to Beauty" are two of my favorite readings ever, even though I, too, usually am not overly thrilled with Mur's reading.

I maintain what I said in the blog back when I read this.  The world needs a Regis St. George plush toy.

[Unblinking]

I maintain what I said in the blog back when I read this.  The world needs a Regis St. George plush toy.

I'd buy one!  It can be friends with Cthulhu plushy.

This one was read very well by Mur.  It's been months since I listened to it, and the "Lisa Lisa Lisa" still makes me laugh.    It just wouldn't be the same.  And I liked that in this story not all denizens of hell are immortal and devious.

However, I didn't like that the narrator kept secrets from me.  I'm a big fan of unreliable narrator stories, but for me to like that aspect there has to be a reason for the unreliability:  such as one character lying to another (The Usual Suspects), embellishing to enhance character (Big Fish), or the character not understanding what is going on (Flowers for Algernon).  In this case, though, the narrator was lying simply so that the story could have a twist.  That, I don't care for.

[kibitzer]

Dammit, you got there first, Unblinking -- was gonna say that "Lisa Lisa Lisa" thing as well! I also loved the absolute absurdity of this monster-thing getting about in a shortie Tina Turner number. Quite grotesque!

[kurtgw]

Catching up on the old pseudopods...

I liked this one a lot.  I saw it coming about halfway through, when she tells Regis St. George "no deal, you didn't finish the job". Quiet, unassuming, but evil and manipulative.  Mur's reading was spot-on for the narrator.

And I ABSOLUTELY would buy a Regis St. George plushie. Especially if it came in the gold lame top and miniskirt.

[Scattercat]

And I ABSOLUTELY would buy a Regis St. George plushie. Especially if it came in the gold lame top and miniskirt.

Maybe several outfits, and with a squeeze-activated voicebox.

"Lisa Lisa Lisa!"

[Millenium_King]

I really enjoyed this one.  The characters were interesting, our little demon did a good job of straddling the humorous and benign vs. serious and deadly line (ie. Stephen Speilburg's Gremlins).  The one thing that I did not understand, however, was the nature of Lisa's agreement with the little bastard.  It seemed to me that she was going to trade sex for her friend's death - right?  But doesn't that mean the contract went unfulfilled?  Won't the little shit be back?

[Millenium_King]

I want to add that I re-listened to this one yesterday and I just can't get over how good the reading of "Lisa, Lisa, Lisa!" was.  Cracked me up every time.