Pseudopod 210: The Nimble Men

[deflective]

plus, extensible: 'there is no t in pseudopod, but there is a u'
Alasdair Stewart -> Alasdair Stuart

but you need to already know an Alas[dt]air for it work.  i'll stick with 'alas, dairy' to avoid an Alisdare incident.

[iamafish]

While I quite liked this story, there was one thing that detracted from the tension somewhat. When 'The nimble men' attacked the narrator, there was no real feeling of suspense of threat - we know he survives, he's narrating the damn story! I think the use of the third person would have made it a little more effective.

That being said I loved the characters, particularly the pilots. Their dialogue was really well written and allowed us to really empathise with the characters. I also really like the suspense that was built. I like my horror to be implied because I don't really find monsters all that scary. The curiosity over what was oot (well it is set in Canada) there really engaged me in the story. As such I felt the lengthy exposition at the end was slightly redundant and dragged too much, especially in light of the interesting note on 'the sad' at the end.

[Scattercat]

While I quite liked this story, there was one thing that detracted from the tension somewhat. When 'The nimble men' attacked the narrator, there was no real feeling of suspense of threat - we know he survives, he's narrating the damn story! I think the use of the third person would have made it a little more effective

Given that we have magical glowing lights that might be the souls of sad Eskimos or whatever, I think we can dispense with the "We know the first-person narrator survives" argument.  Because it's not a given when you got ghosts around the joint.

[iamafish]

I think it's an assumption that is harder to subvert than that. Had the narrator died and been a ghost wandering the forests of Canada it would have been an interesting twist because it's unexpected. As it is we still expect the narrator to survive in my view, which still detracts from the tension.

[Scattercat]

Eh, I think this one could have plausibly ended with something like "And so I remain out here in the cold, forever one of the NIMBLE MEN" with the last words in that like wiggly-outline font from old horror comics.  Either way, if I based my enjoyment of stories on whether I was surprised by the ending, I'd never have any fun.  I gave this one about a 3/4 chance of ending with the main character alive, but I haven't actually been shocked by a plot twist for like a decade now.  As far as I'm concerned, an inability to guess the ending ahead of time usually just means the story was badly written and has some kind of deus-ex-machina left-field denouement.

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

[kibitzer]

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

See, I rarely pick up on that. Maybe he's just a slow starter. Shy, y'know? Afraid to hook up with a colleague?

[Scattercat]

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

See, I rarely pick up on that. Maybe he's just a slow starter. Shy, y'know? Afraid to hook up with a colleague?

Subtext is just "buttsex" rearranged.  'Struth!

[Unblinking]

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

See, I rarely pick up on that. Maybe he's just a slow starter. Shy, y'know? Afraid to hook up with a colleague?

That was my read on it, too.  He seemed to be interested in her too, just reluctant to act upon his feelings.

[ElectricPaladin]

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

See, I rarely pick up on that. Maybe he's just a slow starter. Shy, y'know? Afraid to hook up with a colleague?

That was my read on it, too.  He seemed to be interested in her too, just reluctant to act upon his feelings.

I don't really know which the author intended, but I think I like the sad gay unrequited crush angle better.

[Swamp]

Me, I'm more upset that the homoerotic tension was left totally unresolved.  There's a reason he's not going for the stewardess, people!  C'mon now, I couldn't have been the only one to think that, huh?

See, I rarely pick up on that. Maybe he's just a slow starter. Shy, y'know? Afraid to hook up with a colleague?

That was my read on it, too.  He seemed to be interested in her too, just reluctant to act upon his feelings.

I don't really know which the author intended, but I think I like the sad gay unrequited crush angle better.

I think the subtext is pretty clear (to me at least) that the senior pilot had lost a wife or lover and was still suffering emotionally.  It was never specifically laid out, but it was implied.  That is why he felt he would have been taken if not for the sobbing passenger in the front seat (since it is always the sad who are taken).

Not every relationship between men has to have a homoerotic component.  I do see how that could have been used as a plot element; I just don't think it was in this story.

[JoeFitz]

Late catching up and have been (gasp!) listening to the 'casts out of order (insert pithy order pun here).

Very much enjoyed this piece even with the McGill shirt (was a little too much and stood out like ketchup on poutine). The Langolier's echoes didn't bother me because of the much more effective (IMHO and apologies to Mr. King) build-up. I liked the characters and was very impressed by how the dialogue defined the contours of the relationship between the pilot and co-pilot.

[Fenrix]

This is the perfect example of a story to point people iunfamiliar with Pseudopod towards as a first sample. Solid and relatively inoffensive. This is a great place to dip your toe into the pool before diving into the dark deep end with the nasty lurking things.

This was a good ghost story. A well told tale with compelling characters exposed to us a bit at a time through conversation and interaction. There was good construction of tension and a good payoff. I was also reminded of Langoliers, but not in a bad way. This one wins for me in that respect, because I actually finished this story. 

I didn't realize poutine had such an offensive smell as described. I never got that impression from the horror stories I had heard. I liked the poutine as the minor monster in the story.