Pseudopod 224: The Horror Of Their Deeds To View

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 224: The Horror Of Their Deeds To View

By Lizanne Herd

The story can be read for free (after registration) in the forums of The Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, under its original title of “Offal”. The 52/25 challenge can be found on Facebook. (The podcast of same that Alasdair mentioned doesn’t seem to to be up anymore).

Read by Matt Weller. Click the link under his name to reach “The Awful Show” (it may or may not be working - take a gamble!)


“The door opens and we each press against the nearest wall. I lower my eyes. The police officer, the last one to be taken, had stood up and screamed at them, had taken a swipe at them, knocking one over. It hit the wall and made a sickening crunching noise, a crack in its shell, splat from several of its eyes smeared thick and brown as it slid to the floor. It took them only moments to turn on him. We all watched unblinking as new appendages, metallic and inscrutable, appeared from nowhere. They cut up the cop, perfect cubes of flesh, the blood filling the floor, the cracks, our clothing. The whole time they made those terrible clicking noises, swarming in on our faces and hands. Those cutting blades gliding over our flesh like a warning.

But not this time. They haven’t come for one of us. I’d thank God if I had a reason to believe in Him anymore. This is another drop. They make drops every few days. A pile of debris on the floor, garbage and scraps. And bodies.”

The auction to raise money for the victims of the disaster in Japan can still be be accessed here: GENRE FOR JAPAN. Please take a look!


Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[Tsulaa]

As usual, I found myself caught up, swept away, thoroughly creeped-out, & absolutely entertained! I enjoyed the energetic reading by Matt Weller, & felt my blood pressure spiking more than once because of it.  Well done to both author & reader!

[matweller]

I blushingly thank you. This is my favorite reading for Pseudopod so far.

--The voice formerly known as Nerraux

[stePH]

I enjoyed this story, even though the characters' victory is only symbolic... I've a strong suspicion that even though they leave the cell they're still fucked, and not getting out of there alive.

[eytanz]

The reading by Matt was awesome - so awesome that it kept me engaged in a story that did absolutely nothing for me on its own merits. It was well executed, but stories of alien abduction have never interested me if they're not accompanied by a plot beyond "we got kidnapped by inscrutible beings for unknown reasons".

[Unblinking]

This one was reasonably good, though it reminded me somewhat of another Pseudopod story, the one with the guy in the wheelchair where all the humans are sitting around sorting items.  Not in a bad way really, and there were plenty of differences to set them apart from each other.

I like how they Macgyvered themselves an attack with the random items that were dumped in there with them.  I felt like these aliens were much more alien than most aliens in stories, so that was a definite plus.

Good story!

[inthefamily]

Creepy story but I am glad it did have a somewhat happy ending. You really begin to value them during these podcasts.

I love seeing my fellow middle school teacher involved. (It is great to know you aren't the only twisted one). Matt was awesome though I did bust out laughing when the younger guy said "bbbiittchh" over the banana peel that sounded out of place and I loved it.

[ElectricPaladin]

Also a middle school teacher (posting while my students write, actually)! Hey... how many of us are there here, anyway?

So, I really liked this one. I enjoyed the aliens and their - well - alienness. I liked the desperation of the captives, how at first it robbed them of their humanity, but they later fought to regain it. I loved the idea that the aliens didn't mean to be malevolent, but that something about them made it inconceivable to them that the beings they captured were intelligent, like them.

Ok, that's a bit unlikely. If they build cities, make art, and create technology they're probably intelligent. Still, it's a neat possibility.

I also liked the ambiguously "happy" ending. I agree with StepH. They're probably not getting out of their alive, especially Kid, who is moments from bleeding to death. Still, sometimes a symbolic victory is the best you can do. Sometimes that's enough. And who knows? Maybe they will make it.

[matweller]

I think the triumph, however temporary is meant to be a starting point. The pictures will be a testament to any that follow. And if there's anything we humans excel at, it's always trying to one-up the dude before us. Even if you Steph it, you can still see a happy ending

[Listener]

I enjoy this narrator. His voice also happens to sound like my friend Dave, only evil. (Would that make him evaD?)

The story was suitably bleak and gross. Having to eat a banana peel? Blargh. But I guess food is food.

The Macgyver ending was a little too much of a stretch for me, but the triumph was worth it.

[stePH]

I think the triumph, however temporary is meant to be a starting point. The pictures will be a testament to any that follow. And if there's anything we humans excel at, it's always trying to one-up the dude before us. Even if you Steph it, you can still see a happy ending

Cool... I'm a verb now 

[Megaflow]

I liked this one a lot - it reminded me of a modern take on "the Twilight Zone". Just as bleak and alienated as those often were, but with more viscera. I even imagined it in black and white while listening! It had a more than suitable ending as well, wherein we are allowed to share in a small, but probably ultimately meaningless, victory. 

[kibitzer]

I liked this one a lot - it reminded me of a modern take on "the Twilight Zone". Just as bleak and alienated as those often were, but with more viscera.

Hey, that's a pretty good comparison! Nice.

[Millenium_King]

I liked this one.  The aliens were weird, their motives inscrutible and the experiments (or whatever it was they did) suitibly horrible.  There was plenty of tension.  It was a good story with a fairly open ending.  I almost would have liked to see, however, a more definitive ending.  Perhaps a couple more clues as to what, exactly, the aliens were doing.  Nothing definitive, but they almost seemed too random.

There were also a couple of lines that I felt were linguistically weak or contradictory - apologies for not finding them now, I'll re-listen at some point in the future.  The ending was also a little overly melodramatic - for me, they paused too long in the room.  I mean, who would really stick around to make a drawing or something?  Run out the door already!

[Unblinking]

I liked this one.  The aliens were weird, their motives inscrutible and the experiments (or whatever it was they did) suitibly horrible.  There was plenty of tension.  It was a good story with a fairly open ending.  I almost would have liked to see, however, a more definitive ending.  Perhaps a couple more clues as to what, exactly, the aliens were doing.  Nothing definitive, but they almost seemed too random.

The story would've been no good if I'd understood clearly at the end what the aliens were doing.  The main thing that made this story special was the aliens were inscrutable.  If they'd been scrutable (is that a word?  Well it is now) then it would've still been well written, but not as unique.

[matweller]

The ending was also a little overly melodramatic - for me, they paused too long in the room.  I mean, who would really stick around to make a drawing or something?  Run out the door already!

I didn't think they paused on the way out, I thought they started out and the 'camera' went back to see Jack's picture and it was an eerie reveal that he had drawn the final scene before it ever happened. Which I thought it was cool because it suggests he is either somehow involved in the whole situation, or he may have some superhuman power to overcome it.

Now I have to listen again because if that wasn't the case, it's a little less cool...

[eytanz]

The ending was also a little overly melodramatic - for me, they paused too long in the room.  I mean, who would really stick around to make a drawing or something?  Run out the door already!

I didn't think they paused on the way out, I thought they started out and the 'camera' went back to see Jack's picture and it was an eerie reveal that he had drawn the final scene before it ever happened. Which I thought it was cool because it suggests he is either somehow involved in the whole situation, or he may have some superhuman power to overcome it.

Now I have to listen again because if that wasn't the case, it's a little less cool...

Didn't he say earlier that the scene he painted on the wall was designed to show the plan to the kid? I thought it's just a matter of the plan succeeding as depicted, rather than any special precognition.

[Sgarre1]

Didn't he say earlier that the scene he painted on the wall was designed to show the plan to the kid? I thought it's just a matter of the plan succeeding as depicted, rather than any special precognition.

That's it exactly, actually.  Oddly, in the original submission, it was as Millennium King perceived it, which is to say he stopped to sketch the scene just before they ran out - but that seemed highly unlikely and I requested a rewrite.  Perhaps MK can hear alternate timelines?

[kibitzer]

If they'd been scrutable (is that a word?  Well it is now) then it would've still been well written, but not as unique.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrutable

Of course Wiktionary is a reliable source! What? What?

[stePH]

"Scrutable" is a perfectly cromulent word.

[Listener]

"Scrutable" is a perfectly cromulent word.

Qwyjibo.

[Sgarre1]

An online review by blogger Jonathan C. Gillespie can be found here:

http://jonathancg.net/?p=148#comment-294

[Sandra M. Odell]

The story flowed well, and I appreciate that there wasn't a pat "happy ending" where they get out alive and everything is flowers and candy, but the reading really drove everything home.  Where reading and writing came together for me were the descriptions of the alien looking at the drawings, and the final drawing.  Both images lingered after the theme music had faded.


Sandra

[captain0terror]

Superb story!

Narration 10/10
Story 10/10
Audio Quality 10/10

I'm just now jumping on the Pseudopod horror podcast bandwagon, and i must say i'm really enjoying it! Great stories and great narrators for every story i've sampled so far.. just excellent.

Keep up the good work Pseudopod!

[Fenrix]

This one was reasonably good, though it reminded me somewhat of another Pseudopod story, the one with the guy in the wheelchair where all the humans are sitting around sorting items.  Not in a bad way really, and there were plenty of differences to set them apart from each other.

This brought The Identifier to mind for me as well. Dug both stories.

[ElectricPaladin]

Don't waste your time when you are away from your wife.

Damn. That's f*<king ballsy.

[Scattercat]

Don't waste your time when you are away from your wife.

Damn. That's f*<king ballsy.

The story it picked to spam was oddly apropos...