I hated this story so much it compelled me to join the forums. I'm sorry to be negative, but this was the worst story I've heard in years of Escape Artists podcasts. It doesn't feel like fantasy or scifi; it's barely a 'story.' Like Kaa, I feel it is 70 minutes of "pointless surrealism."
There's nothing wrong with surreal, but you need something to latch on to or identify with. This had no plot, and no explanations about the setting. You've got zombies that aren't zombies and are just sort of "there" without any role, a store that doesn't sell products, an adrift ambivalent protagonist, and odd subplots about sleep, pajamas, ghost dogs, Turkish, and a chasm, that all feel unrelated to the plot. The overall theme is the All Night, which is either a experimental zombie store or the crazy scheme of an insomniac, but the narrator doesn't seem to care which.
Now anything in a story can work if the characters are compelling. But I feel there was no one worth caring about. Eric was well-written, but he never did anything or had any strong opinions. Batu was funny and witty, but mostly cryptic and nonsensical. Charlie had an interesting story that stopped just short of being told.
All this piece has going for it is 2 somewhat sympathetic characters and a couple of witty lines about retail. Not nearly enough to save the rest of the hour-long meandering piece. Again I apologize for negativity, but this left a terrible taste in my mouth.
