Author Topic: Pseudopod 292: Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You  (Read 10331 times)

Bdoomed

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on: July 27, 2012, 06:17:35 PM
Pseudopod 292: Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You

By David J. Schow.

“Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You” originally appeared in Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone Magazine in 1984 under the pseudonym “Oliver Lowenbruck.” It won the Dimension award in 1985. In 1987 Schow’s novella Pamela’s Get won a Bram Stoker Award for best long fiction. “Red Light” won the 1987 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.

David J. Schow has been writing horror stories, novels, movies and commentary since the early 1980s - including novels THE KILL RIFF (1988), GUN WORK (2008) and his newest, INTERNECINE and HUNT AMONG THE KILLERS OF MEN (the latter under the pseudonym Gabriel Hunt (both 2010, click links to order); films A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD, LEATHERFACE: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III (both 1989) and THE CROW (1994); edited seminal horror anthologies SILVER SCREAM (1988) and three volumes of THE LOST BLOCH (1999-2002); the award-winning guide THE OUTER LIMITS COMPANION (1986/1998) and has provided many DVD audio commentaries, most recently on the complete DVD box set of the legendary horror anthology TV show THRILLER. His website is located at Black Leather Required.



Your reader this week is the Dave Robison of The Roundtable Podcast and occasional episodes of the TALES TO TERRIFY podcast.



“The Omicron reminded Jack of a kid’s bedroom. To an adult, a non-initiate, it sure looked like a trash heap. But there was a comforting order inside for those who cared to delve past the superficial. It would never appeal to the Rolls Royce trade, yet was not as bad as the kung-fu sleaze pits of downtown L.A. which looked razed by Mongols. The Omicron was, in essence, a “normal” theatre stripped down for combat; its patrons exemplars of the no-frills class.”




Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Scattercat

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Reply #1 on: July 27, 2012, 07:48:15 PM
This was unexpectedly uplifting at the end.  I felt like it relied a little heavily on describing gross things for its "horror" vibe, but I enjoyed the overall arc.



zoanon

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Reply #2 on: July 29, 2012, 03:43:43 PM
not done yet, but just when I was thinking "ug I hate this kind of horror (the regular life is terrible horror) it stopped being that kind of horror.
I am enjoying it a lot more now.



zoanon

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Reply #3 on: July 29, 2012, 03:59:52 PM
ok that was really good :)
*cringe* I need to clean my room now



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Reply #4 on: July 30, 2012, 02:22:39 PM
I enjoyed that one.  I can see scattercat's point that at times it depended on grossout horror, but overall I thought it fit well enough together, I can see how this would make a good Twilight Zone episode and the description of the gross stuff just made it feel even more cinematic to me.

For most of the story I was very much wondering whether he was suffering some PTSD paranoia--good ambiguity, but in the end I'm pretty sure the horror stuff was actually happening.



Pirvonen

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Reply #5 on: July 30, 2012, 06:14:41 PM
The engineer me started wondering if the stuffed prosthetic device really would give a deeper sound. I would have expected a duller thud from the resonant cavity being filled with absorbing materials.

The librivore me started wondering if I had heard the paper-thin rasping voice in some other story somewhere but could not recall one immediately. This puppetry was well done, anyhow.

... I was very much wondering whether he was suffering some PTSD paranoia ...

Oh yes! there definitely was some PTSD there, but I felt it only as colouring the protag's perceptions, not shaping them to significant degree.

The gorehound me started hunting down the movie references. Tasty!



Red Dog 344

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Reply #6 on: July 30, 2012, 08:51:02 PM
Did I understand Alasdair's intro correctly--the story originally had a different title?  Are we supposed to guess based on the clues--the author later felt it was terribly pretentious, etc.?  I'm guessing "Preview of Coming Attractions."

I wasn't thrilled with the too-easy equation (slippage, elision) between his fight against the Viet Cong and his fight against the roach enemy.  I think the story shows its vintage here--it wouldn't be written quite this way today.



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Reply #7 on: July 31, 2012, 11:56:07 PM
I was really disappointed with this.

It started out so well. The voice was clear and distinctive, the world was interesting, the production value was outstanding (great flashbacks), and I loved the crazy small ads angle, and the great little off movie references.  But then came the gross-out.

My thinking on this is that disgusting isn't horror. It's disgusting. It has no spiritual dimension. And life's too short to waste on disgusting.

That's probably just me, though; not sure how valid a criticism like "Oh, why can't they make nice horror fiction, like they used to?" really is on Pseudopod!
« Last Edit: August 01, 2012, 12:16:01 AM by Balu »



Kaa

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Reply #8 on: August 02, 2012, 04:51:58 PM
I was driving when I listened to this, and I kept finding my attention wandering, and then I'd snap back to the story, realize I'd missed a couple of minutes, rewind...and then my attention would wander again. So I really have no clue how it went from an old veteran getting a free movie pass to roach-powered zombies. And I find I don't much care.

I do wonder, though, at how Scattercat found the ending "uplifting." I thought the clear implication was that even though he threw away his roach-filled prosthetic, there were roaches in the empty pants leg, and that he was, basically, doomed. Or did I miss something (else)?

All that being said, I thought the narration was really top-notch. It just wasn't enough to hold my interest.

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Red Dog 344

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Reply #9 on: August 02, 2012, 05:12:31 PM

My thinking on this is that disgusting isn't horror. It's disgusting. It has no spiritual dimension. And life's too short to waste on disgusting.

This is the author who invented the term "splatterpunk."  If you're willing to give him another chance, I suggest "Not from around here," recently reprinted in Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters.  A candidate for most disturbing story ever.  And it does, ahem, have a spiritual dimension, but an appalling one.



Scattercat

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Reply #10 on: August 02, 2012, 08:04:36 PM
I do wonder, though, at how Scattercat found the ending "uplifting."

He found something to fight for, even if it might be imaginary.  Even if it ends up taking him down, at least he went down swinging.



Kaa

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Reply #11 on: August 02, 2012, 08:10:43 PM
I do wonder, though, at how Scattercat found the ending "uplifting."

He found something to fight for, even if it might be imaginary.  Even if it ends up taking him down, at least he went down swinging.

Aaaah. OK. Put in THAT light, I suppose.

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Midas

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Reply #12 on: August 05, 2012, 02:39:20 AM
Ahh  Very good to see one of the Pro's from the Heyday of Horror of the 80/90s on here.
Though the introduction made it seem like his World Fantasy Award winning Red Light was also going to be part of it(I figured it wasn't but it seemed left open for wishful thinking) Too few of the Grand Masters find their way on here. Though this is a great podcast, The overall quality of Horror is every bit as pathetic as SF and other genre works,The 90% Sturgeon's Law crap that makes it hard for some(like me)to take chances on unknown authors with so much to read or reread.

Regardless I'm a Old Crank from the Tank of Yesterday. And sadly Horror at its Peak,  All the good writers will admit this, Crap did indeed become King and soon the field choked on it's own tail,then the king was dead,  "Long may the King stay dead" seemed to be appropriate. But like Excalibur before that fall there was a Major venue for Horror Writers a Grand time and much of it's best writing came from that now long ago period.  

That Generation is actually still alive and still going. I wanted to join up and say thanks for this little slice of the past, even if it's not the best of the writers work.  I had been waiting for something like this for quite awhile from you guys. I hope that this is the re/begining of a larger intro/retrospective to the field of Horror.  One that even makes us old timers sit up and take notice.

« Last Edit: August 05, 2012, 02:41:43 AM by Midas »



Sgarre1

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Reply #13 on: August 05, 2012, 03:47:07 AM
Quote
That Generation is actually still alive and still going. I wanted to join up and say thanks for this little slice of the past, even if it's not the best of the writers work.  I had been waiting for something like this for quite awhile from you guys. I hope that this is the re/begining of a larger intro/retrospective to the field of Horror.  One that even makes us old timers sit up and take notice.

In some sense, yes it is in some small way -  but please keep in mind how difficult it is get authors of this vintage to agree to sell us stories.  There are logical reasons why a representative presentation of the history of horror short fiction tends to cluster around classic public domain and current writers - and lack of effort on the part of the editor has little to do with it.  The holders of rights of Bloch and Bradbury are not forthcoming, Campbell is still considering, K.E. Wagner's rights seem to be in limbo, Aickman hasn't been attempted yet as the length and complexity make audio presentation questionable, and on and one.  Lansdale coming next year, how's that?

I'd be interested in your opinion on what was the better Schow (that would still fit into the audio format, and length - barely even in this case, and also be representative of his strengths) as I had my choice, and made it. Are we talking the EC horror throwback of "Bunny Didn't Tell Us", the more mature/TZ indirect weirdness of "Red Light" (too long) or the monster antics of "Not From Around Here" (also too long and, while I love the concept, the ending always seemed to me a strong indication of it being an aborted novel/novella)\

But I'm always happy for the production to fall on sympathetic ears!  We are trying a full range view but not everyone is open to the concept of Creative Commons.... 



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Reply #14 on: August 06, 2012, 01:59:52 PM
My thinking on this is that disgusting isn't horror. It's disgusting. It has no spiritual dimension. And life's too short to waste on disgusting.

That's probably just me, though; not sure how valid a criticism like "Oh, why can't they make nice horror fiction, like they used to?" really is on Pseudopod!

I tend to agree that "disgusting isn't horror".  I think it's fine to have disgusting elements of a horror story, but if "disgusting" is all that it has going for it, I'm not interested.  In this case, though, I thought there was plenty of horror meat outside of the grossout that I was satisfied.



eytanz

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Reply #15 on: August 06, 2012, 02:53:46 PM
This story was good, though I did spend a bit too much of the middle of it muttering "it's the cockroaches, you fool" at the main character, and I couldn't decide whether I'm supposed to be taking PTSD to be an alternate explanation for what's going on (i.e., the protagonist is insane) or whether it's supposed to be just fleshing out of his character and situation. I eventually decided it was the latter but having to think about it took me out of the story a bit. But overall, I thought far more worked than the little things that didn't.

Not sure how valid a criticism like "Oh, why can't they make nice horror fiction, like they used to?" really is on Pseudopod!

Sure it's valid criticism, but I'm not sure how it applies to this case - it's a nearly 30 year old story, after all, so it is a bit weird to take it as representative of the current state of horror.



ElectricPaladin

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Reply #16 on: August 06, 2012, 06:23:17 PM
Ok, so, that will be my Hunter character. Nathan, what will your character's backstory be?

 ;D

But seriously, folks. That story was awesome, gross, and horrible in every way I love. Good job, Pseudopod.

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Scattercat

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Reply #17 on: August 06, 2012, 08:53:15 PM
Ok, so, that will be my Hunter character. Nathan, what will your character's backstory be?

I'm going with the recluse billionaire extreme sports enthusiast famous novelist.

(I had a player actually attempt all of that.  For a Hunter: The Vigil game that was explicitly billed as "ordinary folks from a tiny town in Colorado deal with the influx of dark forces from outside.")



Midas

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Reply #18 on: August 10, 2012, 04:11:45 AM
Hi Sgarre1,

Could you clarify more on the Lansdale coming up next year?
I'd like to hear about that.

Oh the Story was Good, Just I had Red Light and Pamela's Get rated higher on my Old Score Card.(Those are so old my opinions and are usually a lot more harsh today) So I don't know.

Though I have to say TTT and DFM do great getting free stories.So being a paying market I would think you would be ahead of those guys in Big Name Talent.

Either way You have great production values.



Sgarre1

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Reply #19 on: August 10, 2012, 08:18:42 PM
Quote
Could you clarify more on the Lansdale coming up next year? I'd like to hear about that.

That would be telling....

Quote
Oh the Story was Good, Just I had Red Light and Pamela's Get rated higher on my Old Score Card.(Those are so old my opinions and are usually a lot more harsh today) So I don't know.

Oh "Red Light" is an excellent story (I've always thought of it as a great inversion of Leiber's "The Girl With The Hungry Eyes") with honest, emotional power, it's just that it's long and not much happens before a payoff that, truth to tell, more savvy fans may see coming (not that that would stop me, usually, as that's seldom the *point* of a good story, but when you factor in the length...).  "Pamela's Get" does not appear on my own tattered scorecard and so I must not have read it yet (or more likely read it before I started taking notes in 2000, already 20 years into being a horror fiction fan).

Quote
Though I have to say TTT and DFM do great getting free stories.So being a paying market I would think you would be ahead of those guys in Big Name Talent.

Coincidentally, that was a recent topic of conversation among the editors and, despite what you may logically think, paying for stories does seem to sometimes complicate the process more than getting them for free - I have my theories why this is, but "gratis" seems to cut more bindings in the process than offering a rate.  Still, we keep trying...

Quote
Either way You have great production values.

You can thank Graeme for that!



Balu

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Reply #20 on: August 12, 2012, 12:29:51 AM

Not sure how valid a criticism like "Oh, why can't they make nice horror fiction, like they used to?" really is on Pseudopod!

Sure it's valid criticism, but I'm not sure how it applies to this case - it's a nearly 30 year old story, after all, so it is a bit weird to take it as representative of the current state of horror.

I didn't realise that, but what the hell. The 'good ole days' never really have anything to do with chronology anyway.

That's why I prefer 'classics'. This one springs to mind:

http://pseudopod.org/2012/01/27/pseudopod-266-this-is-now/



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Reply #21 on: August 13, 2012, 01:55:05 PM
Coincidentally, that was a recent topic of conversation among the editors and, despite what you may logically think, paying for stories does seem to sometimes complicate the process more than getting them for free - I have my theories why this is, but "gratis" seems to cut more bindings in the process than offering a rate.  Still, we keep trying...

That has always bothered me, and probably always will, how nonpaying markets like StarShipSofa get some recognizable names who refuse to consider other podcasts that actually pay.

My best guess is that some authors, especially the older well established ones, may think of StarShipSofa as the modern equivalent of a mimeographed fanzine because it doesn't pay, but the ones who pay don't remind them of fanzines.  It doesn't really make sense to me, but that's my best guess.



Sgarre1

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Reply #22 on: August 13, 2012, 10:03:39 PM
I do believe that there's more truth in this statement - money complicates things.  Neil Gaiman says "I give you this story free" or "I give you this story and you can send the pay to my favorite charity" and it just happens and his people can;t complain,  But contracts open up all kinds of doors that may not be worth the problems - ye olde acquisition letter has been duly updated with this in mind and has already scored a palpable hit (granted, one from an author who had already sold to the cast, but still...)
« Last Edit: August 14, 2012, 01:17:31 AM by Sgarre1 »



Scattercat

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Reply #23 on: August 14, 2012, 06:28:33 AM
See also one of the quirks of human psychology when money gets involved, i.e. we drop out of our social-reciprocal mindset and got straight to maximizing returns.  Dan Ariely describes an interesting experiment in his books in which the idea was to examine price points and so on.  They set up a table with little candies (Starburst, if I recall correctly) and set a price.  They tried a variety of prices, and mostly it made sense; the lower the price, the more people bought.  But they noticed a weird thing: when they dropped the price from one penny per candy to zero, i.e. take as many as you want free of charge, suddenly everyone stopped buying dozens of them and only took one or two.  But a price tag of even a single penny sent people right back into mercenary mode, buying a hundred candies and emptying the bowl, etc.  The theory is that free candies feel like a gift, and in a social/friendly situation, it's rude to take all of the thing offered to you, whereas if you find something for sale cheap, then there's no social obligation to be polite about it; you can rationalize that whoever is selling it could have asked for more if they wanted.

If you're a Big Name, you can get a couple thousand for a short story, easy.  A few hundred dollars likely feels almost insultingly low.  If you're giving it away, though, then you're doing a favor for another human, and your monkey brain calculates that differently than just monetary return, even though there's no reason for it to do so (since I doubt anyone at StarShipSofa is going to be grooming lice off of famous authors in return for their sociable gestures).  (By which I mean that they don't really run in the same social circles, and therefore the likelihood of a reciprocal favor is low, but nonetheless the monkey brain just loooooves earning social credit by doing nice things for "tribe members.")



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Reply #24 on: August 14, 2012, 01:54:42 PM
That makes some kind of sense, even though it's frustrating.