The Island WakesThe premise for this was interesting, but I felt like it ended up being nothing but a drawn out description of a premise, rather a story that actually took place in that premise.
Sheep Among Easter WerewolvesI like the nod to DKT and Podcastle inherent in the title, but between the title and the initial discussion of whether Easter oughta be on the full moon in this country I felt like the whole story had already been laid out, and nothing after that was surprising. Maybe with a different title, without laying out so clearly that it was going to be about a werewolf, then there might be some surprise about why the calendar is such a big deal.
Surprises, Not SecretsGah! It's hard commenting on these threads so long after, having been distracted by the Pseudopod flash fiction contest so long. I feel like I really liked this one... but I can't remember it from the title and brief blurb. Um.... Um....
“The Summation of EvilCorp Subsidies HR Meeting Agenda Minutes, Compiled by Olivia Washington”This was fun. I did think that the characters kind of had to be remarkably stupid to not make any guess that the person dressed as a giant pink eraser does not have any abilities relating to erasing things. When the signature was absent that was the first thing I thought of, and I found it a little hard to believe no one else did. But it was still fun. The 30-day eidetic memory is an interesting ability, and using it to leverage a month-long vacation was clever. Though even that could be circumvented by just writing a note--memo to self, the eraser did it!
If You Were a Dinosaur, My LoveI thought it was kindof weird that the Rachel Swirsky story chosen was one that had already been on the Escape Artists casts before. Does she have other stories short enough to be suitable enough for a flash extravaganza.
I've always been pretty lukewarm on this story. I see what it's trying to do, but for me it did not connect. It seems like every reaction I've seen about the story is an extreme reaction on one side or the other--either demonizing or lionizing it. I've heard about this one so much, and have already seen it on an EA cast, I would rather have seen any other Rachel Swirsky story in its place.
I'd much rather talk about Rachel Swirsky's excellent Grand Jete (though at novella length that probably none of the casts would be likely to run it)
https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/summer_2014/grand_jet_the_great_leap_by_rachel_swirsky