Runalong The Short Shelves - Pseudopod
Publisher Escape Artists available via https://pseudopod.org and all good podcast sources
Hello! I’m running on a tight schedule so how about a quick trip to the short shelves and March’s tales from Pseudopod that give a lot of food for thought
Episode 1019 - Superstition By Silvia Moreno-Garcia narrated by Ray Lundberg, hosted by Alasdair Stuart
Ok a story by one of my all time favourite authors - how can I resist? Answer I did not and this was a joy to listen to. Lindbergh captures a perfect 1990s voice of a capable person post education working at a job they don’t particularly want to do to make ends meet. Whoever this job is dealing with the destruction of cursed objects. That balance of the weird and the ordinary really pays off and slept we see our narrator just escapes entering a true horror tale herself but it still leaves scars for the future.
episode 1020, Walking Tour of Scarborough in Nuclear Winter by Stuart C. Baker Narrated by Kat Day. Hosted by Alasdair Stuart
This story is a delightful mix of the weird, comic horror and a post apocalyptic English seaside town. Baker’d story mixed these genres very well and capture a tour guide doing her regular routine (well handled by our more well known for hosting the show Kat Day) to build up tension as to not just how has the world ended up like this but what is the real agenda? Here a subtle rising menace makes the story work but also the question is can we ever just not give in to doing a bad thing even if we will be hurt in the process. An intriguing listen
episode 1021 Bad Doors by John Wisell, narrated by Trendane Sparks, hosted by Scott Campbell
I am a bit conflicted by this one. I love the performance by Sparks. A gorgeous voice to listen to keeping out humour, fear, anger and grief and creates a fine sense of our characters and the world they inhibit. The story has a fascinating angle of a ma who finds his various homes lead to a Menacing red door appearing but he avoids opening it. There is a metaphor here for how people deal with unexplainable horror - flee, fight or look to make some profit. Unfortunately for me the story diluted this by setting it in the Covid pandemic lockdown, for me the subtext and text are actually drowning each other out rather than creating allusions and so the story ends up heavy handed and less effective. Covid was fairly horrific enough so a true cautionary tale doesn’t the need the doors. Not a take working for me
episode 1022, for March 27, 2026. All the Good You Did Not Do, by Joely Tumajan. Narrated by Eric Valdez, hosted by Graham Dunlop
Apparently Pseudopod team had a mixed reaction to this one but I think my favourite tale of the month’s output as it’s a zombie tale with a difference. We meet the security guard on duty just as an outbreak starts and he stops it. The world is saved so what happens next. A tale that explores the brevity of media fame, PTSD, corporate exploitation and here the horror is watching someone who initially enjoys their 15 minutes of fame but then finds they are now forever changed by the experience. A novel idea and Valdez really brings a complicated Everyman character to life who I really enjoyed getting to know and care for. A very refreshing tale indeed!
