0:00

Hi everyone, this is Alistair. A couple

0:02

of quick notices before we begin. First

0:05

off, just to let you know, pet mortality

0:07

and general mortality of the vulnerable is

0:10

a major part of this story. If that's an

0:12

issue you would rather not hear explored, please

0:14

do what you need to do to feel comfortable and

0:17

we will catch you next time.

0:19

And secondly, I would like to apologize

0:21

to one of our recent narrators whose name

0:24

I pronounced pretty far

0:26

from correctly. That's a situation

0:28

which I've had myself a few times and

0:30

it's never very good. So as

0:33

hopefully as means of recompense, without

0:35

further ado, I would like to welcome you to this

0:37

episode of Suedepod.

0:43

Suedepod. Where is that Suedepod?

0:46

Episode 877, August 4th, 2023. We know.

0:52

This week's story, Billy's Garage

0:55

by Richard Dansky. Hey

0:57

everyone, welcome to Suedepod, the weekly horror

0:59

podcast. I'm Alistair, your host,

1:01

and this week's story, audio produced by

1:03

the amazing Chelsea, is from Richard Dansky.

1:07

Richard is a 20-year-plus veteran

1:09

of the video game industry, currently working

1:11

on Hunt Showdown. He has published

1:13

eight novels, most recently Ghost of a Marriage.

1:17

His most recent book is the short fiction

1:19

collection A Meeting in the Devil's House and Other

1:21

Stories, and Alex will be along in the

1:23

end cap to talk to

1:25

you about that a little bit. Prior to

1:28

working in video games, he was a key contributor

1:30

to White Wolf's classic World of Darkness

1:32

setting, and a major influence

1:35

on the writer and game designer and

1:37

narrative designer I am today. One

1:39

of the books I read until the pages fell

1:42

out was Wraithy Oblivion, which was one

1:44

of Richard's leading projects. Thank

1:46

you for that, sir. You are a big part

1:48

of why I'm here.

1:50

Richard lives in North Carolina with

1:52

two cats who tolerate each other, a

1:54

lot of books, and a lot of scotch. As

1:57

I say, Richard is one of my favorite writers and

1:59

creators.

1:59

And it's an honor to host this story. You

2:02

can and should find his socials

2:04

in the show notes. Your narrator

2:06

this week is our own Brian Lieberman, whose

2:08

two-fisted engineering skills and extraordinarily

2:11

amenable social presence are

2:13

big parts of the foundations of the

2:15

EA Foundation. We're honored

2:18

to have you with us. Thanks, buddy. Now,

2:21

get ready, because the weird

2:23

kid has something to tell you. And

2:26

we promise you,

2:28

it's true.

2:34

Billy's Garage by Richard

2:36

Dansky narrated

2:38

by Brian Lieberman Billy

2:42

was a weird kid. I

2:44

don't mean he was weird in the sense that he liked

2:46

role-playing games or heavy metal or

2:48

anything like that. He wasn't

2:50

really into it anyway, and the kids

2:52

who were, well, they were only nerds

2:54

of one stripe or another.

2:56

Instead, he was just kind of creepy. When

3:00

you talk to him, you got the feeling he was focusing

3:02

on a point about an inch inside your skull

3:05

instead of making eye contact.

3:07

He talked about weird stuff too, if

3:09

you could get him to talk, which wasn't often.

3:12

Mostly he kept to himself and mostly the

3:14

rest of us liked it that way.

3:17

But I drew Billy as a lab partner in biology,

3:20

which meant that he and I had to talk on a regular

3:22

basis, and I guess that got him thinking

3:24

we were friends. We weren't,

3:26

but I at least tolerated his conversation,

3:29

which made me closer to him than anyone else.

3:32

One day we were supposed to dissect frogs. A

3:35

bunch of kids in the class begged off, claiming

3:37

it was against their religion or something when really

3:40

they were just afraid it was gonna be gross. But

3:42

not Billy. He

3:43

was totally into it, at least until

3:45

the dried-out frog carcass we were supposed to

3:47

take apart landed in front of us.

3:50

Shit, he said. Watch

3:53

the language in front of a stamper, I said. She'll

3:55

send you to detention.

3:57

Oops, he said, and then...

3:59

Thanks. He prided

4:02

the frog with the scalpel we'd been provided with.

4:04

The frog, being long dead, did

4:06

not react.

4:08

It's a shame, he said. All

4:10

these frogs have been dead for ages. They're

4:13

dried out. Their ghosts are gone.

4:16

Ghosts? Frog ghosts?

4:18

I said and laughed.

4:20

Then I saw the look Billy was shooting me, and I stopped

4:22

laughing. Don't tell me you believe

4:25

in frog ghosts.

4:27

Billy nodded solemnly.

4:29

Everything living's got a ghost in it,

4:31

he said. Most of them don't last

4:33

long, but there's all sorts of ghosts out there, not

4:35

just people ghosts. Gentlemen?

4:39

That was Mrs. Stamper, the biology teacher.

4:42

A no-nonsense type with no patience for chit

4:44

chat when there were frogs to dissect.

4:47

I'm sure your discussion is fascinating, but

4:49

we have work to do, and less than a period to do

4:51

it in. So if you'll allow me?

4:54

She trailed off into silence, leaving

4:57

no doubt as to whether or not we were going to allow her

4:59

anything she damn well pleased.

5:01

Yes, ma'am,

5:02

we said in unison. Then Billy

5:04

turned to the frog to await instructions on

5:07

which incision to make.

5:09

Tell you what, he whispered. After

5:12

school, come over my place and I'll show you.

5:15

Show me frog ghosts? I said,

5:18

disbelieving.

5:20

Something better than that,

5:22

he said.

5:23

And then Mrs. Stamper was announcing instructions,

5:25

and Billy bent to the task of following them.

5:28

After school, Billy was waiting for me by the bike

5:31

rack. Hey,

5:32

Billy, I said, uncomfortably

5:34

aware of the eyes of the other kids on me, judging

5:37

me a weirdo for talking to the weird kid.

5:40

Hey, Steve, he said. You gonna come

5:42

over this afternoon like we talked about in class?

5:45

I looked around.

5:47

The other kids were already drawing away from me.

5:50

I'd been tainted with weirdness, and there was

5:52

no way to escape it.

5:54

Sure, I said.

5:56

You got a bike?

5:57

Sure do, he said and pointed

5:59

to me.

5:59

a battered, huffy three-speed. I

6:02

had a newer model, a twelve-speed my parents

6:04

had gotten me for Christmas with the unspoken warning

6:07

that it was going to be all the transportation

6:09

I got from them for a good long while.

6:12

Okay, I said, and took the kryptonite

6:14

lock off my bike as he unchained his. Then

6:17

he set off at a pace I could easily follow.

6:20

We dodged the juniors and seniors in their cars

6:22

and headed out toward wherever Billy called home.

6:25

We rode for a couple miles, making turns

6:27

at regular intervals until he finally pulled

6:29

into the driveway of a respectable-looking ranch

6:32

house with a beat-up Volvo station wagon

6:34

in the driveway.

6:36

This kind of took me by surprise. I had

6:38

no idea where Billy might live, but I never expected

6:41

it to be somewhere so

6:42

ordinary. But before

6:44

I could say anything, he was walking his bike up the drive

6:47

and beckoning me to follow him.

6:50

He parked the bike beside the kitchen door. I put

6:52

my bike next to his and followed him in. Hi,

6:55

Mom, he said as we walked in. This

6:58

is Steve. We have biology class together.

7:01

Hello, Steve. His mother,

7:03

an attractive woman with brown curly hair, wearing

7:06

mom jeans and a dark red blouse, waved us

7:08

in. It's so nice of you to come. Billy

7:11

so rarely has friends over.

7:13

The kitchen looked normal. Again, I didn't

7:16

know what I was expecting, but normal

7:18

was not it.

7:20

The walls were painted light yellow, and there were decorative

7:22

plates mounted on the walls. A

7:25

bouquet of tulips sat in a vase on the kitchen

7:27

table. Um,

7:30

happy to, I managed to say. Thank

7:32

you for having me over.

7:35

It's our pleasure, she said. Can

7:37

I get you boys a snack? No,

7:39

thanks, Mom,

7:40

Billy said, disappointing me because I really

7:43

did want a snack. We dissected frogs

7:45

today in class, so neither of us are hungry.

7:48

Billy's mom got a pained look on her face. Oh,

7:51

Billy, she said, don't tell

7:53

me you brought Steve here to see the collection.

7:56

Well, Billy said and

7:58

came up short.

7:59

Kind of,"

8:01

he finally admitted. "'You

8:03

will do no such thing,' Billy's

8:05

mom instructed him. "'Now have a good time

8:07

hanging out, and if you want anything, you let me

8:09

know.'"

8:11

With that she turned back to the sink, where she was preparing

8:13

some kind of vegetable, presumably for dinner.

8:17

Billy escaped from the kitchen, and I followed him to his

8:19

room, which was down the hall and on the left.

8:22

It was decorated with a couple of band posters from

8:24

acts I'd never heard of, and the walls were painted

8:26

blue. Kind of weird, but not

8:28

really. He had a dresser and

8:30

a desk and a bed in there and a stack of

8:33

comic book long boxes. "'You

8:35

read comics?' he asked.

8:37

"'I used to,' I admitted.

8:39

"'Haven't in a while.'

8:41

"'You

8:41

can borrow anything you want from my collection,' he

8:43

said and gestured to the long boxes.

8:46

"'Gee, thanks, Billy,' I said, and I

8:49

meant it. It was a genuinely nice gesture,

8:51

even if he was a weird kid and I wasn't likely to take

8:53

him up on it.

8:55

Is that the collection your mom said you couldn't show me?'

8:58

Billy shook his head. "'No, that's out in the garage.

9:01

I'll show it to you another time, I guess. Do

9:03

you really want to see it?'

9:05

he asked. "'I want to

9:07

know what you meant by frog ghosts back in the

9:09

class. If you've got a box of ghost frogs

9:11

out in the garage, I'd totally be into seeing that.'

9:14

Much to my surprise, I was serious." "'Not

9:18

frogs,' he mumbled. Something

9:21

else.' Then he perked up. "'But

9:23

seriously, one day I'll get to show you and you'll

9:25

see it and you'll believe me.'

9:27

"'Show me what?' I asked. "'Come

9:30

on, you gotta tell me.' He

9:32

sighed. "'All right, but

9:34

you can't tell anyone.' "'I won't,'

9:37

I said. You swear?' I

9:40

swear." Okay,

9:42

he leaned back, less intense. "'The

9:45

thing is, like I told you,

9:48

everything can have a ghost.

9:50

People, dogs, cats, everything.'

9:53

"'Even bacteria and stuff?' I asked,

9:56

snarkier than I intended. "'Dunno.

9:59

I looked for them, he replied seriously.

10:02

The thing is, I can see ghosts,

10:05

all of them,

10:06

animals and people.

10:08

There's a ghost janitor in our school. I talk

10:10

to him sometimes, it makes him happy.

10:12

I flash back to one of the things that made Billy

10:15

so weird, the fact that some kids had

10:17

caught him supposedly talking to himself in a corner

10:19

by the janitorial closet.

10:21

Now it made sense, if I

10:23

believed him.

10:25

I mustered up weird,

10:28

and then prodded for more information. So

10:31

why isn't the world filled with ghosts? He

10:34

shrugged.

10:35

Near as I can tell, if ghosts don't get attention,

10:38

they fade away.

10:39

That's why we aren't swimming in dinosaur ghosts,

10:41

or woolly mammoth ghosts, or whatever. They

10:44

all just drift off after a while. It's

10:46

kind of my mission to keep them from drifting off if

10:48

I can, some of them anyway.

10:51

He looked at me sideways.

10:53

You think I'm crazy, don't you? No,

10:56

I managed. I just never

10:58

thought about any of this stuff before, which

11:00

was true enough as it went. Huh,

11:04

Billy said. I'm sorry,

11:06

I don't want to weird you out, but it feels so good

11:08

to talk about it with someone.

11:09

Thank you, Steve. You're

11:12

welcome, I said.

11:14

So your collection is

11:16

ghosts?

11:18

Billy looked around conspiratorially,

11:20

as if to make sure his mom wasn't listening.

11:24

Sort of. A special kind of ghost. Oh,

11:28

he nodded.

11:29

You know Palmer Lake?

11:31

Sure,

11:33

everyone knew Palmer Lake. It was where the

11:35

older kids would drive to in the evening to make out in

11:37

their cars. Those of us with bicycles

11:39

could only gaze on with awe and envy.

11:42

Well, there's the main landing, and then there's

11:44

a smaller one over on Logan Road,

11:47

and people go to that second landing to do something

11:49

terrible.

11:51

The human sacrifice, I asked, only

11:54

mostly kidding. We had an assembly

11:56

program about Satanic cults at school a few

11:58

months back, The

12:02

best part was when they had showed us a slide of a

12:04

supposed satanic altar where someone had spray

12:06

painted the words, satin rules.

12:11

Billy shook his head.

12:13

Worse. That's where people go to drown

12:15

kittens. What?

12:18

I wasn't sure which was more shocking.

12:20

The idea of someone drowning a kitten or the fact

12:22

that Billy considered it worse than human sacrifice.

12:25

I'm serious, man, Billy said.

12:27

People don't get their cats spayed. They wind

12:29

up with a load of kittens they can't handle, so they

12:32

put them in a sack and they go out to Palmer Lake to drown

12:34

them.

12:35

That's sick, I said. Killing

12:38

kittens like that?

12:40

Billy nodded in agreement. The

12:42

thing is, you can't really stop people from

12:44

doing it.

12:45

I mean, I can't hang out at Palmer Lake

12:47

all night, and it's not like people would listen to me

12:49

if I tried to get them to stop. So

12:51

I do what I can.

12:53

You come from the ghosts of the kittens, I said,

12:56

realization dawning.

12:57

You bring the ghosts home and that's your collection.

13:02

All they need is a little love, but mom

13:04

says I have to keep them in the garage and I

13:07

can't share them with anybody,

13:09

Billy said, and

13:10

he sounded heartbroken.

13:12

Don't tell anyone I told you this, okay?

13:15

Sure thing, I

13:17

said. I won't tell a soul. Which

13:20

was true because it sounded crazy and I didn't

13:22

want the other kids to think I was weird like Billy. But

13:25

the whole thing nagged at me.

13:27

Did Billy really believe he had ghost kittens

13:29

in his garage?

13:30

I had to find out, just for my own curiosity.

13:33

I mean, I didn't really think he had a ghost

13:35

collection, but he clearly thought he

13:37

did, and so did his mom,

13:39

and that made me curious.

13:42

So I decided why the hell not, and

13:44

I decided to ask him.

13:46

He must have noticed I was distracted and he poked

13:48

me. Hey, he's

13:50

still there? I gave a quick

13:52

grin. Yeah, you know that

13:54

collection of yours actually seems really cool.

13:57

Why doesn't your mom want you to show it to me?

14:00

Billy shrugged. I don't know. Most

14:02

people I showed it to didn't take it real well.

14:04

One of them threw up.

14:06

A couple of them ran. I guess mom

14:08

just didn't want me to lose another friend.

14:11

But I want to see it, I said.

14:13

And ghost kittens sound cute. Not scary.

14:16

If you show it to me, I promise not to freak out.

14:19

He perked up at that. Really?

14:21

It crossed my heart.

14:23

And I was serious. I did want to see it and

14:25

I didn't think I was going to freak out when I did. Where's

14:27

the harm, right?

14:30

Taking a deep breath, Billy came to a decision.

14:34

Okay, I'll show it to you.

14:36

But if you gotta be careful or I'll get in trouble,

14:38

mom can't know we're doing this. Gotcha,

14:42

I nodded.

14:43

So what do we do? Follow

14:45

me, Billy said. Be quiet.

14:48

He eased his door open, stepped out into

14:50

the hallway and gestured me to come with him.

14:52

I waited for a second for his mom to come thundering

14:55

down the hall and when she didn't, I

14:57

followed. Billy

14:59

made exaggerated sneaking steps as he went,

15:02

putting each foot down carefully. I

15:04

didn't quite match him, but I tried to be

15:06

quiet and after a minute and a turn, we were

15:08

at the interior door that led to the garage.

15:12

You

15:12

have to be quiet if you want to hear them, Billy

15:14

said in a stage whisper.

15:16

They

15:16

don't make a lot of noise.

15:20

I nodded and he opened the door so we could step

15:22

inside.

15:24

It was a garage,

15:26

just like any other garage. At

15:28

least that was my first thought. I could

15:30

see boxes and a ladder on its side

15:32

and tool rack and pretty much what you'd expect

15:35

in a suburban garage. It was dim in

15:37

there with only a little light filtering in

15:39

from the door we'd walked through and I was

15:41

about to ask Billy to turn the lights on when he pointed

15:43

and said, there.

15:46

I looked at the corner he was pointing to.

15:49

At first I didn't see anything.

15:51

Even the dim outlines of a sack from one of the local

15:53

big box stores appeared, translucent

15:55

in the dim light.

15:57

I caught my breath, not daring to breathe.

15:59

And then I heard it.

16:01

The mewling. The

16:03

pitiful, pained mewling.

16:06

Faint at first, but then louder as

16:08

my ears grew accustomed to it.

16:11

And as I looked, I could see the sac squirming

16:13

like it was alive.

16:15

A kitten face popped out the top. Eyes

16:17

barely open, ears folded down. It was

16:20

followed by another one, then another. I

16:23

took a step back, and as I did, I looked

16:25

away.

16:26

Big mistake.

16:28

Because now, wherever I looked, I saw another

16:30

sac of dead kittens, crying out

16:32

for something I couldn't give them.

16:36

You see them, don't you?

16:38

That was Billy,

16:39

his voice unreasonably loud after all the

16:41

soft, wet kitten noises. Shh,

16:44

kitties.

16:45

Billy's here.

16:48

He walked over to one of the sacs and petted the phantom

16:50

kitten, trying to crawl out of it.

16:52

It squealed and climbed back into the sac, eliciting

16:55

a chorus of responses from its brethren.

16:58

He repeated this with each of the collections of kittens.

17:01

Not one seemed glad to see him.

17:04

Me? I just stood there with

17:06

my mouth hanging open.

17:08

Eventually, Billy looked up at me.

17:10

You okay? He asked.

17:14

I nodded.

17:15

Just a lot to take in. I mean,

17:17

it's real. I

17:19

told you, he said. Do

17:21

you believe me now? About the frog ghosts

17:24

and everything? I

17:26

believe you. I breathed. Can

17:28

we go now? You're not gonna

17:30

freak out, are you? He looked worried.

17:33

I shook my head. I said

17:35

I wouldn't. Just, wow,

17:38

it's a lot.

17:40

Billy nodded and gave the kittens he was near one last

17:42

pat.

17:43

Then he straightened up and led me out of the garage, back

17:45

to his room.

17:47

I walked in, head still spinning, and

17:49

he shut the door behind me.

17:51

So what did you think?

17:53

He asked. It

17:56

was amazing, I

17:58

said, which was true. I was amazed

18:00

that what he said was true and that he did

18:02

have a collection of kitten ghosts in his garage,

18:05

but I was also horrified. Not

18:08

that I could let it show. I was no

18:10

expert on cats, but those ghosts did

18:12

not sound happy.

18:14

The idea of being trapped forever in Billy's garage,

18:16

half blind and barely able to crawl, dripping

18:19

wet for all eternity, was monstrous.

18:24

Billy didn't see it that way, though. From

18:26

his perspective, he was rescuing these kittens from

18:28

oblivion, fading away unremembered

18:30

and unloved.

18:32

Was that wrong?

18:34

I thought about it for a second.

18:37

Yeah, if what I saw in the garage was the result,

18:39

then it was wrong.

18:41

If you noticed my hesitation, Billy didn't give any

18:43

indication. It's really cool

18:46

that you could see it without going apeshit. I've

18:48

lost a lot of friends that way over the years. Until

18:51

you came along, I'd pretty much given up.

18:54

But I winced at the guilt trip Billy

18:56

was laying on me.

18:57

Outside, I played it cool.

19:00

I told you I was going to be cool with it, and I won't

19:02

tell anyone, I promise.

19:05

That part was definitely true. Who would

19:07

believe me?

19:08

Thanks, Billy said.

19:10

I knew I could trust you.

19:13

Sure, sure, I said. Now

19:15

you said something about comics?

19:18

I stayed a couple more hours at Billy's before it

19:20

was supper time and I excused myself,

19:23

mucking around in Billy's comics collection had actually

19:25

been pretty cool, but I just couldn't shake what

19:27

I had seen in the garage.

19:29

I wouldn't be going back to Billy's anymore, I

19:32

decided, and I'd asked Mrs. Stamper for

19:34

a new lab partner. I

19:35

was pretty sure ghost kittens were against my religion,

19:38

particularly sacks of drowned ones lined

19:40

up in a row.

19:41

Enough of the weird, it was time to get back to normal,

19:44

and that started with riding home from Billy's

19:46

as fast as possible.

19:49

A turn and a turn and I realized I was on

19:51

Logan Road, and

19:52

there it was, the turn off to Palmer

19:55

Lake, a sign barely visible through

19:57

overgrown shrubbery.

19:59

dark and I needed to be getting home, but

20:02

for some reason I

20:04

turned into the driveway that led to the parking

20:06

area by the lake shore.

20:09

It wasn't much of a lake, more of a pond

20:11

really. There was a Chevy Cavalier

20:14

pulled into the gravel parking lot and I could

20:16

see a couple of guys arguing back and forth across

20:18

the hood.

20:20

I decided to stay far away and looped around

20:22

to the far end of the lot. Then I walked

20:24

my bike down to the water's edge and stared in.

20:27

Nothing stared back. A

20:29

heron flew overhead, making weird

20:32

dinosaur noises as it went, and somewhere

20:34

out in the water a turtle slipped off a rock, but

20:37

that was about it.

20:39

And then I heard the two guys coming down to the water.

20:43

This is stupid, one of them said. Just

20:45

take him to the shelter.

20:47

Shelter's just gonna put him to sleep anyway,

20:50

said the other, who was taller, bearded, and

20:52

carrying a sack.

20:54

I looked at the sack for a moment.

20:56

It was squirming. Oh

20:58

no. I said, dude,

21:01

you're asking me to help you drown kittens.

21:04

The first guy who was skinny and wearing a jeans

21:06

jacket with the who logo painted on the back was

21:09

distraught. You don't have to

21:11

help. Just get out of my way, Sam.

21:14

The taller man said, hey,

21:16

I said, much to my

21:19

surprise. What are you guys doing? I

21:22

started walking towards them.

21:24

Nothing,

21:25

said Sam, and none of your

21:27

business. Said

21:29

his friend. What's in the sack? I asked,

21:31

coming closer. Nothing, said

21:34

Sam, and none of your business, said

21:36

his friend.

21:38

The two of them looked at each other,

21:39

then looked at me,

21:41

then took a step forward.

21:43

Listen, kid, the tall one said,

21:45

do yourself a favor and ride your bike on

21:48

out of here. What's going on is none of

21:50

your business.

21:52

You're gonna drown a bag of kittens, aren't you? I

21:54

said.

21:55

I didn't think people actually did that, but you're really

21:57

going to.

21:58

You're a monster.

22:00

I mustered all of my self-righteous indignation

22:02

and pointed at the sack. I'm not going to

22:04

let you do that." "'You're

22:06

not going to stop me,' the tall man said.

22:09

"'I

22:09

can report you to the police,' I said. "'I've

22:12

got your license plate number.'" I

22:14

didn't, actually, but

22:16

they didn't know that.

22:18

Sam, the short guy, came forward.

22:21

"'Listen, kid, there's no need to bring the cops

22:24

into this. These kittens don't have a home

22:26

and the shelter can't take them. It's a mercy what

22:28

Tony's doing.' "'I

22:30

heard you,' I said accusingly. "'You

22:33

didn't even try the shelter.'

22:35

Sam held his hands up. "'Shit, Tony,'

22:38

he said. "'You got any ideas?'

22:41

"'One,' he said and came towards me.

22:44

"'Listen, punk, you got two choices.

22:47

You can leave right now and forget you saw anything, or

22:49

I can kick your ass and send you crying home

22:51

to your mommy.

22:52

Either way, I'm going to do what I have to

22:54

do, you understand?' "'Give

22:57

me the kittens,' I said and reached for the sack.

23:00

"'Fuck

23:00

off,' Tony said and shoved

23:03

me hard in the middle of my chest.

23:05

I went backwards a step and my heel slipped on some

23:07

mud. Next thing I knew, I was falling,

23:10

and then there was an explosion of pain as my head hit

23:12

a rock at the water's edge.

23:14

"'Oh, shit,' Sam said. "'What

23:16

did you do, Tony?' "'It

23:18

was an accident, I swear. I was meant to scare

23:21

the kid and he fell and hit his head on that rock. "'That's

23:23

a lot of blood,' Sam observed. "'Help

23:26

me pick him up.' "'Are

23:28

you kidding?' Tony asked. "'He was going to

23:30

call the cops over a bunch of kittens. What's

23:33

he going to do now that I did this to him?' "'No

23:35

way, man. Can't do it.'

23:37

Sam was frantic. "'We

23:38

can't just leave him here.' "'We're

23:40

not going to just leave him,'

23:42

Tony said ominously.

23:45

I tried to say something, but nothing came out.

23:47

The blood streaming down the side of my head was a warm

23:50

flood and I knew I was in serious trouble.

23:53

Then Tony was kneeling down next to me, his

23:55

hands cradling my head. "'Shh,'

23:57

he said.

23:58

be easier

24:00

that way. "'Tony, no!'

24:03

Sam yelled. "'Shut up, Sam!'

24:05

Tony answered and shoved my face into the water.

24:08

I struggled, but

24:10

it didn't do any good.

24:12

I tried to hold my breath, but the pain from my head

24:14

was like a knife,

24:15

and too soon my lungs were desperate for air.

24:18

Then I breathed in my first mouthful of water,

24:21

and everything went red, and

24:22

then black.

24:24

The

24:24

last thing I remembered was a splash next to

24:26

me,

24:27

and faint mewling as a sack filled with

24:29

water.

24:33

I woke up in a vaguely familiar-looking garage,

24:36

unable to feel my hands or feet or anything

24:38

else really. It was

24:40

cold, so cold,

24:43

and

24:43

the air around me was filled with the soft sounds

24:46

of kittens.

24:47

I looked around,

24:49

and there was Billy.

24:51

"'Hi,

24:51

Steve,' he said,

24:53

cradling a ghost kitten in his hands.

24:56

"'So about the collection.

24:59

Guess you're a part of it now.'

25:07

Richard left this note for us. This

25:10

is my contribution to the Kids on Bikes

25:13

subgenre of horror. It set

25:15

back when I was a teen, and yes, we did have

25:17

to dissect actual frogs. Incidentally,

25:19

the author in no way condones any

25:21

of the actions depicted in this story. Except

25:24

for reading comic books. And

25:27

now, here's Alex with a review

25:30

of Richard's brilliant recent short fiction

25:32

anthology. Richard

25:34

Dansky is one of the major contributors of

25:36

Why I Am an Editor

25:37

at Sudapod. Around 2006,

25:40

my friends Ben Phillips and Jonathan Chappen

25:43

started working on this thing on the internet. At

25:45

the time, a lot of my friends were doing things

25:47

on the internet, so I smiled and encouraged them

25:49

to do things that made them happy, and what about my

25:52

days? Few years later,

25:54

I worked out a mechanism that would support me

25:56

listening to that thing that they were working on called

25:58

a podcast. significant number of hours

26:01

in a vehicle that would support listening. There

26:03

was a lot of really fun stuff, and I was delighted

26:05

to ease back into reading after college completely

26:08

destroyed my love for that activity.

26:10

The first year of content helped heal my soul,

26:13

and then, episode 64 pinned

26:16

my ears back.

26:17

Maybe I was susceptible due to a recent trip

26:19

where I had suffered through the wretched powerlessness

26:22

of a hotel stay. This story,

26:25

Connecting Door, reveals the slow

26:27

dissolution of one man who

26:29

just needs to get rest before work in the

26:31

morning.

26:32

The paper-thin walls and rude neighbors

26:34

slowly erode his humanity. To

26:37

this day, whenever I get a room with a connecting

26:39

door, I hear the muttering's f-f-FUCK

26:43

from that portal.

26:45

Do yourself a favor and enjoy the delightful

26:47

audio production that really takes that story

26:50

to a new level. After

26:52

that, I started harassing Ben to let me help out and

26:54

get involved. And I haven't left.

26:57

Maybe I'm trapped behind that connecting door too.

27:00

Fuck. Fuck.

27:02

Fuuuuck.

27:04

That story was collected in Snowbird Gothic,

27:07

which is also worth your time to seek out.

27:10

Danski's newest collection out this month,

27:12

A Meeting in the Devil's House, is even better.

27:15

The Devil is a recurring theme here, whether

27:18

it's the Prince of Lies himself, a shadow

27:20

of him, or personal demons that ride

27:22

you and drive your actions. Beer

27:25

and Pennies is a lighter meeting with the Devil to

27:28

disarm the reader and sting him with the slow,

27:30

acting poison, which spreads more deeply

27:33

as the reader continues. Wishing

27:36

Won't lands a brutal punch to the disarmed

27:38

and lets us know we're in for a journey.

27:41

I could lavish praise on every title in this book, but

27:43

instead I will point you to sample what's

27:45

in this book by checking out Licking Roadkill

27:47

and On Seas of Blood and Salt from our catalog

27:50

in late 2021. With

27:52

regards to the latter, I absolutely love

27:55

the character Reb Palash. In

27:57

this collection, we get the current

27:59

three extra.

27:59

extent stories, the 39th labor

28:02

of Reb Palash, Reb Palash in the

28:04

Dibbuk, and on seas of blood and

28:06

salt. I first encountered Palash

28:08

in the anthology, The Jewish Book of Horror,

28:11

but the third, so I was delighted to see the

28:13

other two stories contained within this collection.

28:16

They all contain sorrow and redemption, magic

28:18

and gore. They avoid violence when possible,

28:21

but fight back when the circumstances are dire.

28:24

The world needs more examples of heroism

28:26

through non-violent means.

28:28

The best other example I can think of is the

28:30

modern incarnation of Squirrel Girl, who does

28:33

everything with her power to tackle challenges

28:35

with the power of friendship and non-violent intervention,

28:37

but she will show up to eat nuts

28:40

and kick butts if required. If you

28:42

haven't read those, there's a ton of excellent

28:44

six-issue compilations of all of them,

28:47

and I recommend that you read them through your local library.

28:50

Libraries still buy the books, which

28:53

pays creatives. Requesting

28:55

unavailable titles from your local system gets

28:57

them considered for purchase, which makes

28:59

them available for more people to read. Checking

29:02

those out from the library keeps them in circulation.

29:05

All of these activities let the bookkeepers know what

29:08

to make more of. If

29:10

you need a little hope in your life right now, that's

29:12

a great place to do it, and if

29:14

anybody from Marvel is listening to this, please pick

29:17

up the phone and call Mr. Dansky to do a

29:19

run of Squirrel Girl. And

29:21

after you buy yourself a copy of A Meeting in

29:23

the Devil's House by Richard Dansky, request

29:25

that your local library stock a copy too.

29:28

Then

29:28

request three more books that they need to have

29:30

on their shelves. Blame me

29:33

for flooding their request forms. Or

29:35

just say the devil made you do it. Thank

29:39

you, Alex. And then me.

29:42

We did the frogs too. And we also

29:44

had one of these spots. I

29:46

can never quite remember whether my best

29:48

friend at school or his brother made it into

29:50

the local paper for saving a bag

29:52

of kittens from this exact fate at

29:55

our version of this exact spot.

29:58

I do know where the spot is.

29:59

It's the old quarry at the far end

30:02

of the island, the one that was notionally

30:04

deserted, but that our cross-country

30:06

running route used, and as far as I know still

30:08

does use, as an end point. The

30:11

one with a very, very deep water

30:13

table, and at least one collar

30:15

in it.

30:17

The end of the line, one of those places

30:19

where everything feels like a boundary, and

30:21

that boundary sometimes feels entirely

30:24

too thin. The Quarry,

30:26

it turns out, is where the limestone

30:29

that built Castle Town, we have a castle.

30:32

It's a town. It's a good castle too.

30:35

Was mined, and the quarry is still there, and

30:37

so is the castle. The quarry's been cleaned

30:39

up a little bit recently. It's fractionally

30:41

less murdery, and there's a nature centre

30:44

on the hill above it now that proudly declares

30:46

it sits between

30:47

the quarry where the limestone that made Castle

30:49

Town was mined, and the limestone

30:51

kilns. Like

30:53

I say, places

30:55

between places, boundaries getting

30:58

thin, terrible or

31:00

desperate or bored people

31:03

doing terrible things in the whole history

31:06

was dug out of.

31:08

You change, your surroundings

31:10

don't.

31:11

The only thing you can do is cling on all

31:13

the harder.

31:16

But what Danski does here that's haunting

31:19

is look at that desperate grasp on history

31:21

from a different perspective.

31:23

Remembrance is compassion,

31:26

but remembrance can also be penance,

31:28

and worse, imprisonment. You

31:31

calcify, your one job becoming

31:34

to remember everything that's gone, everyone

31:36

that's gone.

31:38

You hold the future in your hands so tight, it

31:40

becomes set in stone, and so

31:42

do you. And your only response

31:45

is to complain how things aren't how

31:47

they used to be, and cling all the harder,

31:49

not letting yourself feel the past you've built

31:52

on crumble in your grasp.

31:57

My friend who saved the kittens,

33:59

we understand completely, and

34:02

so please consider talking about us instead.

34:05

It helps a lot, too, more than you might think. If

34:07

you liked an episode, please link to it on whatever

34:09

social media platform is launching to save Twitter

34:12

this hour, or a blog about it, or

34:14

leave a review on your podcatcher of choice. It

34:17

all helps. And as long

34:19

as you help, we can keep doing this.

34:24

Sudapod is part of the Escape Artists Foundation,

34:26

a 501c3 non-profit, and

34:28

this episode is distributed

34:29

under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial

34:33

No Derivatives 4.0 international

34:35

license. Sudapod returns next

34:38

week with episode 878, a

34:40

double bill of Horatio Kidoga

34:42

stories, the Sun El Hijo, and

34:45

the Feather Pillow El Alamedon de

34:47

Plumas. Diogo Ramos

34:50

narrates for us, Chelsea's on production, and

34:52

I will be your host. We'll see you then, but

34:55

first, Sudapod wants to remind

34:57

you they will find him,

35:00

but not the way they want to.