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Episode 433 - A Strange Christmas Game & Smee (Patreon)

Published:
2018-12-27 17:53:35
Edited:
2024-12-12 19:03:31
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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We're back in the weird in-between of Ghoultide with A Strange Christmas Game by Charlotte Riddell and Smee by A.M. Burrage! Dig in!

Comments show coming soon!

Comments

H P Lovecraft's Cat

After attended all 3 Necronomicons in Providence,I can said that ,with but a few exceptions,nudity would more likely to be banned then freely allowed.

Adequately Excellent Entertainment

While I feel like Smee would benefit if the framing narrative was dropped, although if you’re a writer being paid by the word framing narratives are probably the best thing ever, knowing that there is the possibility of a ghost before the ghost is revealed to the characters in the story is kind of like that Alfred Hitchcock “bomb under the table” thing. Like the narrator keeps mentioning the woman with long black hair and I’m yelling, “SHE’S the ghost you idiot!”

Steve

Ooh, that's weird, I just listened this afternoon to A Podcast to the Curious on Smee. Those guys.

Steve

Is there any evidence in Smee that the tall women is not Brenda? Does anyone else talk to her.

Sanjay Mathew

Hey guys, judging from the dialogue when Sangston chides Jackson, you're using the abridged version of Smee edited for ESL learners. The unabridged version might clear up some of the issues with structure and characterisation. Comparing the abridged and unabridged editions, I've found that the abridged version cuts out the critical slow burn of Jackson working himself up from flirtatiousness to horror, among other important elements. The original seems to only be easily available as an e-book on Kindle. Credit to the guys over at A Podcast For the Curious who pointed this out.

Devin Morse

I'm going to listen to this podcast, Smee, and don't you DARE try to stop me this time, Smee, try to stop me.

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

The next tale is mist-related? Is it set in the Demiplane of Dread?

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

I have a real soft spot for stories about ghosts who go about their ghosting without any particular interest in killing off those who witness them. It's rather refreshing to dethrone the living humans from the story - making the ghosts supernatural and, thus, above the natural world's quibbles and anxiety.

Richard Horsman

There's a free version of the Night Wire out there, but it's also in the VanderMeer's gigantic anthology The Weird, which is great if you've still got a gift card or book token burning a hole in your pocket.

Alan Ricks

So when I was a kid I went on vacation with my family up north to Tennessee. While there we visited a Ripley’s haunted house. My parents, two younger sisters and my ten year old self were instructed to hold each other’s hands to stay together in the pitch black tunnels and during scares. After one such scare where the children became disorganized in fright we resumed walking in line and holding hands, the lights suddenly turned on. My mother thought she was holding my father’s hand but it turned out there was a strange scarily dressed man in the middle of our line who let out a horrible laugh and disappeared behind a wall who had been holding our hands. Pure chaos resulted as we all screamed and wailed tears. Still the scariest thing anyone has inflicted on me at a haunted house.

Sanjay Mathew

Much to my horror I seem to have accidentally deleted my wall of text so am retyping it. I came up with this while procrastinating on uni applications for my students so my apologies in advance for the blathering of a Lit teacher. Basically I think we can read this story psychoanalytically- each appearance of the ghost is triggered by a crisis of male sexuality. I'll work backwards. At the climax of the story, Jackson finds (so he thinks) the pale, dark girl whom he has been resentfully lusting over and stereotyping (just as he has Mrs Gorman the other object of his lust). However upon penetrating the dark recess in which she waits, he finds a feminine power which isn't amenable to his stereotyping. His lust accordingly turns to horror (a process critical to the story, which the abridged edition excises). Even when Mrs Gorman appears she is diverted from amenable flirtation by this horrific unbridled female presence. In the second instance, Reggie Sangston, a boy in his late teens, finds a woman (?) in his bedroom closet, in the dark- something which can be read as sexual wish-fulfilment. But of course it isn't- this feminine principle of misrule, unrestrained by the mores of patriarchal society only brings horror to him. When he tries to impose order with the electric torch she evades hin. I think it's significant that he tries (in the unabridged text) to recover through a very male act of rebellion- asking Jackson (without the knowledge of his father Mr Sangston) to fix him a brandy and soda ‘You know the sort of dose a fellow ought to have.’ The first instance is significant because it takes place in a staircase, as the guys said, a liminal space at this liminal time (Christmas) during this liminal game, this period of misrule. Here of course the placement of the ghost is significant, between Captain Ransome and Miss Violet Sangston. We can perhaps posit the same sort of sexual desire on the part of the Captain countered by the arrival of this unrestrained female horror. In all three cases we could read Brenda Ford’s appearance as a reaction to possible male sexual crisis in this time of misrule. Unconstrained by male expectations and the male gaze (they literally can't see her) in this period of darkness and relaxed rules she turns their flirtatiousness to horror. Once again I apologise for the wall of text. I'd also point out that much of this analysis is contingent on a reading of the unabridged text- the abridged text available for free online was edited for ESL learners and loses much of the critical subtext.

Ethan Cordray

As a kid, I sometimes played a game similar to Smee, which we called "sardines," because as the game progresses the group of hiding people become packed together in their hiding place like sardines in a can. I can't say I recall in detail what the rules were, but they must have been similar to the game in this story.

MonsterTalk

The ghost playing poker reminds me of the legends surrounding Glammis Castle. In that legend, a fellow called Earl Beardie is said to play a game of poker and because of an oath ends up playing until judgement day. There's also supposed to have been a monster in the castle. We covered a bunch of the stories on MonsterTalk, with Mike Dash (former editor of Fortean Times). The legends there also remind me of Castle Freak, which is allegedly supposed to be loosely based on The Outsider by HPL. (Castle Freak is quite a bit more rapey than The Outsider. Stuart Gordon just can't stop sexing-up Lovecraft, for reasons that elude me.) Anyway, if you want to hear more about Glammis, you might enjoy this interview: <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/podcasts/monstertalk/18/08/29/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.skeptic.com/podcasts/monstertalk/18/08/29/</a> Excellent stories guys, and fun coverage as always. And thanks to Sanjay Mathew regarding the edited vs unedited text! The title of "Smee" also reminds me of "SME" (aka Subject-Matter Expert) from tech writing. I couldn't stop thinking about that every time it was mentioned.

Pumpkin Jabba Peach Pug

Oops. You guys are safe from duels in my beloved state of New Mexico. We have laws on the books: 30-20-11. Dueling. Dueling consists of any person: A. conveying by written or verbal message a challenge to any other person to fight a duel with any deadly weapon, and whether or not such duel ensues; B. accepting a challenge from another person to fight a duel with any deadly weapon, and whether or not such duel ensues; C. engaging in or fighting a duel with any deadly weapon; or D. aiding, encouraging or seconding either party to a duel and being present at such duel when deadly weapons are used. Whoever commits dueling is guilty of a fourth degree felony. History: 1953 Comp., § 40A-20-7, enacted by Laws 1963, ch. 303, § 20-7.

Shana Carter

Was anyone else reminded of the Christmas party segment in the 1945 British horror anthology film "Dead of Night"? It involves an encounter during a game of Sardines, which is like Smee except that the identity of the person being sought is known. I don't want to give more details for fear of spoilers, especially since the movie holds up well and is worth a watch.

Tara Murphy

When the reading started in this episode I realized it was entirely unfamiliar. After checking, I realized that the site you guys linked to is missing the first half of the story. I thought it started weirdly and abruptly. Anyway, here is a link for the full story:

Markus Lauerer

On the topic of stairs in ghost stories/weird fiction: There is a story by Robert Aickman, the name of which unfortunately eludes me at the moment, where someone/something is going up the stairs towards the narrator, their head held at an angle with the hair falling over and hiding their face. It is one of the creepiest scenes I've ever come across in any story, and in typical Aickman fashion it really doesn't go anywhere.

Jon Hancock

Incidentally, on the subject of adults falling to their death during a game of hide-and-seek, that's exactly what happened to David Niven's first wife Primmie during a game at Tyrone Power's house.

Nick Booth

It was nice to hear both hppodcraft and A podcast to the curious cover Smee in the Christmas editions of their esteemed shows, perhaps this was by design? For anyone interested <a href="http://www.mrjamespodcast.com/2018/12/episode-69-smee-by-a-m-burrage/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.mrjamespodcast.com/2018/12/episode-69-smee-by-a-m-burrage/</a> I enjoyed them both, different perspectives are always interesting. Thank you chaps. Two comments for the effort of one.

nils hedglin

I know it's already been commented on a couple of times, but don't you hate it when you wear the same ghost story to the Christmas podcast party?

Brynmore

The liminal quality of the Staircase is an interesting idea, it is a bit like the world tree. I also find it interesting that the staircase of choice for the haunted house is the spiral staircase. Spirals are a popular design for labyrinths, as evidenced by the Celtic Spiral Maze pattern.

Ricardo Madrid

I had an Econ professor in college who came in one day in a festive mood saying it is Aaron Burr Day! or the anniversary of Alexander Hamilton's death. That professor was of the point of view that Alexander Hamilton was taking the country in a bad direction and Aaron Burr did us all a huge favor by killing him off in a duel.