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Episode 494 - Smoke Ghost (Patreon)

Published:
2020-04-02 19:18:32
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

A month of puttin' on the Fritz Leiber blazes up with Smoke Ghost!

Support our sponsor: The Thornclaw Manor Illustrated Poker Deck and Art Book!

Special thanks to our reader Mike Mason of Chaosium!

Next up: Terror from the Depths!

Comments

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

Chad: The reason it's cost-per-mille and not cost-per-thousand is because if the abbreviation were CBT, people would think you're talking about cock-and-ball-torture.

H P Lovecraft's Cat

Interesting story and I wonder if this had any influence on the ABC show "Lost",spoiler alert for an old show, the smoke monster (man in black) was a figure locked up on the Island. If he escaped he would destroy reality and completely change the World. The character John Locke eventually came to worship him and the monster ended up processing him.Before the crash it is revealed he was a crippled man in a wheelchair but on the Island he became a super hero survival type ,shows the danger of the wrong people who haven't been through the process of becoming a hero (going through the hero's journey) becoming a hero through easy means.

Hermagoras (pronounced HerMAgoras)

Damn what a good story. Something maybe worth mentioning is the Lenten symbolism of the smudge of soot (ash) on the forehead. Leiber, after all, briefly studied for the ministry in the Episcopal Church, and there's no way he would not see the significance of that. On Ash Wednesday, you get ash on the forehead and commit to giving up something—in other words, commit to making a *sacrifice*. Just thought I'd throw that in the mix.

Mandy Reznor (She_It)
>>34619730

Well, *that* was a banger. What starts off as a novel twist on the old ghost story ends up being almost like a Horror take on the core conceit of American Gods. This wasn't the spirit of a dead man. This was the spirit of the city. Not his city--ALL cities. The metaphysical gestalt of all the emotion, pain, striving, loss, and Belief poured into the ever-churning trappings of the Industrial Age coalesced into a self-willed Being. It's a unique idea that I feel has been explored elsewhere, even if I can't place such uses; if one can envision a spirit of fire, or earth, or the weather or seasons, of the crops or the mountains or the Sun...why not the city? Why shouldn't the sterile expanse of asphalt built on the broken backs of workers and powered by their lifeblood have a spirit? And why shouldn't that spirit, like its physical counterpart, be cold and lean and athirst? It certainly doesn't hurt that Fritz is a great writer, too. Regarding the question of his powers, I do think he had them--in fact, I think they might have been closer to what he described than to the mild sensitivity he has now. But why did he choke? Well, the child psychic was a *child.* He was a little boy being pushed this way and that by an overbearing, opportunistic parent, stuck shouldering her ceaseless expectations. I'm kind of reminded of the child pageantry scene, in a strange way. Anyway, that alone would have been strain enough, slowly building with each new task or test. When he was finally shoved into the sterile, unfamiliar locale of the college and asked to perform for a bunch of critical old strangers? It was too much. He broke. And, possibly, that trauma is why he's only able to manifest a mild sensitivity today. Of course, that's all bullshit my mind is making up. But I *like* the idea--that we're seeing what happens when you combine genuine superhuman ability with real-world childhood trauma. Like other things in the tale, it's both novel and upsetting.

Steve

It is a great story. I think it's slightly let down by making the protagonist psychic. Something more subtle may have been better. But I'm excited for more perfect fits.

Nathan Adam

My boss's name is Fritz, and I am ashamed that I never thought of the term "Fritzkrieg" before. But I'm stealing from you, Chad, and will be using it at the first opportunity!

Brittany King

Since you’re revisiting Lovecraft, would you consider returning to other stories you’ve covered? Specifically, I’d love for you to do another episode on The Willows. I remember Chris really disliked the story, but after reading the Windigo said he’d be willing to give it a second chance.

Rick Hound

Gotta love when the monster is Trudeau

Rick Hound

Fight the Trudeau Ghost with a vacuum cleaner

Allison Albright

I love Fritz Leiber so I'm very excited for this month! The 21st century version of this ghost is a Facebook ad for a monthly nail clipper subscription box that wants to network with you. Instead of soot it leaves YouTube comments in its wake.

Daisy

I am so excited to hear you guys have decided to revisit some of the old stories and shows. I'm looking forward to learning if your thoughts have changed after doing this gig for so long. Which, btw thank you so much for all your work. This podcast has been such an unexpected and valuable tool during tough times. I can't imagine life without all the stories I have found because of your podcast. Here's to another decade. You guys are the best.

Daisy

P.s. Every time Chad mentions Kate and Leopold, I'm here for it. :D

Ben Mund

Fantastic show as always! And I can't tell you how grateful I am that you guys keep going full-bore despite the chaos going on around us all. Thank you! Also, Chad's right. "Smoke Ghost" is the hardest horror story title to say since Stephen King's It prequel "Toy Boat."

Sanjay Mathew

I'm really glad you guys picked up on this. Someone once posited that this is an updating of a Jamesian style ghost story for the industrial age which is something I'll have to think about.

Ben Gilbert

This reminds me somewhat of Ellison’s story of a new urban god, The Whimper of Whipped Dogs.

Heather Savino (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-10 01:00 I'm glad to hear you will be revisiting some Lovecraft. If you plan on rereading The Colour Out of Space, I highly recommend the iClassics version. It is an interactive animated version with music and sound effects that really brings the story to life. You can get it through amazon: https://www.amazon.com/iClassics-Productions-S-L-iLovecraft-Immersive/dp/B0784YRR97/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=ilovecraft&qid=1586012159&sr=8-5 or on iClassics: http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/the-colour-out-space/ Looking forward to your 500th episode!
2020-04-04 15:02 I'm glad to hear you will be revisiting some Lovecraft. If you plan on rereading The Colour Out of Space, I highly recommend the iClassics version. It is an interactive animated version with music and sound effects that really brings the story to life. You can get it through amazon: https://www.amazon.com/iClassics-Productions-S-L-iLovecraft-Immersive/dp/B0784YRR97/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=ilovecraft&qid=1586012159&sr=8-5 or on iClassics: http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/the-colour-out-space/ Looking forward to your 500th episode!

I'm glad to hear you will be revisiting some Lovecraft. If you plan on rereading The Colour Out of Space, I highly recommend the iClassics version. It is an interactive animated version with music and sound effects that really brings the story to life. You can get it through amazon: https://www.amazon.com/iClassics-Productions-S-L-iLovecraft-Immersive/dp/B0784YRR97/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=ilovecraft&qid=1586012159&sr=8-5 or on iClassics: http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/the-colour-out-space/ Looking forward to your 500th episode!

Nils Henriksson

Hi everyone, where can I find next week’s Leiber story? Thanks!

Niels

While you of course should be discussing the recent adaptation of The Colour Out of Space, I would hope that you will also include the 2010 German adaptation Die Farbe. As for special guests on the 500th episode, I would suggest Dean. I looove Dean!

Markus Lauerer

It's kind of ironic that Chad gave up on "The Turn of the Screw" for being too stuffy/Victorian seeing how Henry James is actually known for putting a very modern and psychological spin on the old ghost story formula. If you're reading this, Chad, please consider giving James another try, he really is the master of the subtly horrible.

Sanjay Mathew

Leiber's "Our Lady of Darkness" develops this idea further, and Klein's "Nadleman's God" arguably takes it to greater heights in the urban collapse of 70s New York.

Sellers Burgener

I lived through something similar to the loss of powers in this story. When I was 16, I worked really hard at Tai Chi mediation. I got pretty far with it, perceiving my Chi circulating through my body. I even felt the coalescing points like the "small circle of heaven" near the navel. Pretty intermediate stuff. I decided to take lessons, and when I called the teacher and told him about it, he laughed at me. After that day I have never been able to experience that again.

Andrew Neisess

I need more ghosts of industrial crimes. Where are they hiding?

Pagurus

The routine of someone formulating a pseudo-scientific theory about ghosts out of the blue and than just happening to stumble across a phenomenon exactly matching their speculation reminded me a lot of E.F. Benson. However, the solution to the story turned out to be much more Lovecraftian, as you said.

Anonymous
>>34701261

Had not picked up on that when reading Leiber's story but I reached the same conclusion listening to the podcast!