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Get down with The Burial of the Rats by Bram Stoker!

Special thanks to the reader, Jon Hancock!

Next week: Bartleby, the Scrivener

Comments

Richard Horsman

When they explain what "the burial of the rats" actually is, it made me think that Stoker had probably heard of "sky burial": <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial</a>

MortalGlare

You guys are insanely funny and I think I could listen to you two talk about literally anything. Keep it up.

Anonymous

You may know that guillotines are used to kill rats in neuroscience labs. Actual tiny guillotines. (It's better than drugs if you need to examine brain slices later.)

Anonymous

Great episode. I think every time you guys come up with a new great term or phrase. Chris's was, of course, "poo milk." Chad's was "hobo boatmen," which is a great name for a folk metal band.

Anonymous

Great episode! When I read the story, before listening to the show, the narrator felt pretty unreliable. I just had a feeling he was paranoid about that friendly old couple, and that he just imagined people hanging around outside the shack. When he jumped through the wall, the place burned down, killing the two of them. Of course the neighbours would chase him after that. And when he reached the authorities, they would naturally believe a rich guy rather than those poor dust diggers. Interesting. Imma reread it ... see how it feels the second time around.

Anonymous

Witch House Media subscriber, upgrading to 6$ a month!

Anonymous

Oh, my man Melville is next! “Bartleby” is wonderful! If you ever revisit him, I’d recommend “Benito Cereno” (slave ship with a secret) or “The Bell-Tower” (mad inventor vs robot clock) as more in tune with the usual stories on the podcast.

Anonymous

WOOT! upgrading to $6 a month; totally worth it. I have discovered so many amazing literary work by listening to HP Podcraft. Blochtober is just around the corner; how about a little "Beasts of Barsac"? ;)

Anonymous

You'd think that the commissary would have considered that the bones might be warm because someone burnt the shack down...

Anonymous

The narrator's interaction with the old woman in her hut is reminiscent of Harker's with Dracula at his castle; both first feeling like a welcome guest, then coming to the realisation that they are trapped and their lives are in peril before making an extraordinary escape - though this narrator "Kool-Aid Manning" his way out of the hut is a bit more action-packed! I agree with Robert that I thought there might be two sides to this story - it was a shame that the old woman was dead, as I was quite looking forward to her trying to explain her perspective: "Well Officer, I invited this young man into my hut and we spent hours having a friendly discussion, then when we lit the lantern as it had gotten so late and dark, he went crazy! Jumped up and charged straight through the wall of my hut he did, and ran off into the night - just look at what's left of my poor home! We thought that he must have taken leave of his senses, this is no place to run about in the pitch of night, you might easily trip and break your neck. So my kindly neighbours set off in search of him before he had a mishap. When we heard him fall into the water, we even sent out the row boat to try and save him... What? No, no, it was, umm... a rescue axe? And Francois has a pathological hatred of Sombreros?"

Anonymous

As a long-time wanderer currently on a round-the-world trip, I too have occasionally questioned the taxi I am in, person I am talking to, or the establishment I enter as possibly less friendly than assumed. To wit, the wise wayfarer is cautious, and if not - it's death by rats!

Frank Lee

I just like how instantly evil these people are because they're poor.

Anonymous

No need to travel to experience that, I'd just have to explore the seedier parts of my own city.

Neil de Carteret

I'm 7 months late but I'm going to have my say because this is the internet and I can. I absolutely read this as a story about a rich guy doing a bit of class tourism, getting out of his depth, having a panic attack, and causing death and property damage as he flails around to get out. Then the authorities, because he is rich and well-spoken, believe him over the ragpickers who've just lost a friend and a building. For example, after he's cowabunga'ed his way through the back wall off the hut, he describes stepping on a person. Literally, stamping on a human being in his rush to get away. He thinks there's a row of assassins lying face down to get him. Dude - they were sleeping! It was night time! You stamped on a homeless person and ran away!