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Episode 540 - The Transfer (Patreon)

Published:
2021-03-18 14:13:22
Imported:
2021-07

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Content

We're joined by guest Ken Hite as we authorize The Transfer by Algernon Blackwood!

Special thank to reader Rachel Lackey of Rachel Watches Star Trek!

Next up: My Dear Emily by Joanna Russ, Comments and a Bonus Episode on the film Only Lovers Left Alive

Comments

Anonymous

This is a weird Blackwood tale in that all I could think of during it is KOTOR II. The null zone of life that actively draws in the life force of nearby beings without any control, as if it were a mere physics reaction--almost like a heatsink--is rather reminescent of that (excellent) game's core plot conceit. Namely, people who are wholly cut off from the Force, and naturally draw out the Force from other life to feed upon it. ...Needless to say I'm disappointed that the uncle did not, at any point, shoot lightning from his hands.

Lord Rancid

Great episode as usual guys! Really interested to hear about Ken working with Rebellion on that upcoming kickstarter. Apart from the game sounding really interesting (I have their previous one shot RPG "magazine" which is top notch in quality) I worked for Rebellion for many years making computer games and most recently did some sculpting for them on their last kickstarter. Just a nice little connection for me on this rather depressing Thursday afternoon :p

Anonymous

Great show! This is the second year March is for Draculas has managed to dig up a vampire story I loved, but whose title I forgot ("Good Lady Ducayne" was the other one). Every year this theme is like a little extra birthday present for me.

Anonymous

Enjoyed the episode as always, guys, but I have to say, Blackwood just doesn't seem to do it for me. I'm usually very much into the more subtle side of weird literature (writers like Robert Aickman or Henry James being some particular favorites of mine), but with Blackwood, it all comes off as so tedious and pointless to me. I don't know whether it's because of his idiosyncratic philosophy that permeates the stories, but I feel that he often tries to pass off occurrences as very deep and meaningful, obfuscating them with so many words, when really nothing interesting is happening at all.

Anonymous
>>55856321

Happy Birthday! I enjoyed "Good Lady Ducayne" very much as well!

Anonymous

Maybe because I don’t really believe in all that psychic crap, I took this to be an unreliable narrator story. Especially because of some of the weird language the governess used like the vegetable and human kingdoms sending out emissaries. Also, the ending where it seems that Uncle Frank collapsed from heat stroke at the table and that no one remembers what the governess saw, seems to support this reading. Still, knowing that Blackwood believed in all that, that’s probably not what he intended. I also got Turn of the Scree vibes from the governess and Jamie which could have added to that. Either way, still an enjoyable story by a great writer.

Anonymous

I read Dr. Sleep and didn't care for it. The "baddies" were so weakly imagined. Not to encourage negativity, but when you dislike something and find someone who shares your pov on that, it's such a relief.

Steve

Ow, driveby!

Steve
>>55873359

"psychic crap", are you on the right podcast?

Anonymous

This is one of those occasional shows that make me stop what I'm doing and immediately sit down to read the story as soon as I'm done listening. I think what resonated with me most was the child character Jamie, with his ultra-sensitive, misunderstood fears. I'm very much a materialist these days, but as a kid I had a rich fantasy life full of magical thinking (as many do, I suppose). This story tapped into that sense of wonder and fear that I had so often as a child, that anything might be happening. The fact that there was a second, hidden world in which most of the story's action took place, that only some of the characters could perceive to varying degrees, was fascinating. It reminds me a bit of The White People now that I think of it, which I love. The comparison to The Shining that y'all made also seems like a good one, since the location is the real threat here, while the human antagonist who is drawn into and destroyed by it is both a vilian and a victim at the same time.

Anonymous

Ken’s trivia about Charles Dana Gibson’s studio could explain why Chambers’ publisher rejected one of his first drafts entitled, “The Yellow Toenail.”

Anonymous

I also felt let down by the lack of a psychic showdown. At the very least the possessed kid could've pushed Uncle Lifesucker into the patch. It was kind of like an ep of Legion, which I love, but am often disappointed by its psi-battles. Well, still better than Fox's Jean Gray and Profressor X with their frowns of constipation. And was also disappointed by Doctor Sleep though the occassional bits of Overlook flashbacks keep me reading till the end, but 4 Non Blonde Vamps is my new favorite put-down.

Anonymous

Was there a total eclipse of the sun during this episode? Because Chad and Ken were casting some seriously strange shade across this strange story. Stephen King! Mike Flanagan! Peter Jackson! They take no prisoners! Now I want them to dissect Flanagan's adaption of The Turn of the Screw set in the 1980s, Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Anonymous

This is one of those stories that strike me as boringly cliché and poorly executed. Now that's likely because it did it first and others built upon these ideas. But I can't forget what I know. So, however unfairly, I dismissed this one as forgettable.

Anonymous

Anyone else thinking of Colin Robinson the whole time? For anyone who hasn't watched What We Do in the Shadows (film and TV series), go check it out - I think there will be a good overlap between people who enjoy that and people who laughed at Ken "yes-and-ing" Chad's goofy asides!

Anonymous

Uncle Frank was giving me some Colin Robinson, What We Do in the Shadows vibes.

Anonymous

I think the problem with this story is that it's not showing us anything, it's telling us everything. The governess POV unnecessarily distances us. A narrator giving us the child's POV using free indirect discourse would have been more effective (like MR James does in Lost Hearts). I still liked it but it's not one of Blackwood's best.

Anonymous

HP Podcraft: Weird Tales About Spooky Creepy Children and the Poor Women Charged With Looking After Them

Anonymous

I think I would put up with an occasionally-startling mass of brooding vegetation if it also ate vampires. That seems like a useful landscape feature to have around the house.

Anonymous

I figure its okay for us nerds to enjoy some measure of trippy hallucinatory weird fiction. And since Algernon Blackwood anagrams to "Dork Bong Allowance", it checks out. (Also to "Corked Anal Longbow", which I will address in a future comment and / or scholarly published treatise).

Anonymous

I'm disappointed this is not about someone transforming into their fursona.

Anonymous

Before I get stuck in to ‘The Transfer’, for next week’s story “My Dear Emily” you can find “The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction” Vol23 no.1, July 1962, which contains “My Dear Emily” online here: https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v023n01_1962-07_PDF ‘The Transfer’ is another story that’s largely overlooked in critical studies of vampire fiction, relegated to a couple of footnotes that I could find. I’m not a massive fan of the ‘psychic vampire’ personally, but this one’s interesting due to the duo of vampiric presences in the tale, Frene Sr. and the ‘ugly patch’/Forbidden Corner. Mr. Frene Sr., like a number of other (particularly early) psychic vampires, seems to be ignorant of his vampirism: “A supreme, unconscious artist in the science of taking the fruits of others' work and living... He vampired, unknowingly no doubt, every one with whom he came in contact.” Compare this to Luella Miller, “like a baby with scissors in its hand cuttin’ everybody without knowin’ what it was doin’”, or Harriet Brandt, the psychic vampire in Florence Marryat’s 1897 novel “The Blood of the Vampire” who (at least initially) is unaware of her psychic vampirism. There does seem to be a more knowing undercurrent to Frene Sr. though – as was pointed out on the podcast, perhaps the narrator is giving him more generous a ‘benefit of the doubt’ than he deserves; whilst she initially describes him as “good enough,” his intent to sacrifice his nephew – “a truly wicked sight” – runs counter to that. He certainly seems more deliberately self-serving, using his vampirised energy for “his own benefit and aggrandizement.” He uses his vampirism to further his own, active agenda, in contrast to the unconscious vampirism of Harriet Brandt or the helplessness of Luella Miller – perhaps because, as women of that era, they must be ‘passive’ psychic vampires, whilst Frene is allowed agency as a man? In any case, Frene’s vampiric activity is ended when he is overwhelmed by the Forbidden Corner. Frene is a vampire of his age – he’s a negative embodiment of capitalism, master of the “science of taking the fruits of others' work and living--for his own advantage… a great human sponge, crammed and soaked with the life, or proceeds of life, absorbed from others.” But he’s overwhelmed by the older, more ancient force of the Forbidden Corner, which, interestingly, is referred to as female – “Earth scented her prey”. The vampire has associations with earth, having escaped its grip by clawing its way out of the grave – for example, Dracula having to return to his native soil to rest, or the traditional ‘remedy’ of staking the vampire, physically pinning it to the earth. It feels like there might be a decent Marxist reading buried in here somewhere (pun intended), as the earth itself reclaims Frene’s stolen, unearned life capital for itself, enabling it to return to raw, “untouched” production – the ugly patch is now “fed, and bursting thick with life”. Overall, I would say this story is “reasonably Draculas” - not as Draculas as The Man Upstairs, but definitely more Draculas than Vengeance by Proxy.

Kiubez
>>55945634

That is literally the first thing I went to in my head! I can just see Uncle Frank’s eyes light up when he sees the governess.

Jason Thompson
>>55858658

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about Blackwood too. His ghosts (or presences, or spirits) are so ethereal and theoretical. But this was still a great episode, and did a great job with a story I’d probably have been annoyed with if I simply read it. Also, to the story’s credit, it had a few nice visual images— the psychic herd of horses, and the over-lush plant life in the last line.

Jason Thompson

When are y’all going to do a Zombies Month? Of course, it’s true this would be hard because zombies are so deeply a film/TV/games (and if there was a 4th category it’d be swollen novels, not short stories) genre. But still... there are a few good stories....

Anonymous

I really enjoy this story and thought your discussion was good. That Jamie had never actually met his uncle, but already knew to be afraid/worried about him reminds me of the discussion about trusting instincts when it comes to people. There are subtle signals some part of our mind might be able to read, that cue us to danger, which could be perceived as being psychic, or sensitive, to others that suppress those instincts. I imagine Jamie could pick up those subtle cues in other people discussing the uncle, and knew to be afraid. The patch itself is why I really like this story, though. I have so many questions about it, similar to The Willows, and it's great that those questions are never answered. What caused it? Why did the uncle hear someone crying? How often does it need to feed? Does it always choose its prey selectively? Could it influence Jamie, and use him as a lure? And it's just fantastic to think of places on Earth, which is our welcoming, comforting home, as singularly malevolent. For every warm summer glade filled with flowers to provide a balm to your soul, there's a bleak void of earth ready to pull vitality from you. I pictured it as the entrance to the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, even though I know it didn't say it had an oil seep. It just gives me that vibe.

Anonymous
>>55915904

It was pretty bad. I only made through three episodes. The Innocents is a far superior adaptation. It's a shame because I really enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House.

Anonymous

It's always a pleasure to have Ken Hite on an episode; I think my favorite thing about him is the enthusiasm he has for every story he covers here; I was lukewarm about this story going in but as usual I was far more invested in it after hearing Ken's analysis

Anonymous

The narrator of "The Transfer" reminded me so strongly of the governess in THE TURN OF THE SCREW — particularly her tendency to assume she knows what other people are seeing and thinking — that I've decided they're the same woman. Also, I think a symbiotic relationship exists between the Forbidden Corner and the Frene family, many of whom have a touch of the vampire about them — note how Jamie's parents have no compunctions about presenting the governess to Uncle Frank as either eye candy or a psychic amuse bouche. My theory is that every generation, one Frene is chosen by the barren patch to collect sustenance for it; for a while they flourish on the energy they steal, but ultimately they are drawn home to disgorge what they have collected. Jamie's terror stems in part from his awareness that someday, he might himself become a man with a 'normous face.