The Men In The Snow by Alex Boast
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Alex Boast is a young British writer, born in Ipswich, raised in Surrey and living in London. He has an MA in Creative Writing and is constantly improving his skills by writing on Medium and Quora as well as doing Master Class courses and attending writing courses by the British writing school The Arvon Foundation.
He has a love of ghost stories and references H P Lovecraft and Stephen King as influences as well as J R R Tolkien.
Alex had been working in health marketing which necessitated frequent global travel and due to the Coronavirus epidemic, he was laid off. Fortunately that made him focus more on his writing, so every cloud has a silver lining. He has just been commissioned to write a horror movie script based on the Irish legends of the Banshee.
If you want to read Alex's story, you can get it from Amazon here## Get All Episodes Ad Free!
$1 a month for the whole back catalog of episodes on Patreon
/ barcud
amzn.to/2xKaWMO
The Men in the Snow## Get All Episodes Ad Free!
$1 a month for the whole back catalog of episodes on Patreon
/ barcud
Inevitably when you read a new story, you try to catalogue it with others you have read. On the podcast now we have read a wide range of stories written by authors born in the 18th, 19th, 20th, and soon the 21st centuries. Styles change of course
When I read the Men in the Snow, I was struck by the weirdness of it. We don't know if the perceptions of the young girl narrator can be relied on. Some of them seem distinctly odd; her father sitting reading the paper in the kitchen who never moves and never speaks. Her mother who yells at her to stop shaking and later disappears. The newts in the pond, her only friends. So it starts off as purporting to be a naturalistic, realistic story, but then gets shunted off into the odd.
This is something I find with Robert Aickman too. His settings are ordinary, mundane almost, and seem to be naturalistic, but he injects the unnervingly odd into them.
The other story that popped into my mind was The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. This was because the house in The Men in the Snow changes size. If you don't know the House of Leaves you should read it. In fact, our narrator is growing larger, the house isn't shrinking!
And as for the advancing angry eyes...
So, it was great to have a modern story and greater still to interview Alex. I hoped you liked it as much as I did.
****
Music is by The Heartwood Institute
bit.ly/somecom...
If You Appreciate The Work I’ve Put In Here
Become A Patreon## Get All Episodes Ad Free!
$1 a month for the whole back catalog of episodes on Patreon
/ barcud
/ barcud For Bonus Stories
Or buy me a coffee## Get All Episodes Ad Free!
$1 a month for the whole back catalog of episodes on Patreon
/ barcud
ko-fi.com/tony..., if you’d like to keep me working.
Now, 2 years, later with ""new eyes" ,I find the story truly terrifying--my own, uncovered---thought-provoking--much needed, appreciated. Thank you to you both.
I’m so glad I stayed for the interview with the author of this excellent story! Thank you.
Entangling, strange, gripping from start to finish. Upsetting. Creepy. Uncanny. Sinister. Running out of adjectives---Wow.
Thank you, Tony. Again and again. Please continue.
At first I thought the father was suffering from PTSD or something after either active service or being bombed out of London, then changed my mind as the story developed. Alex Boast is certainly one to watch..!
Loved it. Very eerie. Great work from Alex Boast. There is something about a story being narrated from a child's perspective that gives it a sense of both wonder and strangeness.
Well what a start to the day!
Great story, great narration as ever.
Very interesting interview at the end. Alex has A LOT going for him (and sounds like a thoroughly nice guy), wish him all the best for the future.
Blessed Be Xxx 🙏🏼 ❤️ 🍀 🗺️ 🏴
That is so kind of you to say and has made my morning thank you
Thank you Tony for your spot on narration (as always!).
And thank you Alex for a lovely little tale. It made me think of that child's song, Teddy Bears Picnic, which of course begins, "If you go out in the woods today you'll surely get a surprise..."
Great theme for ghost story, don't you think?
The Teddy Bear's song isn't scary! It's exciting, of course. Got my curiosity up when I was a child.
@@susanmercurio1060 Hi Susan, thanks for the comment. I'm sure you're right, but I always found that song to be just a little bit creepy when I was a kid. 😲
Whenever I see a story from this channel, it makes my day! Many thanks and blessings!💜🌟💜
It was strange how she interacted with her parents. I kept thinking, "what kind of parents are these?" 😅 It was a good read.
Weird unhappy parents. Nowadays they would separate and the children would be better off.
War time, post traumatic stress... The awful 'stiff upper lip'
I'm glad they interviewed him to explain the story, because I didn't understand it at all; he obviously writes well, and it was chilling, but I'm not sure I would read another story of his unless I had Cliff notes explaining it, lol. Perhaps if it was longer.
The entire story I thought the little girl was dying of a fever and that was the real reason they had gone to the country. The father always sitting and reading. No communication between the parents. The little girl always being thirsty. The mother stressfully telling her to stop shaking. The first time she sees her parents as maybe being unhappy. The men (and death) getting closer and more profound. And as she can do more like reach the shade was her easing more into the spirit world. The playful times and eerie things were just fitfull delerium dreams. Seriously, re-read the story as if it's two parents watching over a dying child. 👍
Could be! That's the fun of stories.
Great to have a story from a new author - and the author himself talk about it. Really interesting.
I absolutely love the fact that you’re not afraid of reading female characters! I meant to tell you this before! It’s strange but some channels the men don’t want to read the characters of females! I’m not joking! Anyway I love this story! You have a lovely voice and I adore your accent! I would love more female authors and characters please! They are rare from this period and before! A lot of women used to write with only their initials or pretend to be men! Crazy to think of nowadays but it was true! If I’m wrong, Please ignore this! LOL
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
One of my Faves is Anton Lesser. He read Brave New World on the radio and is the absolute best at switching from male to female voice.
@@davidwhite7294 perfect! I appreciate that! Many thank you’s💎
My favourite Story on this channel so far, thank you for sharing and bringing Alex Boast on to discuss!
The parents were the scariest characters 😱😱😱
My parents were pretty scary too.
Great narration and read!
I really like your interview with the author at the end. I wish both of you the best of luck!!
I look forward to watching Alex's movie when it comes out.
Keep up the good work! Thanks!
Gosh i just love your intro to this story. Your voice is wonderful♥️
I thought Tolkien when you were describing your novels too. Better get cracking in 2 & 3 Alex: I wait until I can purchase all 3 at once!
Wow! Fantastic. Thank you
Thoroughly enjoyed the interview after the story Tony. Good story. Needed the interview to illuminate.
Great this time around, also the commentary.-- must listen again
Great story! and what a wonderful guy, so humble and kind to offer help.
He’s a very decent bloke
Most eerily enjoyable! Evocative and truly suspenseful. Thank you!
Great story!
Great interview! It was a bizarre point where the child asked where mother is. 🐈🐾 I thought the part about the father reading the newspaper and when the child came in I thought the newspaper was going to being months old not the present...as if the father read one newspaper overt and over again, or simply starred at the same paper.
Very clever, decidedly new take on the ghost story. Pardon the pun, chilling! Namaste Z
Great story, I loved it... I wonder do author's who write story's, especially ghost story's.. Any of them have life experiences of ghost, or even hear people's experiences with ghost or the paranormal.. Just a thought.. Love listening.. Thank you.
They clearly have an interest in such things!
I quite enjoyed this story.
**SPOILER ALERT**
At 1st I wondered if the girl was dead and didn't realize it until the soldiers kept multiplying..her parents were shells of themselves due in part to her death.
excellent little story!
Very nice interview Tony
#request
I have a really enjoyable thriller that your readers and you might like: Murder Artist by John Case.
I would love to hear you narrate it. It has kidnapping, multiple murders, several insane characters released from an asylum, magic in Vegas, voodoo in Louisiana, dogged determination of a father to not give up. Super read!
Good story
Mr Boast: O Henry
Indeed, fascism is the real horror.
Hello, I do love and appreciate your channel and readings, but I hope you will forgive my preference for no view of you as you read.you’re not ugly or unlikeable , don’t get me wrong, but, it’s more comfortable and easier just to hear your voice and interpretation of the characters if I’m not looking at your face. Xxx
+Avril thank you for the kisses. I have a version of this one without my face. It’s just a different style. That is reading. This one is storytelling of the kind I do with live audiences. Don’t worry I will continue to do audio only videos
UK accents are annoying.
Too much talk, ruined.