THE DEEP ONES: "Cold Flame" by Joan Aiken
ConversazioniThe Weird Tradition
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1semdetenebre
"Cold Flame" by Joan Aiken
Discussion begins September 21, 2022.
First published in The Fifth Ghost Book (1969).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?78442
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
A Bundle of Nerves: Stories of Horror, Suspense and Fantasy
The Far Forests: Tales of Romance, Fantasy, and Suspense
The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
https://www.tor.com/2016/04/07/reprints-the-cold-flame-joan-aiken/
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://www.joanaiken.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Aiken
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-practical-magic-of-joan-aiken-th...
https://www.monsterlibrarian.com/TheCirculationDesk/women-in-horror-fiction-joan...
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/interview-joan-aiken/
https://tinyurl.com/5n9yw972
Discussion begins September 21, 2022.
First published in The Fifth Ghost Book (1969).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?78442
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
A Bundle of Nerves: Stories of Horror, Suspense and Fantasy
The Far Forests: Tales of Romance, Fantasy, and Suspense
The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
https://www.tor.com/2016/04/07/reprints-the-cold-flame-joan-aiken/
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://www.joanaiken.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Aiken
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-practical-magic-of-joan-aiken-th...
https://www.monsterlibrarian.com/TheCirculationDesk/women-in-horror-fiction-joan...
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/interview-joan-aiken/
https://tinyurl.com/5n9yw972
2AndreasJ
While not our usual fare, I thought this was good fun, and the posthumous aspect should qualify it as weird enough.
3paradoxosalpha
The sentence that got me to LOL was this one with its own paragraph:
I thought about that.
I thought about that.
4papijoe
I found the spare dialog-driven prose a refreshing change of pace.
Certainly weird enough for me, and the narrator’s deadpan causal response to being contacted from beyond the grave actually enhanced the weirdness.
And being pursued into the next life by Mrs O’Shea well exceeded the horror requirement.
Certainly weird enough for me, and the narrator’s deadpan causal response to being contacted from beyond the grave actually enhanced the weirdness.
And being pursued into the next life by Mrs O’Shea well exceeded the horror requirement.
5papijoe
>3 paradoxosalpha: Thanks! I missed this and it was well worth going back for!
6housefulofpaper
The previous Aiken story we looked at, "Reading in Bed", is missing from the Google docs listing of all discussions (I wanted to check what I wrote about that story, so as to avoid repeating myself).
Perhaps not surprisingly, we don't get many comedies selected for a Deep Ones Discussion. I thought it was good fun too, with enough psychological acuity in the characters of Mrs O'Shea and her son, and in their relationship, to give the tale some depth and a touch of real menace.
Perhaps not surprisingly, we don't get many comedies selected for a Deep Ones Discussion. I thought it was good fun too, with enough psychological acuity in the characters of Mrs O'Shea and her son, and in their relationship, to give the tale some depth and a touch of real menace.
7RandyStafford
An enjoyable story. I liked the enigma of Mrs. O'Shea. Is she some sort of psychic vampire or just a really narcistic woman with magical powers?
And then there's the question of Patrick's poetry. Is it any good? Is it even original? Are we buying the story that mom showing up in the afterlife distracted him?
In some ways, as Ellis hints at, mother and son share a lot of traits. Perhaps Patrick's desire to get his poetry, however good, published is just a manifestation of his own narcissism.
Kind of wished we would have seen what Chapedelaine had in mind for the second portrait.
And then there's the question of Patrick's poetry. Is it any good? Is it even original? Are we buying the story that mom showing up in the afterlife distracted him?
In some ways, as Ellis hints at, mother and son share a lot of traits. Perhaps Patrick's desire to get his poetry, however good, published is just a manifestation of his own narcissism.
Kind of wished we would have seen what Chapedelaine had in mind for the second portrait.
8semdetenebre
>6 housefulofpaper:
The Google docs list has been updated and "Reading in Bed" is now in its proper spot in the Spring 2022 section.
The Google docs list has been updated and "Reading in Bed" is now in its proper spot in the Spring 2022 section.