EPISODE CHASER: Cool Air
"Dude, you MUST chill!" -Dr. Torres
This is our Episode Chaser series, part of the official newsletter of The Short Horror Beer Cast.
Episode Chasers are companion pieces designed to explain some of the more obscure references we make on the show, expound on the not-so-obscure ones, and correct some of the mistakes we make due to lazy research or drunkenness.
Do ya dig it? Do the thing:
The References
We’re two Gen-Xers whose minds are everywhere all at once, sub-referencing ourselves into the boundless depths, thus warranting a deeper dive into our digressions.
1. Surströmming
I’m assuming you’re reading this because you’ve listened to the episode. Therefore you no doubt recall Alec’s description of this Thing That Shouldn’t Be.
From Wikipedia:
Surströmming (pronounced [ˈsʉ̂ːˌʂʈrœmːɪŋ]; Swedish for 'sour herring') is lightly salted, fermented Baltic Sea herring traditional to Swedish cuisine since at least the 16th century. It is distinct from fried or pickled herring.
It is distinct from fried or pickled herring.
Let’s talk about how distinct.
What’s the first thing you notice in that photo? Besides the fact that the can itself looks less like it contains something you ingest and more like it contains something you’d grout your bathtub tiles with.
I’ll tell you the first thing I noticed: The picture was taken outdoors. The uninitiated among us can easily understand why. It frequently tops the list of smelliest foods on the planet.
That link takes you to an article where surströmming is bested only by the durian, a fruit I’ve actually smelled and tasted. Yes, it smells like rotten onions stored in a used jock strap. But you don’t have to be an evolutionary biologist to grok us humans’ hard-wired revulsion to the smell of decaying flesh of any kind.
Anyway, dig this serving suggestion from the Wiki page:
I feel like crying.
And here’s something new to haunt your nightmares:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27258303
As an adventurous eater, I might be inclined to try this stuff at least once. But as someone with a pathological intolerance of bad smells, I’d more likely puss out.
2. The Lovecraft Circle
Some distinction ought to be made between what is traditionally known as the Lovecraft Circle and the core group of writers collectively known as “the Gallomo”—that is Alfred Galpin, Samuel Loveman, and Maurice W. Moe—who corresponded with HPL in a round robin series of letters on a variety of philosophical topics.
Here’s a fun Christmas greeting to the Gallomo, preserved by the H.P. Lovecraft Archive.
When people refer to the Lovecraft Circle, they’re usually talking about those writers who did in fact correspond with the old man, but who went on to cement their own places in horror and fantastic literature.
These authors took Lovecraft’s ideas and ran with them. They are, in part:
Clark Ashton Smith
Robert E. Howard
Robert Bloch
August Derleth
Here’s a nice deeper dive into the group.
3. The Count of St. Germain
This video does a pretty good job of exploring the legend, even if the narrator can’t bring himself to use the proper French pronunciation of the count’s name, opting for “Jer-Mayne” instead.
4. Jacob’s Ladder—The Ice Bath Scene
WARNING: This isn’t an easy one.
Seriously, it’s as disturbing as anything else in the film, and the film is disturbing. It’ll likely put you off ice baths and Elizabeth Peña.
Watch at your own risk.
5. Behold… Frostillicus!
Argumentum ad ebrietate
We speak off the cuff, and often under the influence of a particular fermented beverage. It's only natural our mouths run ahead of our brains and we muck up some of the details. So I’ve decided to group these gaffes under the above heading and excuse it thus.
1. The Damn Publication Date!
I honestly don’t know how I got this one wrong. The story was written in 1926 and published in 1928, according to EVERYONE.
Why the hell did I keep saying 1927? Did I subconsciously want to plug the Bill Bryson book?
Anyway, here’s the cover of the magazine, Tales of Magic and Mystery, March 1928:
’Tis a relatively quick chaser this time. Catch you next time, when we look in on our patient, a certain Monsieur Valdemar. He was doing quite well the last time we checked in…
