Tynan Portillo presents, featuring the works of Edgar Allan Poe and the best horror stories from the 19th century. Welcome to The Poe Show podcast. Music and narration by Tynan Portillo.
Today’s episode, a sneak peek from Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed? by Eric Miller.
Tommy inches through the rows of corn in a new section of the field. A fly buzzes around his head. He ignores it. Sweat rolls down his neck. He glances back and sees Max and Walter prowling close behind, their eyes constantly on the move, searching for danger everywhere. It is dirty, slow work, but it beats rushing ahead into unknown dangers. Or so he’s told; if he had his druthers—whatever those are—Tommy would much rather take the offensive any time he can. But since Max is the boss, he continues creeping.
A tiny cracking sound comes from behind them. Tommy whips around, pointing the muzzle of his shotgun toward the sound. Max ducks under the swinging barrel and rolls to the dusty ground. The barrel of his AK-47 covers the patch of corn to the right of Tommy’s shotgun. Walter spins and covers the left f ield of fire with his Uzi. Amateurs or not, they are very good at what they do. A Navy SEAL would have trouble finding flaws in their form.
Max whispers to the giant towering over him without taking his eyes off the corn. “See anything?”
“No. But watch behind us. It’s an old trick from the ‘Nam. Get you looking one way and attack from the other.”
Max follows his advice. He twists around and sticks his gun between Tommy’s legs, aiming behind him. He sees nothing but more rows of corn. They hold position. Listening. Waiting. After a tense moment, Tommy exhales.
“False alarm,” he says. “It must have run off.”
“No way,” Max grunts, unconvinced. “I can still feel it out there.”
Tommy starts to argue, but Max puts his finger to his lips. Tommy and Walter glance back to the corn. They have learned through painful experience to trust their leader’s gut feelings.
A flash of movement to the side catches Max’s attention. He whips his head around and sees a hulking shape tearing through the rows. The shape is indistinct at first, hidden by the stalks and blurred by speed, but the way it moves—and the fact that it is not one of the team—screams danger. It takes another step and then launches itself at the back of Tommy’s head like an organic missile. There is no time to shout a warning or aim. So Max slams his machine gun into the back of Tommy’s knee, and the huge man’s leg buckles.
“Hey!” he grunts, then crashes to the ground and woofs out a lungful of air.
The men catch a glimpse of a demonic creature with rippling muscles and flashing teeth vaulting over them. Jagged claws hiss through the air where Tommy’s head was an instant before, and the bundle of death hits the ground and scrambles away through the corn in a flurry of churning legs.
Max swings his AK around and lets off a long burst of gunfire. But he is too slow; the bullets rip through the air half an inch behind the shape. It crashes into the rows of corn and scuttles away with a chilling growl.
Tommy rolls to his feet and gives chase.
“Tommy, no!” Max yells.
But Tommy is past following orders, past reasonable thought. He has the enemy in his sights, a way to put the anguish of a month of tension and years of torture to rest. He is Death and he must Kill and nothing can be said or done to tear his simpleminded focus away from his quarry. He chases after the tornado of teeth and claws and leaves the others behind.
Corn stalks slash at Tommy as he runs, cutting red lines on his hands and face. He ignores the pain, hot on the trail of the creature. It zigs and zags in front of him, dodging the continuous hail of buckshot roaring from the flaming barrel of the shotgun. The sound is much the same as the one he made in the kitchen when he was pretending to shoot, except now it is a hundred times louder.
Bada-bada-bada-bada-bada.
“Stand still you fucker!” he screams.
The demon screeches something unintelligible in return as it cuts sharply to the left ahead, into a thicker patch of corn. It leaves a ragged trail Tommy follows until he breaks into the clear and sees a shape standing in front of him and he grins savagely as he raises the shotgun and pulls the trigger—
And shoots Max in the chest.
The impact spins Max around and tosses him backward. He lands face down on the ground. As he gasps for air a dim part of his brain analyzes the pain and finds it intense and yet dull at the same time, like getting beaned with a fastball when you lean a little too far into the batter’s box during a baseball game, except this heater is made of multiple double-aught buckshot pellets scorching along at over eight hundred miles an hour.
“No! It’s us!” Walter screams and he dives for cover beside Max.
Tommy jerks the shotgun barrel up and gapes at his fallen friend. “It was right in front of me!” He whips his head around, searching for the shape, but it is gone. He starts crying. “I didn’t see him! I swear! I thought he was the monster!”
Walter ignores him and rolls Max onto his back. He gasps when he sees the holes ripped through the outer fabric of the bulletproof vest. Walter feels around, searching for signs of blood, but finds none.
“He’s not bleeding. I think the vest stopped it.”
Max convulses, struggling for breath. His eyes flutter. He drags a gulp of air into his tortured lungs, shakes his head to clear it, and holds out his hand. Walter pulls him to a sitting position. Max grimaces in pain. He looks down at the ragged pattern on his vest and smiles weakly at Tommy.
“Nice shootin’, Tex,” he croaks.
Tommy drops to his knees. Tears stream down the big man’s face. “I’m sorry, Max. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” Max grunts. “I’m just glad I didn’t buy you the bazooka.”
Walter helps Max to his feet. He wobbles, unsteady, and moves his arms around to loosen up. He takes a deeper breath but the pain makes him grimace.
“Might have cracked a few ribs.”
“Can you continue?” Walter asks.
“No choice,” Max shrugs. “But it’s okay. It only hurts when I breathe.”
If you’re an author who’d like to feature your own work on The Poe Show, you can contact me at poeshowpod@gmail.com with details. And, of course, buy a copy of Eric’s book to enjoy for yourself, available on Amazon. I’ll link it in this episode's description.
This action scene of Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed that you’ve just heard comes from the beginning of the book, and I think it’s a great demonstration of Eric’s writing. He can so quickly hook you with an intense event and write characters who are so easy to empathize with. And the rest of the book just adds and adds to it.
Now, let’s get into our interview with Eric Miller.
Eric was so wonderful to interview. I really loved our conversation, and I was sorry it had to get cut short due to time. But he was so kind and sent me a copy of Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed? It’s gonna go on my bookshelf after I’m done reading it, but I’d like to read the back of the book to show you more of what this book is about.
“When his mysterious Uncle Ed disappears, former high school basketball star Max Brown inherits a fortune in cash, a creepy mansion, and a family curse.
“He discovers a mind-bending arena under the house, where he and his feuding allies battle shapeshifting demons to rescue people trapped in the cavern of horrors. But there are more than just lives at stake - the losers forfeit their very souls.”
This book is about a whole lot more than you probably expected, and it’s an amazing read!
You can order your own copy of Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed? on Amazon for Paperback or Kindle right now. Like I said, link in the description.
Also, I’ve got a new horror movie review on The Poe Show YouTube channel! Yeah, it only took me a year to pump another one out. No, in reality, I’ve just been carving my schedule out so I could make another one. This newest review is of The Cask of Amontillado, and I don’t want to spoil anything, so you’ll have to go watch it for yourself. The link to it is in this episode description.
And remember to look forward to the Halloween special The Murders in the Rue Morgue with a surprise guest narrator.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Poe Show, and remember to subscribe if you want to hear more. And, if you liked this episode, share it with a friend who enjoys horror podcasts.
That’s all for now, but you’ll hear from me again on the next episode of The Poe Show.
