In 1954 when Colliers magazine published a chilling story about aliens emerging from pods in the guise of humans, critics interpreted the work as a cold-war allegory dramatizing the Red-scare. Except...
... the man who wrote THE BODY SNATCHERS, Jack Finney, held fast that he had done nothing more than write a story.
Right.
Sometimes a story can grow far beyond the author's vision or intention.
Paying homage to the story that gave eventual birth to the movie INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (which has been made 3 times as of last count 1956, 1978, and 1993 as BODY SNATCHERS), editors Suzanne Donahue and Stefano Donati are releasing PODDITIES. According to Donahue, there will be nine short stories from NICHOLAS KAUFMANN, DAN KEOHANE, D.F. LEWIS, HARRISON HOWE, KURT NEWTON, TIM LEBBON, BRIAN KEENE, STEFANO DONATI, and herself.
In addition, There are eleven pieces of non-fiction Body Snatchers commentary from RAMSEY CAMPBELL, MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH, THOMAS F. MONTELEONE, NICHOLAS ROYLE, CHRISTOPHER FOWLER, DAVID B. SILVA, JACK KETCHUM, CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN, JACK WILLIAMSON, ED GORMAN, and STANLEY WIATER.
Suzanne says, "Layout is being completed, and PODDITIES should go to the printer right around Halloween. The printer has a 3 -4 week turn-around time, so I anticipate having copies in the mail by the end of November. The initial print run will be 1,000 copies, and I have no problem going to a second print run to accommodate anyone who doesn't get a copy in the first batch."
PODDITIES will be a perfect-bound, digest-sized anthology, with cover art by JEFFREY THOMAS.
Judi Rohrig interviewed contributor Nick Kaufmann,
"I never thought I'd write a story that was in any way sympathetic to the likes of Joseph McCarthy and Elia Kazan," Kaufmann who contributed 'With Its Sleeves Rolled.' said.
"But, as is often the case, the finished story surprised me in many ways. I've always viewed the Body Snatchers story as a political allegory, even if that's not what Finney intended. Its genius lies in its versatility: is it an anti-McCarthy story, warning against the homogenization of America, or is it a Red Scare cautionary tale, reminding us to keep vigilant in the face of Communism's desire for an utterly utilitarian world?"
Kaufmann's story title is a reference to Joseph McCarthy's 1952 re-election campaign slogan: "McCarthyism is Americanism with Its Sleeves Rolled." Added Kaufmann: "I shook things up a bit . . . and touched on both those possibilities. I'm really quite proud of how the story turned out. And, to my knowledge, it is also the only horror story to feature a cameo by Alger Hiss."