Episode 104: Whelp by Damon Shaw
Written by Damon Shaw and produced by Scott Pigg, “Whelp” tells the disturbing story of Ivan, who is forced to deal with a very strange and unsettling dog.
Afterward, Big and Rish talk about…stuff. Maybe it was about how different producers bring different things to their projects, maybe it was about the catharsis of writing, sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention (the game was on).
outtakes
Special thanks to Scott Pigg for producing today’s story and Julie Hoverson for lending her voice.
Right click HERE to download the episode, select Save Link As, and save the file to your hard drive.
http://traffic.libsyn.com/dunesteef/Dunesteef_104_Whelp_by_Damon_Shaw.mp3%20Related Links:
Damon Shaw’s Blog
Scott Pigg produces for HG World (along with Bryan Lincoln).
Julie Hoverson’s 19 Nocturne Boulevard
Photo by r3v || cls
Some sound effects were provided by freesound.org.
Music is from Ustoz and Bezdin Ensemble from Magnatune.com and also long note two and serenity trek by kevin mcleod at incompetch.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine 
June 10, 2011 at 3:17 pm
I am glad you guys enjoyed it! But it wasn’t a watermelon. It was a bucket of non flavored half congealed Jello that I tossed into the backseat of my junker for a car. Took me a few tries. I end up leave the puddle of Jello on the seat and slapping it with a wet towel. The whole time it was grossing me out thinking about what I was trying to imitate. The clean up actually managed to make me gag. My imagination gets the better of me sometimes.
The save file problem happened because I was dragging the project file onto a back up drive. But somewhere I saved directly to the back up drive instead of the desktop. So, when I would go to back up the file I was essentially erasing all my work and copying over it with the first save file I had saved on the desktop which essentially had no work done in it. Fortunately I didn’t lose any of my audio files just the editing work.
June 10, 2011 at 8:52 pm
This was a discomfiting story. My blood went cold when the woman said “We weren’t careful enough, you and me,” and an unpleasant idea came to mind. If you ran stories like this every week, I don’t think I could take it, but every once in a while, it’s nice (in a nasty sort of way).
June 10, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Great job, Scott! You continue to impress me. Very disturbing story, but original!
June 11, 2011 at 8:39 am
Thanks for doing such a great job. I’m blown away. I really enjoyed listening to it. I didn’t realise it was that extreme (until I heard the pumpkin.) I hope it didn’t turn too many listeners off. :)
Well done, Scott, Rish, Big, Julie and the team. Thanks for making my first podcast experience so fantastic.
June 11, 2011 at 2:32 pm
You know, you guys really had me fooled back in episode 100, all acting like you love dogs and getting all choked up talking about the Russian dog in space and stuff…oh you guys have big hearts, such nice guys. And then you run this story and make this dog go through such pain and agony. Yeah, now I know how you guys really are.
Naw, just kidding. This was a very compelling story, made all the more compelling by Scott’s excellent production. I was a little bit let down when it ended becuase I think there was more to be explored, but oh well.
As for the sick factor, I wasn’t too grossed out, but it was definately unsettling to think of actually witnessing such a thing.
I will have to listen to this one again.
June 13, 2011 at 6:17 am
Yeah, um… I kind of knew where this was going because of the title, but it was still quite chilling to get there. I’d always thought “whelp” was a verb, as in “to whelp” means “to give birth to puppies”, but I guess it’s a noun too.
The production was great, but it took me a while to get into it… the first 5-10 minutes felt a little over-produced, but then it got better.
The cell phone bit was brilliant. I really thought my phone was playing some weird generic ringtone — when I have my bluetooth turned on, the car audio shuts off for a couple of seconds before the ring starts coming through. I don’t know if that was the intent, but it was very well done.
June 15, 2011 at 7:32 am
The expression on the dog’s face in the episode art is just priceless…
June 15, 2011 at 10:18 am
Wow, what a cool story and podcast!
So glad I found this.
June 15, 2011 at 1:40 pm
I agree with it being over-produced in spots. There was a lot of experimenting going on. Some worked some didn’t. The gag with the cell phone was very intentional. I was hoping to have the listener ready for something creepy to happen, but instead throw them with a sound that is far too common and in a way much more disturbing.
June 16, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Man, the Dunesteef has been getting very squick-y lately.
June 17, 2011 at 12:00 am
Here, here! It’s been as squicky as all get-out. Definitely squicky. Squick-tastic, even.
June 23, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Great episode. I’m fastly becoming a fan of the Dunesteef, which I had originally avoided because the name sounds horribly British and I was afraid it would be full of unintelligible accents.
However after becoming a loyal fan of the Starshipsofa and accustoming myself to Tony C. Smith’s accent, I figured what the hell and to give it a try.
June 24, 2011 at 9:47 am
That’s funny. I would make a crack about often hearing unintelligible accents, but I actually think that Big and Rish do a pretty good job on that front.
June 24, 2011 at 4:28 pm
I absolutely loved this story. Great idea. Great writing. Great production. Definitely one of my top 5 Dunesteef stories.
June 30, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Oooh, thanks. I really enjoyed listening to the story. Great sound effects! They really helped put the “ick” factor in the story
July 4, 2011 at 10:37 am
The story itself gave me the shutters, but i could understand the extremes a person might be willing to go to save those they love. I’ve been scrambling to catch up with Dunesteef, and as I have finally gotten pretty close and this story made me want to comment, I decided to.
The genesis of this story, as told by the author… He has my condolences on his loss. The loss of someone you love, particularly to something like cancer, is a difficult thing that I understand all too well (my Grandfather was an inspiration who refused to let his pain show to his grandchildren). His writing skill is a touching testimate to his partner. One that I think will live on beyond them both. His passion shows in his work, and I expect it will take him somewhere amazing.
July 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Thank you very much, Kelly. Responses like yours really help if I’m feeling down. Best wishes. D
July 11, 2011 at 3:31 am
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
Ewwwww.
I mean, incredible production and everything, but – EWWW !
*shudder*
I don’t know if ‘enjoyed’ is the right word, in fact I’m not sure what IS the right word to describe how I felt about this one. But it is a positive response !
September 12, 2011 at 12:30 am
Very creepy story… enjoyed it though. Listen to Pseudopod now and again but those are usually dark stories but don’t creep me out as much as this did.