In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:
Ay up, Rob! I've read this a few times now, yes, I do think it is rather good. It's essentially a poem, and I think could be easily re-formed into verses & stanzas. Although it is best that it stays masquerading as prose, as that fits the 'shady' content. It is certainly in the mode of 'literary conceit' and that can feel jarring to some readers. However, I really like how it claims right from the start to be in the realm of 'cartoon characters', it knows it is Scooby-Doo, it is an overt melodramatic performance, tinged with comedy. And that fits too, because it references film noir, which is of course stylised in excess. The film noir reference is not just the run-down (or otherwise) funfair crime-scene trope that appears in quite a few film noirs (and which by the way also appears in Blade Runner 2049), but there is also that mention of gaberdine (1940s fabric). We know, from the outset, this is all about dressing up for fun, and is also about nostalgia. The thing about film noir is - it is actually ridiculous, but we love that postured ridiculousness and so accept and believe the dark that underlies it, we suspend our disbelief by joining in with the pantomime ... and going along for the ride !
I don't know if you saw the poem-ish comment that I left ... anyway, I do feel, whether SJD consciously knows it or not (and poets often don't!), that she has made a serious observation & comment about the notion of 'adventure' and the commodification of that notion. There's lots that I like in this piece, but for me, I really like how it is - gently and with performative panache - taking the piss ! Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where those that appropriate what we love were in the end foiled and left only with one reply: "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids" ...