October 13: Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (2020)
Quote:
You are here. You are in. And doesn’t it feel good?
You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you.
In my latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the new episode of the StarShipSofa podcast, I talk about Ray Bradbury’s concept of science fiction as a “reflecting shield” by discussing The House of Night, Watchmen, and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. You can listen here.
My past podcast segments are listed/linked here on my website.
In the past I’ve suggested some terrific podcasts that are perfect for this spooky season, and I stand by those recommendations. Read my past list here!
In addition, just a few days ago Emily Stein contributed this list to CrimeReads: “8 Great Horror Podcasts and Their Spookiest Episodes!”
Happy listening!
Now here are several podcasts that are either new or new to me in 2020, and I highly recommend them!
1. Monster, She Wrote: Scholars Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson are the authors of a book I thoroughly enjoyed, Monster, She Wrote, and now they are co-hosts of this wonderfully insightful and informative podcast about women in the horror genre. Don’t miss it!
2. The Goth Librarian: Goths and librarians are two of my favorite kinds of people, and here’s a host who’s both. What’s not to love? “The Goth Librarian Podcast is a weekly podcast covering true crime, oddities, urban legends, haunted places, and other dark peculiarities.” Episode 37 on the “Spanish Flu” is a timely and topical place to start.
3. Bone & Sickle: This podcast “is a celebration of the intersection of horror, folklore, and history. Every episode offers a bounty of frightful tales, fantastic legends, and macabre historical anecdotes harvested by eccentric artist, collector, and rogue folklorist Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas. Co-host to the show is Sarah Chavez of The Cabinet of Curiosities and Death in the Afternoon. With acerbic wit and a scholarly penchant for the grotesque, Ridenour delves into a wide but carefully curated range of topics that have included: Faust’s deal with the Devil, classical necromancy, murder ballads, ghosts ships, the Victorian obsession with Pan (and mummies), Basque witchcraft, the evolution of gothic vampire literature, and tales of saints carrying their heads after decapitation...” Thanks to Aaron for this excellent recommendation!
4. The Strange and Unusual Podcast: I’ve just started listening to this one, and I’m hooked: “The unknown, it lies at the root of all fear, and has inspired legends, folklore, superstition, mythology, and even murder throughout history. Still today we feel the shadowy presence of our ancestors' struggles to explain the mysterious in our lives, as we continue to keep fighting to keep our monsters in the dark. Welcome to The Strange and Unusual Podcast, a podcast with a focus on dark history.”
5. The Tomb with a View: This is another recent discovery for me. The official description goes like this: “A podcast about the history, preservation, and culture of American cemeteries hosted by Liz Clappin.” If you’re looking for a good starting place, I recommend the recent, insightful, and timely Episode 54: “Constantly Looking Back: The Gallows Hill Project, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, and Giving A Voice to Innocent Victims”: “Looking at how memorials can give a voice to innocent victims and how good historical research can help us to look back and understand what was previously unknown important facts about the past. The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 are still being learned about and interpreted today as we continue to come to terms with our difficult past.”
And here are some of my favorite Halloween-appropriate podcasts that were new in 2019 and remain very much worth exploring!
1. Odd Things I’ve Seen: For years, I have recommended J.W. Ocker’s brilliant Odd Things I’ve Seen website, and now he has a podcast. As he explains, “I visit odd things, I tell their stories, and I tell you how to find them. It’s Odd Things I’ve Seen, but out loud.” Gothic, macabre, and spooky!
2. Ladies of Horror Fiction Podcast: “Ladies of Horror Fiction was created to bring about a multi-dimensional way to support women who either write in the horror genre or review in it.” Check out Episode 2 for “The History of Halloween, Vanishing Hitchhikers and Weeping Widows”!
3. The Full Price Podcast: “The Full Price is a podcast that takes a cultural journey, walking in the shoes of the legend of stage, screen and sound, Vincent Price.” Price is perfect for Halloween, and this podcast is perfect for Price fans!
***
Parting thought for the day: “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” — L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (1908)
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of making a pilgrimage to the shrine of the King of October Country himself, The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at IUPUI (Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis). My amazing experience there is the focus of my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on Episode 593 of the StarShipSofa podcast, which you can listen to here.
In the Center’s recreation of Ray Bradbury’s basement office, I found this beauty, Ray Bradbury’s own depiction of the Halloween Tree. Breathtaking!
(Photos by AHS.)
At the edge of the deep dark night ravine he pointed over the rim of the hills and the earth, away from the light of the moon, under the dim light of strange stars. The wind fluttered his black cloak and the hood that half shadowed and now half revealed his almost fleshless face.
“There, do you see it, lads?”
“What?”
“The Undiscovered Country. Out there. Look long, look deep, make a feast. The Past, boys, the Past. Oh, it’s dark, yes, and full of nightmare. Everything that Halloween ever was lies buried there. Will you dig for bones, boys? Do you have the stuff?”
He burned his gaze at them.
“What is Halloween? How did it start? Where? Why? What for? Witches, cats, mummy dusts, haunts. It’s all there in that country from which no one returns. Will you dive into the dark ocean, boys? Will you fly in the dark sky?”
- Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree
In the past I’ve suggested some terrific podcasts that are perfect for this spooky season, and I stand by those recommendations. Happy listening!
Today I’d like to recommend four of my favorite Halloween-appropriate podcasts that are new this year and very much worth exploring.
1. Sublime Horror: “Sublime Horror was created to help fill a gap. For all the great literature and horror websites out there, there are very few taking a serious approach to the coverage of literary horror, especially reaching into the corners of literary fiction that horror fans might otherwise miss.” In addition to this, the podcast is “taking a thoughtful, intelligent, and critical view of the whole field of horror and its connected themes (such as the Gothic, the macabre, folklore and magic), across all art forms.” This is a “must listen” podcast!
2. Odd Things I’ve Seen: For years, I have recommended J.W. Ocker’s brilliant Odd Things I’ve Seen website, and now he has a podcast. As he explains, “I visit odd things, I tell their stories, and I tell you how to find them. It’s Odd Things I’ve Seen, but out loud.” Gothic, macabre, and spooky!
3. Ladies of Horror Fiction Podcast: “Ladies of Horror Fiction was created to bring about a multi-dimensional way to support women who either write in the horror genre or review in it.” Check out Episode 2 for “The History of Halloween, Vanishing Hitchhikers and Weeping Widows”!
4. The Full Price Podcast: “The Full Price is a podcast that takes a cultural journey, walking in the shoes of the legend of stage, screen and sound, Vincent Price.” Price is perfect for Halloween, and this podcast is perfect for Price fans!
If you listen, I hope you enjoy!
I thought I’d pause in my end-of-the-semester grade-a-thon to share a few things I’ve been up to…
Dramatic Reading
My unabridged dramatic reading of Tim Pratt’s wonderful “Anna and Marisol in Time and Space” is on Escape Pod, Episode 622 (April).
“Looking Back on Genre History”
My most recent “Looking Back on Genre History” segments for StarShipSofa include
* tributes to Karen Anderson and Kate Wilhelm on Episode 529 (March) and
* the first part of a two-part discussion of the Finalists for Best Novel for the 1943 Retro Hugo Awards on Episode 535 (May).
Publication
Last, this is new from the Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict series: Virtual Dark Tourism: Ghost Roads. This collection includes my essay “'Some Lingering Influence in the Shunned House’: H.P. Lovecraft’s Three Invitations to Dark Tourism.“
1. It was a thrill for me to narrate Ann K. Schwader’s (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ankh_hpl's) chilling Lovecraftian cosmic horror story “Dead Canyons” for Tales to Terrify.
2. My two latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segments – my 100th and 101st! – are up on StarShipSofa. January’s segment is on the married science fiction duo of C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, and February’s segment is on the anthology Scientific Romance: An International Anthology of Pioneering Science Fiction. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!
3. I was honored to be Guest Editor for the “Celebration of Indigenous Fantasists” issue of Apex Magazine in August 2017. Now I’m overjoyed to celebrate its “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” as a nominee for the Nebula Award! Congratulations to the brilliant Rebecca Roanhorse!
4. Dwight MacPherson’s powerful Elevator is now available as a trade paperback from Hocus Pocus Comics. I edited this graphic novel, and I’m delighted to see it in print. I love the cover art by Randy Valiente.
My “Looking Back on Genre History” on StarShipSofa
* Episode 506 of StarShipSofa includes my Guest Scholar presentation from the recent 4LEP Conference, based on my latest research project: “The Jedi of Middle-earth? Tolkien’s Influence on Today’s Star Wars.” Listen here!
* Episode 510 of StarShipSofa includes my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the newly-rediscovered 1956 Hugo Awards ballot. Listen here!
If you listen, I hope you enjoy!
In no particular order…
* Welcome to Night Vale: It’s TheNerdyBlogger’s fault that I’m addicted to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast (and its wonderfully weird related books, as well). This is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, an omnipotent Glow Cloud (All hail!), and cultural events. Think Lake Woebegone meets Stephen King. Just for kicks, I’m decorating this post with quotes from the podcast.
(Note: I also recommend checking out the other podcasts from Night Vale Presents, as well!)
* Astonishing Legends: This podcast’s mission is to take a look at legendary, strange, and unusual events from history and interview people who’ve had close encounters with the unexplained. Hosts Scott and Forrest strive to bring you everything that’s entertaining about those stories and remind you that it’s okay to laugh at scary stories – and, respectfully, even the people that tell them. That said, this is a serious and skeptical podcast. Put your headphones on, settle in for your commute, and get ready to experience a show like nothing you’ve ever heard before. I discovered this podcast while looking for more analyses of the Dyatlov Pass mystery, and I was hooked. My favorite series of episodes thus far focuses on the Somerton Man mystery. If you could have drinks with the Lone Gunmen, I’d expect the discussion would sound a bit like this podcast. (That’s a compliment, if you were wondering.) Right now they’re covering the Bell Witch. (Too cool!) You remember the Bell Witch, right?
* The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast: In each weekly podcast, Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer discuss a specific H.P. Lovecraft story – what it’s about, how it reads, why it may have been written and what other works of art it’s influenced. Since concluding Lovecraft’s stories, they’ve been covering other weird fiction that inspired the author, mostly those referenced in his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” They regularly have talented guest readers and contributing composers for their music sections. The majority of the Lovecraft episodes are free. Three of the four monthly episodes are now subscription-only, but they are well, well worth the modest cost. And October is for werewolves!
* Saturday Frights: TheNerdyBlogger put this on my radar, and I’m grateful! Each week the co-hosts discussed a particular horror movie or horror-themed TV episode from the Retroist Vault for your listening enjoyment. Unfortunately, the show is no longer in production, but there are still 63 episodes in the archive that are well worth your time and guaranteed to put you in the Halloween mood.
* Interference by Eric Luke: Another of my brilliant former graduate students, April, suggested this to me, and it’s sublime. Don’t miss this! The podiobook unfolds in twenty-four episodes, and then it’s done. Described as “an experiment in audio horror” (oh yeah!), here’s the tantalizing blurb: “SOMETHING wants in. To your head. Through this audiobook. Ethan, a digital sound engineer in Los Angeles, becomes aware that his life is unraveling when the audiobook he’s listening to reveals his deepest, darkest secrets, escalating until the narrator addresses him directly, threatening to destroy him from within. Vivian, a single mother running an antique store in San Francisco, listens to her audiobook to distract herself from missing her young daughter, but is shaken when the narrative is interrupted by her daughter’s voice, faintly calling for help. Ethan and Vivian are drawn together as they fight to solve a generation-spanning conspiracy that begins with a boy listening to the Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938 and evolves through the latest innovations in digital technology…” I love how the individual weird tales link together into a spooky, intense, and deeply humane conclusion.
* Rippercast: The Whitechapel Murders Podcast: This is a treat for those of you who are interested in the history of forensics, true crime, Victorian England/London, etc. A roundtable of author/academic presenters, co-hosts, and special guests discuss topics related to the Whitechapel Murders, Jack the Ripper, Victorian British history, true crime, and whatever else suits their fancy. Lately the podcast has been sharing the monthly scholarly talks recorded at the London meetings of the Whitechapel Society 1888 and at various international conferences focused on related themes, as well as the “10 Weeks in Whitechapel” series. If you want to hear the latest in research from those who literally wrote the books on their respective topics related to Jack the Ripper’s times and context, you’ll want to listen.
* Kat & Curt’s TV Re-View: This podcast began with brilliant bloggers Curtis Weyant and Katherine Sas introducing Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who to each other, watching one episode of each per week, sharing fannish delight and critical analysis. Curt, a long-time Whedon devotee and scholar, introduced the show to Kat, and analytical Whovian Kat acquainted Curt with the Doctor. Now Angel and Battlestar Galactica have been added to the mix. Join Kat and Curt for a journey through time, space, and Sunnydale as they battle demons, aliens, and the inscrutable process of creating quality narrative television.
* Tales to Terrify: This weekly audio magazine is one of StarShipSofa’s siblings in the District of Wonders. I’m terribly saddened to say that we lost our friend and comrade, author and host Larry Santoro (“the Vincent Price of podcasts!”). He is greatly missed. But the podcast continues to soldier (lurch? stagger? insert your scary verb here) on in his memory. It includes the best of contemporary horror fiction and nonfiction. It was my distinct honor to represent TTT last year at the Hugo Awards Ceremony, where it was a finalist for the Best Fancast Award. (In addition, have narrated three haunting stories for this podcast. Follow the links to hear my reading of “After the Ape” by Stephen Volk, my reading of “Jewels in the Dust” by Peter Crowther, and my reading of “Payback” by P.D. Cacek.)
* Lovecraft eZine Podcast: This is the podcast version of the wonderful and weekly live show produced by the incomparable Lovecraft eZine. Listen as stellar guests discuss cosmic horror, weird fiction, Lovecraftian horror, the Cthulhu Mythos, and related topics.
* Pseudopod: One of the oldest horror podcasts and still one of the very best, Pseudopod presents fine short horror in audio form weekly. Do not miss this podcast!
* MonsterTalk: This is the science show about monsters — a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and werewolves. Hosted by Blake Smith, Ben Radford, and Dr. Karen Stollznow, MonsterTalk interviews the scientists and investigators who shine a spotlight on the things that go bump in the night. The episode airing dates average out to mean a new show once a month, sometimes more. (Thanks to ankh_hpl for introducing me to this great show.)
* Classic Tales: Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley: what’s not to love? This is a fantastic weekly podcast featuring B.J. Harrison’s unabridged readings of great — and often haunting and Halloween-friendly — fiction.
* Atlanta Radio Theatre Company: Founded in 1984, ARTC is a staple at venues such as Dragon*Con and has a standing program year-round, performing adaptations of works by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and H.G. Wells live. ARTC podcasts its fantastic productions.
* Skeptoid: This podcast shines the lights of logic and reason into the dark shadows. Each weekly episode focuses on a single phenomenon — an urban legend, a paranormal claim, etc. — that you may have heard of, and it explains the factual scientific reality. To put it another way, we the listeners are Fox Mulder, and Skeptoid kindly serves as our Dana Scully.
And here are some more recent lists for you!
* 13 Creepy Podcasts Just in Time for Halloween
* The Best Spooky Podcasts to Get You Ready for Halloween
* The Top 10 Scary Podcasts to Get You in a Spooky Mood
Now it’s your turn. What other spooky podcasts do you recommend?
(The earlier segment I did introducing this topic in 2011 is here.)
Here are some of the links I mention in my new segment.
Apex Magazine’s “Celebration of Indigenous American Fantasists”
Strange Horizon’s Roundtable on Indigenous Futurism
Extrapolation’s Issue on Indigenous Futurism
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