Scenic nature parks home to unnatural occurrences. A cozy public library where the doors sometimes vanish. Residents that disappear for a bit and come back…different. In a small, (too) quiet town in upstate New York, a pair of friends juggle dodging horrors beyond imagination while navigating the all too tangible terror of adulthood.
If you could make a crossover (canon or noncanon) with any other audio drama, what would it be?
I loooove a crossover episode - so far we've done:
Re: Dracula (a reading of The Fall of the House of Usher)
SCP Archives (S is for Shelterwood)
The Gospel of Haven (The Christmas Spirit Comes to Haven AND The Happy Housewife)
Worst Movies Ever Played (The Sunset House)
Iron, Silver, and Salt (Silent Hill)
Overbrook (Shelterbrook)
Someone Dies in this Elevator (Home Body)
And I'm always interested in doing more! There's a few people in the audiodrama world I would love to work with - name a horror podcaster, honestly - but I'd especially love to get to work with Motzie Dapul (who I hear is working on a Catholic horror piece right now; that's going to snap me in half like a dry twig), Jonathan Sims (who I had the pleasure of doing the dialogue editing for when he was our Seward on Re: Dracula, but haven't gotten to interact with very much), Soren Narnia (of Knifepoint Horror fame), and Jamie Petronis (of The Cellar Letters and The Magnus Protocol). There's so much to learn from other people in your genre, and every time I get to see how someone else works, I get that much better at my craft!
If YOU or YOUR SHOW is interested in a collaboration, hit us up here on the tumblr or over at our email [email protected]~
Audio Drama & Audiobook Recs for Black History Month
A rec list of some audio fiction to try out written and/or created by Black creatives. Enjoy!
Audio drama -
The BookMarks: Following the book-themed podcast of best friends Mark Bookerson and Marquelle Bookerson (no relation), this show is a delightful slice of life in an absurd world. I know I'm voting for the Winter Wizard this election season. It takes a few episodes to find its footing, but it's become one of my absolute recent favorites. I desperately need this to get a fandom, ok?
Janus Descending (and its sequel Descendants): Space horror! Creator Jordan Cobb has been called the Mistress of Monsters, and it is with good reason. The story is told by two people, from beginning to end and end to beginning. It is a tragedy. Does that ruin the beauty? This also features tragic siblings that haunt my thoughts constantly.
Overbrook: For fans of Night Vale and I Am In Eskew, this is a must-listen. Set in the strange and inescapable small town of Overbrook, New York, we follow Vincent as she navigates life among the horrors and a best friend who dies and returns ad infinitum. It is a strange and compelling world, and I love the central friendship.
Audiobooks -
The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, narrated by Janina Edwards and Ron Butler: This compelling scifi novel is tied completely to its setting on the U.S. Virgin Islands. There's a lot of very compelling worldbuilding, and an interesting dynamic of how the world keeps on keeping on after being irreparably changed. Aliens came to the island five years ago. This is what is happening now. A lot of compelling characters, and you can feel sympathy for everyone even when disagreeing with their actions.
The Sound Of Stars by Alechia Dow, narrated by Joy Sunday and Christian Barillas: Another alien invasion story! This one has a focus on connection formed through art and music and books. The characters are compelling, and the situation is tense and interesting.
Kindred by Octavia Butler, narrated by Kim Staunton: An intense, absolute page turner (or audio equivalent) of a novel. Through inexplicable time travel, modern (1970s) author Dana is brought back in time antebellum Maryland repeatedly. This is one that I absolutely couldn't put down once I started. Dana is a brilliant character who ties the whole story together. The use time travel to tell a story about inextricable ties to history, especially painful history and slavery, as well as the question of determinism (will the drowning, abused son of a slave-owner inevitably become as bad as his father? commit to the same evil acts?) is really, really cleverly done.
Survive The Dome by Kosoko Jackson, narrated by Kevin R. Free: This book is fast paced and intense with a focus on allyship and doing something to make a difference. It is elevated by Free's narration adding emotion and and rhythm to the book. (I am biased since Free is my favorite audiobook narrator, but I do recommend the audiobook over the print for his performance). Set in a modern (a little to the left) dystopia.
Overbrook finale! We’re so lucky we got three whole seasons with an ending! It’s beautiful (and deeply weird and funny).
The horror was there, but the human characters still had so much space to exist and be equally destructive and kind. I love them all, Vincent especially! She really embodied that early 20’s righteous anger. Rhys Tirado bottled it up and poured it out into Vincent.
Others on here covered the entire finale way better than I could. So I will attempt to be brief??
It is a cycle! 4828 timelines. This god is a dick and its actions seem aggressively pointless. It doesn’t sound like a Good Place situation where the players are working towards a goal they are unaware of. There is no goal!
Vincent is the best. We should all yell at asshole gods when given the opportunity. The Bones Beneath **seems** to be choosing to make all this happen and it’s not going to change or let it all go.
“I am a being of paradox.” - I heard this the first time as “I am beee-ing a paradox,” like i’m playing a cute wittle paradox teehee don’t spoil my fun. Transcript defeated this internal audio processing failure. Shout out to transcripts! Totally possible I misheard other stuff.
“In all the 4828 times, I have NOT apologized” - Sorry was there an apology? Maybe an apology would help?! Bones Beneath is making Viktor look good.
Why IS it british? Its vocabulary makes it seem old. Did its ancient ass get on a boat from Europe snacking on the crew like Dracula? Was it actively colonizing when it got mine-stuck?
Speaking of Viktor and eating people, we never find out if Viktor ouroboros eats himself. It’s for the best none of my terrible ending theories to forcibly make that happen worked out. Vincent doesn’t need to be a phoenix.
Wynn scene! We got to experience a return to the best friend adventures from season 1! He remembers things! Maybe Wynn needed to have all this context for those two to reconnect. This is probably the first time Vincent hasn’t expected herself to know things around Wynn. She’s relatively relaxed considering the situation. So sweet they got to just have a conversation!
Going off, possible shit-post territory:
The extra Red/Vincent banter in the finale felt like a gift. Vincent would have taken a longer to open up if Red hadn’t antagonized her into sharing early on. [Currently trying to push past the shame and post the Red fanart haunting my being. It’s gonna be bad. ]
Theory: A preppy sweater tied around the shoulders caused that Wynn cartoony printer suffocation death. No tie was involved. Alternative: id badge on a lanyard.
If Wynn is Eurydice, is he Vincent’s writing muse? Wynn stumbles into a death trap and Vincent writes an investigative piece on the death trap’s origins. She just becomes the obituary writer at the newspaper and Wynn is the only deceased. Vincent can’t be bothered to write about the generics as individuals.
Locke and Vincent: sarcastic flatmates to the end of time. Was the peace sign an indication Vincent is opening up to nicknames? Does Locke know he’s probably worshipping a shitty god? Or was Locke just recruiting people to worship Locke the whole time?
What happened to Elektra? Did she escape? Did she stay and girlfriend up Vincent? Is she on an adventure to save Wynn’s mom? Is she trapped in the cursed camera?? All of the above!?