For us audio dramatists, October is our Christmas.  Something about the nature of the season — with its penchant for spooky stories told around campfires, couches or cauldrons, combined with a love for eerie music and things that go bump in the night — makes our nigh forsaken artform spring to life to a surprising part of the population… including public radio!

Nearly even producer out there is making the most of this, including myself, and as I’ve been scrambling to put together the utterly frightful Halloween special, I’ve heard about similar efforts by many other excellent artists… So, to suit your audio listening, here are some other tales to tickle your eardrums with this October!

First would be the FreeQuincy Radio Theater.  They’re a passionately local theater group from Wisconsin, bringing the best elements of classic and new audio drama to their live presentations.  In celebration of the spooky holiday, they’re featuring several new and older works:

Sunday October 14th = Alex Stoli, Private Detective: The Act of Jealousy

Sunday October 21st = When Lightning Strikes

Sunday October 28th = Spring Cleaning Invasion

October 31st = Gangster’s Ghostcapades -FreeQuincy Radio Theater’s first studio recording.

Another exciting announcement came from Willamette Radio Workshop — now, I’m remiss in not having featured their outstanding work yet, but the WRW is a training ground for some excellent dramatists and produces some of the best-sound work you’ll hear anywhere.  Not the least among their great talents is the outstanding work of Sam Mowry, whose bold and commanding voice is far better suited for interesting audio drama roles than radio commercials (at least in *our* humble opinion…)

Hear their contribution to the horrorsphere this Halloween with excellent renditions of Frankenstein and The Confessions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Off the beaten path from horror is a third episode of Dick Dynamo, the absurd transdimensional adventures of a man who is “ready to pack a punch to any villain or meager elderly lady who stands in his way.”  You will find the stories are incredulous as they are amusing, and an apt satire that still honors the works of its origins.

Also, while not producing any new works for the holiday, I’d be remiss in not noting another great producer of audio stories.  The Wireless Theatre Company is a UK-based producer of a range of great stories, tackling the comic to the tragic, with some of the finest writing, acting, and directing talent.  Best of all, it’s all free and available via digital downloadable!

Finally, on Halloween, rumor has it that Dreamseed will finally release the first episode of “Soul Rift,” the series about psychic ghost-hunting detectives.

All of these stories are well worth your ears, and I hope to get the time to review and feature them in greater depth in the coming weeks on the show… And until then, keep your ears open!

A fallen psychologist grows more and more deeply obsessed with the occult, leading him to spurning mob bosses and tearing off to forgotten small towns in search of his visions of a drowning woman. Meanwhile, the small town in question is haunted by ghosts of its own, and dark secrets that creep up from the past. Sound like a good start to a ghoulish drama? It sure as hell is, and it’s the premise behind the new podcast series Wormwood, which I had the delight of feasting my ears on this past week.

Wormwood is a new serial which follows in the footsteps of Shadow Falls, though the pace is a tad slower, less epic in scope (at least in the first few episodes) and not as insulated to the confines of the town. There’s still the requisite town diner, the dopey sheriff, and strange happenings galore, albeit with mysterious, rather than apocalyptic, overtones. While the series is still early (it’s only on its third episode) so far there’s a great set up, lots of moving wheels, and a storyline that breezes you through the intriguing narrative.

Not that Wormwood isn’t without its technical snafus. Lamentably, the production suffers from some rather boxy sounding effects, the occasional “is this guy in a well?” phenomena with the voice recording, and a few painfully rough scene transitions that leave you in “what’s happening?” land rather than where you should be — deeply entwined in the story. On the other side of things, the musical score is fantastic, and overall the acting is above the cut.  Besides, the story itself is what makes the series, and good story is in no shortage here.

I admire the commitment to producing an ongoing series, and Wormwood is one of the more promising ones I’ve heard lately (okay, it’s one of the only I’ve heard lately). With what appears to be great community support (com’n, how the heck do you get all those people to comment on your blog?) and an engaging storyline fraught with perils and intrigue, Wormwood should be the next stop on the XML dial for audio mystery enthusiasts.

While my penchant is obviously audio drama, I’m really an omnivorous listener and savor a good audiobook like a select single malt when the opportunity allows. Especially a really, really good audiobook, one where the stories enchant, the production shines, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Such an Audiobook is Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things. Now I come into this not being a huge fan of Gaiman’s work — 50 pages into Good Omens I tired of a “been here before” plot, and even his mighty American Gods left me disinterested in the course of the story barely halfway through. After hearing this startling, diverse, and grimly comic collection, I find myself wondering if I was thwacked on the head too hard while exploring his other works.

The marvelousness of this collection is due in no small part to the quality of Gaiman’s narration. He draws little subtleties out of his writing that eek out winces or smiles which another reader mighty overlook. His diction and pacing are in line with the best, and every story lulls, romps, soars, or collides with a flair that the gifted storyteller brings to the table.

The stories themselves are true gems, with the story of devilish identity-swapping in New Orleans, a Sherlock Holmes adventure gone awry, an inversion of the Narnia themes and countless others littered with sex, death, humor and twists. There are a few sentimental moments, a couple quite delightful ones, and many mind-bending and dark ones, and overall the collection revels in a sense of delight, playfulness, and love of story. All of which are qualities I enjoy.

For a break from straight radio drama, with unconventional stories and a rich teller, I’d heartily recommend Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things. Now if only someone could do an adaptation of some!

Even the most perfunctory audio theater fan is likely to know of and love the productions of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre, Roger Gregg’s absurd radio dramatic exploits broadcast throughout the Green Isle with CDs blessedly made available by ZBS and Lodestone. Gregg’s work oscillates from the high, medium and low brow with philosocomic stories ranging from the reality-bending Bill Lizard to the disconcertingly relevant Infidel, a story of two brother knights caught up in the Fifth Crusade. The Last Harbinger, the latest Crazy Dog production to grace my ears, cleverly blends both styles of production in one outstanding production that you just need to hear.

The planet Moloch is a very, very distant world unique from ours in all ways, where the poor are exterminated at whim by the police while the privileged guss about their beautiful (and sometimes synthetic) nodules. Everyone is cheery, happy, and fat, at least, those with God on their side. And who cares about the others anyways?

We are drawn into this world via an enchanting, fairy-tale style narrator but very quickly realize that this is no fairy tale. The story opens upon a great celebration of Moloch’s…. greatness… covered by a giddy, patriotic press who laud the people who start beating a snap-addicted bum for no apparent reason. This celebration is interrupted by the appearance of a mysterious harbinger from another world, who brings a terrible warning and a message of hope to this doomed world… The bringing of which ensures his immediate persecution by the state.

Harbinger spans 5 action packed episodes (26 mins apiece) with gripping pacing, impressive performances, and a rich soundscape of natural sounds, effects and music. The acting is excellent across the board, with a cast of Dublin’s finest, Crazy Dog regulars, and a couple of internationals (including Firesign’s Phil Proctor).

There are plenty of great moments in the production, but favorites of mine are this runaway blues song performed by the snap-addicted bum, and a Dostoevsky-ian confrontation of the Harbinger and the forces of the state near the end. While the story is at its core very dark, humor makes the ride terrifically enjoyable and the story concludes on a powerful poetic note.

Harbinger is truly a production showing off the height of audio drama, and the range and breadth of Gregg’s skills as a producer, writer and actor. Heavily recommended.

The Last Harbinger is available on ZBS and Audioville.

In this past week’s podcast, you heard Xander and I chat a little bit about the new sound effects library released as Dreamseed Audio Library ST. I wanted to expand my thoughts on the new library beyond the stuttering line of thought that got half-formed in the interview.

I was trying to get at the distinctive quality of this body of sounds, which includes a lot of very cool processed effects that conjures the cutting-edge, sci-fi aesthetic of Dreamseed. There are tons of cool computer voices and computer sounds for all sorts of futuristic environments, plus some modern-day environmental sounds and some that are downright weird:

I especially found myself, as I was listening, wishing I’d had this available when I was producing Drizzle, as it’s strangely difficult to get good sounds of cities and rain storms, as if no one who does stock effects ever bothered to go outside and record anything.

Another highlight of this collection is the extremely realistic gunshot effects, another notoriously challenging area of sound collection. The great shotgun and 9mm shots came, as Xander said, at great personal risk, and sound well worth it. No more sad and weak clicks again!

Having learned a little bit of what Dreamseed’s plan is, and hearing the quality of this work, I have to say that I, as a dramatist, am quite excited. This is a very solid and diverse library, and looks to only be the start of robust, professional quality resources intended for audio dramatic works (though these effects would be equally at home in a video game, film, or animation).

Well done, Dreamseed, and I look forward to more.

I’ve been up to a lot of great listening lately and now that my production schedule has slowed down a little, I’m going to try and catch up with my thoughts on some of the most interesting things to hit my mp3 player.

Circus 13 Productions regularly post their latest releases to the Yahoo Modern Audio Drama discussion group and it was with interest I downloaded some of their latest releases, including “Quest for the Passion Stone” and the adventures of a space bounty-hunter, “Truck.”  They also do a lot of fan fiction and seem targeted towards this fan base rather than a general audience.

Having not heard much original fantasy audio drama, it was “Quest for the Passion Stone” that first got my ears.  It starts with a band of goblins chasing down a mysterious Thunder Savage, then finds a grim-voiced troll named Varick who rescues the real Thunder Savage (a reincarnated mystical hero, who of course, doesn’t know it yet) from the marauders and brings him into the fantastic landscape that populates the next several hours of adventure.

The fantasy is original without being unfamiliar — there’s a parallel world to the real world called the “Underhollow,” accessible through the local Deny’s, populated with trolls, evil magicians (named Bob), thieves, goblins, etc.  There’s good guys, bad guys, and a magical item that will change the tide of the war forever.  The hero goes through a period of self-discovery and his his inner powers and great wisdom are the key to bringing peace to a troubled kingdom.

Despite the predictable plot points, there are a lot of great moments and the storyline is pretty addictive.   There’s some great humor and self-referential jokes, such as the evil wizard “Bob,” and the frankness that the evil king uses to speak about his evil deeds and weaknesses to the good guys.  The production quality throughout is a bit rough, but again, the intriguing story kept me listening.  Overall, I felt the story delivered on its promise and provided some solid hours of original fantasy entertainment.  If you find your cravings for fantasy audio lean, definitely check out The Quest for the Passion Stone for a great journey.

I’ve been focusing so much on producing new work and reviewing/listening/discussing other people’s that I’ve hardly thought about what people feel about mine. It’s kind of a vacuum, where I know people are listening to these podcasts and my stories over at FinalRune, but have heard very limited feedback except from my friends (whose compliments I love, God bless them, but don’t have the objective weight of a stranger’s). So I was utterly tickled when I got an email saying there was a Review of Drizzle over at PRX!

PRX, or the Public Radio Exchange, is a site where independent producers can post their work and radio stations across the country can audition it — the t
arget being public radio. I’ve never really had much faith my work would be picked up by NPR but since you can get a free demo account as a producer for a year, I tried it out. A few people have checked out Day of the Dead, The Blind Man’s Confession, and Drizzle, of which the reviewer, Hans Anderson, had to say:

The story is well-written, with good detail. I don’t live in the city, but this pretty much left me with an image in my head. There were a couple of times, especially around the subway scene, where the sound overpowered the narrator, but it didn’t detract very much.

Since I don’t live in a city either, if someone can be transported there, then I’ve definitely done a fair job! Sadly, I’ve run out of time on my trial account and can’t really afford to buck up the $50 for a year’s subscription. If out of the tenderness of your heart you want to help me get my work to a broader audience, feel free to

Anyways, thanks for the comments, Hans, and I look forward to producing more variations on the ol’ radio drama block. And if you missed Drizzle, it was featured in Radio Drama Revival! Episode 1.

It’s very rare that you have anything resembling stardom in radio, and Ira Glass from This American Life is one of that select number. His nationally syndicated, genre-busting series of edgy stories from the ranks of ordinary Americans has transcended the definition of public radio, and the following is strong enough for there to be a kids movie based on one story premise and a new Showtime series adapting the show into television. The promotional tour, “What I Learned from Television,” came as close as Boston and this audio enthusiast was not going to miss it.

So how do you add video to an audio endeavor without destroying it? This was pretty much at the heart of the live show and an issue Ira still obviously struggles with, though his clear enthuasism for his work and this experiment is contagious. The event itself took place in Boston’s Opera House, a beautiful, ornately adorned building with echoes of European cathedrals and classical theaters — a setting more “high art” than edgy. Boston’s literati was in full force, with a collegiate crowd sporting Harvard blazers, gray-haired poetry professors, 20-something socialites, and a stunning variety of well dressed people in between.

The format of the live show was the same as any of Ira’s regular shows, with a special “act” exclusively for us at the live show. The theme of the night, “What I Learned from Television,” was supported by a cast of TAL regulars, including Sarah Vowell, Jonathan Goldstein, and Dan Savage.

Sarah Vowell started by deconstructing the use of pilgrims and Thanksgiving in television. While her nasally voice might turn off some, it’s unique hers and she delivers her writing with a bone dry wit that is electrifying, grim and terrible. Who knew that there was a short-lived series that made fun of the whole premise of Thanksgiving? We’ve all seen the Indians and turkeys, but maybe not thought too hard about this societal construct. There followed a gut-laughing treatise of the awkward friendship of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, and a closing narrative of the portrayals of homo and heterosexual relationships on the boob tube.  All readers were solid, though not the back-and-forth explorational interviews that make the radio show so compelling.
Between acts Ira stopped in for some editorializing and commentary on the television program. He was neither embarassed to admit his love for the OC or his esteem for modern television writing. Quite honestly, this is what we came for, and Ira delivered with class, wit, and measured levels of self-deprecating humor. The Showtime show looks great, and the candid conversation between Glass and director Chris Wilcha revealed some interesting perspectives on one of my favorite subjects, the artistic difference of audio and video+audio. I don’t really want to give anything away, but the show has a slight surrealist edge that lends itself well to the unbearably real stories This American Life is so famous for (check out the trailer for a taste).

Tied together with a live band (Mates of State) that fit the mood appropriately, “What I Learned from Television” was a great way to spend an evening with ample parts humor, artistic discussion, and social commentary. Though I still don’t own a TV, nor would I ever pay for cable, I’m excited for the Showtime efforts and hope the show makes it onto YouTube!

As you may realize, I’m a big fan of audio theater that tells contemporary stories, the kind you might find in the latest short story review or premium cable channel (but are especially well suited to the audio form). These productions are a little edgy, often dark, and attempt to speak to something greater than the cleverness of the medium.

So it was with great interest that I discovered Buried in Falling Sand by Dreamseed, LLC (care of a link by William Spears’ Lit Between the Ears blog). Buried in Falling Sand, by Alexander Davis, is the story of a future where anyone can take a drug to forget about their workday — appealing to everyone from movie clerks and grocery store cashiers to lawyers and corporate executives. It’s always time to relax or party when you take the drug, and life is just a dream… isn’t it?

With a nod to Philip K. Dick, the story has authoritarian government forces with dubious motives, doomed romantic relationships, and a bit of a twist for the ending. The story is told throughout with clean, well-chosen sound effects and a stellar score (great for the mood, though almost too much at times). The story is plotted well, with appropriate set up, scenes, and conflict, though the intentions of the government remain a mystery, and the point of their inclusion dubious. Since the storyline itself doesn’t really hinge on the government’s quasi brain-washing with the drug, it just seems like a sci-fi cliche rather than a vital part of the story world.

Minor weaknesses aside, there are precious few stories being produced to this caliber and as an introductory effort by Dreamseed, it’s very impressive. Stay tuned for their next release, Soul Rift, a series about a futuristic anti-ghost police force.

It may seem odd for a site dedicated to audio drama to review an audiobook–after all, audiobooks are the enemy, right? Not really. I must confess, my biggest critique with audiobooks is due to my own dwindling attention span, and with most of my listening occuring in my 40 minutes each way commute, tackling a 13+ hour audiobook can be a listening venture of epic proportions. This is from the same guy who’ll have a 400 page book on his bedside stand. I can’t explain it, but I like my audio in small doses.

That’s why it was with great enthusiasm that I picked up Jonathan Lethem’s “Men and Cartoons,” an unabridged audiobook with 9 of Lethem’s stories published by Random House. I first ran across Lethem when I found out he’d be a faculty member at a writing conference up here in Maine, and voraciously starting reading any of his work I could get my hands on. I found his work (Mother Brooklyn, especially) almost painfully clever, delightfully bizarre, and thoroughly intelligent. He weaves unexpected language, hapless characters, and basic human situations together in a way that almost looks easy. And the stories in “Men and Cartoons” don’t disappoint.

9 stories over four CDs averages to about 2 stories a CD, meaning I could listen to an entire story in one commute and let it sink in as I first sat down at my desk to begin (or end) the day. The stories are all read by different voices from a capable cast, and sprinkled with little bits of production magic that make the listening experience that much nicer. The highlights of this collection for me were “Access Fantasy” and “Super Goat Man.”

The former is about a city where the privileged and the underclass are separated by a forcefield, a division enforced by robots. Those in the underclass yearn to be on the other side, and one man sets out to get there. Twisted social commentary and a murder mystery keep the suspense going in this tale (though it takes a few minutes to figure out what the hell’s going on). This is also probably the production highlight of the collection. Sandra Bernhard has great wryness and inflection, and when the robots come to talk business with the protagonist a voice filter delivers great life to the piece. Though it’s far from out-and-out drama, a captivating reader and good use of the reverberating effect delivers a more interesting listening experience.

“Super Goat Man” is the tale of a retired comic book hero and his influence on a young man’s life. This is a surprisingly epic tale, spanning the main character’s boyhood to middle age. While it might seem bizarre to have an impact character with pointed horns and hooves, Lethem is quite adept at suspending your disbelief, and paints Super Goat Man as tragic a character as any, a super hero that fails at saving anyone, embodying an entire generation of failed ideals. Read by the author, “Super Goat Man” exemplifies Lethem’s ability to weave the hypernatural into the traditional short story.

I’m impressed with Random House’s effort with this collection, as it’s little details that make the listening experience delightful. The filter effects I mentioned, plus there is triumphant music bridging the stories that wraps the stories up into digestible doses and makes everything feel like a finished product. Kudos to Random House and Jonathan Lethem for a great example of how a little production value goes a long way in an audio work, and let’s cross our fingers that they’ll seek dramatization one day as the logical next step.