The SFFaudio Podcast #197 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Dig Me No Grave by Robert E. Howard

The SFFaudio Podcast #197 – Dig Me No Grave by Robert E. Howard, read by Robertson Dean (from Tantor Media’s The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard). This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (37 Minutes) followed by a discussion of it by Jesse, Tamahome, Jim Moon.
Talked about on today’s show:
No CONAN, Cthulhu The Mythos And Kindred Horrors, H.P. Lovecraft, a Lovecraftian story in the Howard style, dressing up the scenery, Howard did research on the cheap, if Robert E. Howard were a movie maker…, Malak Tus, a mish-mash, demon elder gods you know nothing about, a Satanic pact story, immortality, Mr Jim Moon is most like the dead man on the table, revering books like a Lovecraft character, bibliophilia, “the lure of the old books”, Howard doing Dickens, Grimlin was dead…, is this a Christmasy story?, Victorian lesson, nothing happens in this story, Conrad is shocked by candles and a robe, a giant peacock in the sky, the will, yellow peril, disturbing eyes that burn like yellow coals, the demon/god’s avatar, Nyarlathotep, The King In Yellow, the emissary of the god, John Grimlin, off to a demon’s larder, the demon possesses his mortal remains (and therefore his soul?), the weird scream, the lost city of Koth, Shintoism is particularly bad?, noxious winds, this is madness heaped on madness, eight brazen towers, Turkey, “his demon worshipping devotees”, should we make much of there being no wine?, Jacob Marley, was it an accident?, what would a demon do with a county estate?, “your ancestors need money!”, burnt offerings, burn a cheque, are peacocks particularly scary?, Satan as the peacock angel, the peacock as a symbol of pride, Howard’s magpie salt and pepper approach to research, love it for what it is (the momentum of the story), Howard’s weird tales, what would Conan do?, Howard’s studies (were business), boxing stories and boxing ghost stories, the Kirowan and Conrad stories, Old Garfield’s Heart, The Thing On The Roof, the Marvel Comics adaptation of Dig Me No Grave, Mr Jim Moon’s new collection of weird stories M.R. James, Bram Stoker, E. Nesbit, every story has an illustration, introductions, afterwords, and footnotes, The Seven Of Spectres, “photoshoppery”, The Horla by Guy de Maupassant, Hypnobobs, there’s a Horla there, it’s hard to illustrate an invisible monster, a hidden skull, once you see it you’ll never unsee it, haunted pictures, an animated gif?, moving paintings (in Harry Potter), J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter books grow with the audience, what tradition is Rowling coming out of?, what makes Rowling’s writing work?, J.R.R. Tolkien, Rowling was aware of all of the traditions of fantasy, E. Nesbit, C.S. Lewis, family adventure stories, Michael Moorcock, school stories, jolly japes, the Rupert books, anthropomorphic animals, cozy humour, three layered storytelling, Voldemort, “the flight of death”, Harry Potter is structured around scenes or sets, drawing on the old traditions, the serialized page turning aspect, unique writing voices, a timeless feel, The Causal Vacancy, Hot Fuzz, what if Lethal Weapon happened here?, Shaun of the Dead, shall we go to the pub and wait it out?


Posted by Jesse Willis
The SFFaudio Podcast #197 - AUDIOBOOK/ READALONG: Dig Me No Grave by Robert E. Howard [ 1:16:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadLibrivox Audiobook: The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit’s classic fantasy novel The Enchanted Castle is a delightful children’s story, but one that is likely to have limited appeal for older listeners. Fantasy scholars, however, will find much of interest in it. Here is an author that C. S. Lewis listed as an influence and this is the story of a magic ring that, at first, seems merely an invisibility ring but turns out to be much more. Peter Eastman, the reader of this public domain audiobook, does a better than average job of handling the near impossible task of doing several different children’s voices.
The Enchanted Castle
By E. Nesbit; Read by Peter Eastman
12 zipped MP3s or podcast – 7 Hours 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Librivox.org
Published: September 27, 2007
“Three children, forced to remain at school during the holidays, go in search of adventure. What they find is a magic castle straight out of a fairy tale, complete with an enchanted princess at the center of a maze. Or is it? The castle turns out to be just a country estate, and the princess is only the housekeeper’s niece, playing at dressing up. But the magic ring she shows them proves — to her surprise and horror — to really be magic. Soon they are caught in an adventure where statues come alive, lost lovers are reunited, and wishes can be granted — but always for a price. (Summary by Peter Eastman)”
You can get the entire novel in podcast form, via this handy url:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-enchanted-castle-by-e-nesbit.xml

























