The DATAJUNKIE blog is run by interesting fellow named Hyperdave. On a regular basis Hyperdave posts cool covers of retro books, comics and interior Science Fiction magazine art. He also occasionally posts up “Old Time Radio” or vintage LPs in MP3 format that matches the pics! This week Hyperdave has posted a number of terrific items….
First and foremost there is a downloadable compressed folder full of H.P. Lovecraft audio goodness, to get it check out THIS post. Included in it are a number of cool vintage H.P. Lovecraft paperback covers, as well as an awesome street map of Arkham, MA that includes info on the layout of Miskatonic University. I find this very helpful because apparently all of Arkham has been strategically erased on Google Maps!
The audio content consists of the following…
Beyond The Well Of Sleep
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Michael Hanson (Semi-Dramatized)
1 Mp3 File – 26 Minutes 44 Seconds [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: WHA Radio (Madison, WI)
Broadcast: 197? or 198? Sept. 3rd 1976
I hadn’t heard of the Mindwebs radio show prior to this posting, but a little research over at the always reliable OTR Plot Spot turned up this description:
“Not really audio drama in the strict sense of the definition, this 1970’s series out of WHA Radio in Wisconsin featured weekly readings of science fiction stories by some of the genre’s best writers. Nevertheless, since many of the readings were enhanced by music, periodic sound cues, and the occasional character voice, I consider them ‘semi-dramatized’ [SNIP] Besides, the music was so well written, and the performance of Michael Hansen, the reader, so evocative of each story’s mood, that the result was often better than most fully dramatized productions of the period. Precise episode totals are unclear, though at least 150 were aired between 1976 and 1984. Readings varied in length, but most were in half hour format.”
Also on tap in the same downloadable folder are: A strangely semi-dramatized (and slightly scratchy) anonymous David McCallum reading of Lovecraft’s The Outsider (20 Minutes 43 Seconds).
Even better there is a very good straight reading of Lovecraft’s The Rats In The Walls in two parts (running just under 1 hour). This version has the period racial slurs intact too.
And POSTED just today…
Famous Monsters Speak
Performed by Gabriel Dell
2 Mp3 File (from an original 33 1/3 LP Record) – Approx. 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonderland / AA Records
Published: 1963
Product #: AR-3
It looks like all voices on this recording are actually just the one guy, Gabriel Dell.
An Evening With Boris Karloff And His Friends
By Forrest J. Ackerman; Performed by Boris Karloff
1 MP3 File – Approx. 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Decca Records
Published: 1967
Product #: DL74833
A collection of synopses for the classic Universal films that stared Boris Karloff mixed with his performance are sound bites and musical cues from the films Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and The House of Frankenstein.
*Thanks to Roy for the additional details!