The Horror At Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Horror At Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft

Here is H.P. Lovecraft’s novelette The Horror At Red Hook. The story was first published in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales and later in the March 1952 issue (which is where I found the terrific Jon Arfstrom at the bottom of the post).

Red Hook is a mysterious slum in New York City, full of gangs, crime, and just perhaps a terrible cult. Detective Malone had a case that had tendrils extending into Red Hook. It seems that one Robert Suydam, a corpulent and scruffy recluse, has been looking younger, more radiant and prosperous. What does that have to do with the recent spate of kidnappings?

Lovecraft described his inspiration for the story in a letter written to Clark Ashton Smith:

“The idea that black magic exists in secret today, or that hellish antique rites still exist in obscurity, is one that I have used and shall use again. When you see my new tale “The Horror at Red Hook”, you will see what use I make of the idea in connexion with the gangs of young loafers & herds of evil-looking foreigners that one sees everywhere in New York.”

The When Elvis Died PodcastFirst up, as recorded in three parts for Quentin Lewis’ When Elvis Died podcast back in 2010.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://www.quentinlewis.com/podcast/rss.xml


Cthulhu PodcastNext, a two part recording, for the Cthulhu Podcast, read by FNH. The first part begins at 14 minutes in and the second part begins at 34 minutes in.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/cthulhupodcast


Finally, here are the text sources |WIKISOURCE ETEXT| and a |PDF|.

"Age old horror is a hydra with a thousand heads."
Weird Tales illustration by Jon Arfstrom for The Horror At Red Hook
Weird Tales illustration by Jon Arfstrom for The Horror At Red Hook

Posted by Jesse Willis

Decoder Ring Theatre: Marvellous Boxes: Frozen Words Thawed? by Tim Prasil

SFFaudio Online Audio

Decoder Ring TheatreMarvellous BoxesThere’s a new anthology series running on Decoder Ring Theatre – it’s entitled Marvellous Boxes. I’ve somehow missed the first episode because I’ve just heard the second episode, Frozen Words Thawed?. The plot impressed me, the unconventional storytelling impressed me, the research and scholarship impressed me, and I liked a whole lot too! Once you’ve heard it, check out THIS terrific post on the writing of it. And there’s a nice discussion thread starting on AudioDramaTalk HERE. Very, very impressive Mr. Prasil!

Here’s the official description:

The second installment of author Tim Prasil’s all-new anthology series continues our tour of new worlds of the imagination. This week, a reminder that history is written by the victor, and that the strangest gladitorial arenas are often the ones that appear the most civilized. What will happen when we hear… Frozen Words Thawed?

|MP3|

Podcast feed: http://decoderring.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #156 – READALONG: The Odyssey by Homer (Books IX – XII)

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #156 – Scott and Jesse talk, in the third of a six part series, about the books IX, X, XI, and XII of The Odyssey.

Talked about on today’s show:
What’s the plural of cyclops?, cyclopskin?, cyclopean, Charybdis and Scylla, from this book many books have come, Philip K. Dick’s early fantasies are peppered with Odysseian goodness, Upon The Dull Earth, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, Odysseus is a smart liar, “my fame has reached the skies”, Telemachus runs the first four books, Odysseus in third person runs in the second four books, Odysseus in the first person runs the third four books, Calypso vs. Circe, “deep in her arching caverns”, the land of the lotus eaters, lotus addiction, Piper In The Woods by Philip K. Dick, “I’m a plant, doctor”, the 1968 Italian miniseries adaptation of The Odyssey (L’Odissea), why does Odysseus listen to the Sirens?, Circe’s wand, Hermes’ wand, the origin of wizards and sorceresses, Polyphemus, cheeses!, Beowulf, Grendel’s attack in the hall, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, a bachelor’s home vs. a maiden’s home, the cyclops island is a libertarian utopia!, Zeus vs. Poseidon, twenty-power wine!, manifest destiny, the guest gift, “I’ll eat nobody”, “I have a cunning plan my lord”, Odysseus is always messing with the gods, “you shameless cannibal”, the prophecy that Odysseus would blind Polyphemus, raider of cities, swag, Odysseus is not a righting-wrongs kind of hero, Polyphemus’ prayer to his father, Poseidon doesn’t make an on-screen appearance in The Odyssey, what is Aquaman’s hair colour?, Circe (the bewitching queen), Ian McKellan‘s narration of the audiobook, “and so he mounted her bed”, “breeding” great trust, tame lions and wolves, Eurylochus goes on the “away mission”, Eurylochus was “unmanned”, Hermes and the moly, the Wikipedia entry for moly, potions and poison, “The Book Of The Dead”, Cimmeria, Robert E. Howard, “the original Fantasy”, Odysseus becomes the bard, “one death is enough for both men, but you shall now have two”, Hercules, Achilles, Agamemnon is bitter about Clytemnestra murdering him, Charybdis and Scylla is like an old fashioned version of The Cold Equations, O’ Brother Where Art Thou, Dante’s Inferno, Paradise Lost, Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer, The Aeneid, Strange Eden by Philip K. Dick, Star Trek (Who Mourns for Adonais?), Beyond Lies The Wub by Philip K. Dick, “oh boy”, Hyperion, Odysseus never takes the blame for anything, immortal zombie cows, how does Odysseus end up in that tree?, Ithaca at last!

N.C. Wyeth - Circe

Odysseus Performing The Nekyia

Posted by Jesse Willis

The House On The Borderland by William Hope Hodgson – Read by Wayne June

SFFaudio Online Audio

The incomparably awesome-voiced narrator, Wayne June, has completed a terrific sounding narration of William Hope Hodgson‘s The House On The Borderland. This is the famous supernatural horror novel, from 1908, that H.P. Lovecraft described as “A classic of the first water” – I looked that phrase up – “of the first water” means means “of the highest quality.”

When you combine the wonder of Wayne June’s narrative powers with a classic of this magnitude you’re bound to get something special.

And he’s selling it for just $10 HERE.

The House On The Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

The book comes in five MP3s. But, and this is a pretty interesting experiment, Wayne June is also giving away the entire novel there, on the site, in a streaming format!

Yup, if you want to listen to the novel streaming you can hear the whole thing FREE!

Posted by Jesse Willis