The Xmas Files – an audio drama parody

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

The X-Mas FilesGeorge Plumley wrote in to tell us about one of his older projects:

I’m a huge fan of audio drama and that led me to produce some of my own years ago. One of the projects was The Xmas Files. I originally brought it out on cassette when the X-Files was just a young pup, but now have it online:

http://www.xmasfiles.com

It was one of my earliest forays into digital production – done on an Atari using the original Cubase audio program (the thing fit on a single floppy disk)… ok, so that’s dating things a bit, eh? Another interesting fact about the production is that I recorded it when I lived in Vancouver and most of the actors appeared in bit roles on the X-Files (the lead, Michael Dobson, is also a major voice actor in the Anime field).

I had a copy of this show back years ago, on cassette, back when audio drama was hard to find. I probably got it during X-Files mania, either during or shortly after the first season of The X-Files aired.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7 re-broadcasting Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows

Jesse Willis

Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7Previously aired on BBC 7, The Willows is a century old supernatural Horror story that H.P. Lovecraft described as: ‘The finest supernatural tale in English literature.’ Blackwood, is well regarded as one of the 20th century’s foremost writers of supernatural fiction and as Lovecraft, said of him:

“[Blackwood] is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere …[he] can evoke what amounts almost to a story from a simple fragment of psychological description. Above all others he understands how fully some sensitive minds dwell for ever on the borderland of dream, and how relatively slight is the distinction betwixt those images formed from actual objects and those excited by the play of the imagination.”

BBC7 - The Willows by Algernon BlackwoodThe Willows
By Algernon Blackwood; Read by Lawrence Jackson
4 X 30 Minute Episodes – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Monday 6th to Thursday 9th of October 2008 at 6:30pm (repeats 12:30am) UK Time*
Two friends on a canoeing trip down the Danube decide to spend the night on a small island in a remote stretch of the river between Austria and Hungary. Little by little, they realize that malevolent supernatural forces, embodied by the island’s ubiquitous rustling willow trees, are at work against them, and what at first promises to be a straightforward camping expedition escalates into an ordeal of survival against a powerful agency from another dimension.

All four parts should be available via the BBC iPlayer service shortly after they air.

Also, there is currently a torrent for The Willows, over on RadioArchive.cc [FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED].

posted by Jesse Willis

Hear the entire The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Harper Audio - The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanLibrarian Susan Duman points out…

Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Graveyard Book, was released this week and Neil’s on a U.S. book tour. At each stop he reads a different chapter of his book in front of an audience, which is recorded – both audio and video – and posted on the web. At the end of the tour, those following each video installment will have had the opportunity to hear the entire book. This approach has the potential to do a number of things, not least of which is to make Neil’s fans happy. (I’m a fan and it makes me happy!) But it also shows potential buyers of the audiobook (which Neil narrates) that Neil can indeed do a wonderful job reading his own material. And I guess the thinking is that if listeners like his public reading, then they might consider purchasing the audiobook version – a clean production minus audience coughs, claps, and other distracting noises. Or, if you prefer the print version, I suppose it still publicizes that as well.

Here are the first three…

Have a look at the rest of the readings as they are released HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

A Bite of Stars, A Slug of Time, and Thou: Such Is Fate by Arsen Darnay

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

A Bite of Stars, a Slug of Time, and Thou - a Resonance FM podcastA Bite of Stars, A Slug of Time, and Thou, that terrific radio show on Resonance FM presents another terrific story, this one from the September-October 1974 issue of “Worlds of If” magazine. On the podcast Magnus Anderson joins the Slug Lords to talk about Arsen Darnay’s short story, “Such Is Fate” – which is a strong SF story that really isn’t very SF at all, but which is really quite good nonetheless.

Such is Fate by Arsen DarnayEpisode 12 – Such Is Fate
By Arsen Darnay; Read by Elisha Sessions
Podcast – 60 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: A Bite Of Stars, A Slug Of Time, And Thou
Podcast: September 30th, 2008
A gypsy, a sailor, and a tank of liquefied gas all combine to retell an oft told tale.

Podcast feed:

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/slugoftime-podcast/feed/

Posted by Jesse Willis

Sound Affects does a War Of The Worlds month

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Sound Affects: A Radio PlaygroundThis October marks the 70th Anniversary of the Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre’s War of the Worlds program, now known as “the panic broadcast” of 1938. It’s also the 110th Anniversary of the publication of the original novel by H. G. Wells. In celebration each Sunday this month Jerry Stearns, host of Sound Affects: A Radio Playground, will present excerpts from some of the many different radio versions of the War of the Worlds, plus parodies and take-offs, and background on the original Orson Welles production and at least a dozen other versions since then.

Sound Affects: A Radio Playground airs every Sunday in October at 9:30 PM on
KFAI, 90.3 FM and 106.7 FM, Minneapolis and St. Paul. Online streaming is available at KFAI.org. Here’s the October schedule:

October 5th 2998 – The story surrounding the 1938 Orson Welles “War of the Worlds”, the most famous radio broadcast of all time. And a parody, “They Came For The Candy” by Wisconsin’s Radio Pirates (featuring Scott Dikkers, of ‘The Onion’).

October 12th 2998 – Excerpts of War of the Worlds productions by the *Lux Radio Theater*, and the *L.A. TheatreWorks* (with an all Star Trek cast), plus three different parodies.

October 19th 2998 – Excerpts of *Jeff Wayne’s musical* version of War of the Worlds, from *WKBW* in Buffalo, NY, and from the *BBC*, plus more take-offs, including the *Simpsons* parody.

October 26th 2998 – The complete *50th Anniversary Production of War of the Worlds*, starring *Jason Robards*, Steve Allen, Hector Elizondo and recognizable voices from NPR, all recorded on location at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch by Oscar winning sound artist Randy Thom, and directed by David Ossman.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrival – ParaWorld Zero by Matthew Peterson

Scott D.

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Paraworld Zero by Matthew PetersonParaWorld Zero
By Matthew Peterson; Read by Matthew and Alicia Peterson
1 MP3-CD or 10CDs – 12.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Paraworlds.com
Published: 2008

In the first book of the Parallel Worlds series, Simon Kent, a 12-year-old orphan boy from Earth, meets an odd girl named Tonya who strands them on a parallel world called Pudo. There, Simon befriends a teenager from each of the conflicting groups who live on the strange planet.

He soon learns that the Lisardians, an ancient enemy who nearly exterminated the Pudo race a thousand years ago, are coming back. But this time the citizens of Pudo have Simon and his friends to help them overcome the evil.

Parallel to Simon’s adventures is a story of Tonya’s people and their battle with the Raiders and a group of zealots who want to use the magical energy that streams throughout the paraworlds for their scientific purposes. Griffen and Tabatha, magical warriors sent by the High King, fight desperately to ensure peace in the paraverse once more.

In the end, each character will play a role in saving not only Pudo, but the governing body of the paraverse itself.

Check out the website for all kinds of content, including a trailer and audiobook samples – find it all |HERE|

Posted by Scott D. Danielson