The Heathen by Jack London

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here’s a terrifically interesting story of romantic adventure, and love, between two very heterosexual men.

Did I mention they are heterosexual?

Well they are.

They have wives!

That’s all there is to it.

The Heathen interweaves Jack London’s racist ideas with his experiences as a sailor to make a truly he-manish tale of two macho sailors who form an unbreakable seventeen-year bond after being shipwrecked in the South Pacific. This is manly beefcake Jack London from 1910, working the blood and breed obsessed vein of fiction and friendship that Robert E. Howard did so masterfully in stories like Queen Of The Black Coast and Hills Of The Dead.

Unfortunately, the version that my good friend Gregg Margarite read for LibriVox, a couple years back, was abridged (or perhaps sanitized) – the PDF version below includes a couple of extra lines here, there, and at the end. Important lines. It also includes more swearing.

Damn those abridgers and sanitizers.

Gregg is dead.

I’m confident he’d have wanted to have read the unsanitized and unabridged original had it been available.

The Heathen by Jack London

The Heathen by Jack London - illustration by Anton Fischer

LibriVoxThe Heathen
By Jack London; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 46 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 3, 2009
First published in Everybody’s Magazine, August 1910.

Here’s a beautiful |PDF| made from a scan of the magazine.

Here are the rest of the terrific illustrations by Anton Fischer:

The Heathen by Jack London - illustrated by Anton Fischer
The Heathen by Jack London - illustrated by Anton Fischer
The Heathen by Jack London - illustrated by Anton Fischer

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #183 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #183 – An unabridged reading of Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson (10 minutes), read by Brian Murphy) followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Tamahome, and Brian Murphy.

Talked about on today’s show:
Stefan Rudnicki, Brian Murphy should peruse audiobook narration, Julie Hoverson (of 19 Nocturne Boulevard), The Frost Giant’s Daughter (aka Gods Of The North) by Robert E. Howard, William Hope Hodgson, the dragon, Gustav Dore, Leviathan, naturalistic vs. super-naturalistic, anthropomorphism, literal vs. metaphorical readings of the Bible, Thomas Hobbes, Behemoth, The Book Of Job, H.P. Lovecraft, The Statement Of Randolph Carter, wireless telegraphy, Supernatural Horror In Literature, Hodgson’s career in the merchant seaman, physical culture, photography, nautical phenomena, Edgar Allan Poe, like a nautical version of H.P. Lovecraft, Sargasso sea stories, is it merely madness?, a previously unreportable phenomenon, why doesn’t the scientist (John) respond?, an audio dramatization would be interesting, an extremely disturbing message, cosmic horror, the mother and the child, “like a foul beast”, contemplating the unimaginable, “God is not He, but It”, the universe is either cruel (Hodgson) or indifferent (Lovecraft), “her soul hideous with the breath of the thing”, spirit as breath, “this is the most horrific thing ever”, uncontrollable laughter, unstoppable, an undignified death in the face of an indifferent, the Titanic disaster, Schindler’s List, a greater good calculation, unconscionable selfishness, “to talk of foul things to a child”, the evil in itself and the evil of sharing the knowledge of that evil, Jaws, if this was a true account…, did Jaws cause Shark Week?, this guy is a little bit off, putting on a King James accent, skies the colour of mud, a sky monster?, aliens, Cthulhu, tentacles or waterspouts?, flotsam or an iceberg or a shark or just the waves themselves, “oh crap I’m nuts”, “tell her how it was”, is it like telling or not telling war stories?, clarity before death, so many ideas per square centimeter, Murf plays the Call Of Cthulhu RPG, sanity points, everybody loses, investigation vs. hack and slash, the Big Cypress Swamp, will acquaintance with Lovecraft’s stories harm or enhance your enjoyment of the game?, The Miskatonic University Podcast, “actual play” podcast, Skype of Cthulhu podcast, dice rolls on the honour system, Paranoia, Chaosium, The Horror On The Orient Express Kickstarter project, single player computer RPGs vs. pen and paper RPGs with real people, would Lovecraft play the Call Of Cthulhu RPG?, MMOs, World Of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons.

H.P. Lovecraft as Abdul Alhazred - Virgil Finlay illustration

Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson - illustration by Percy E. Cowen

Posted by Jesse Willis

Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson

SFFaudio Online Audio

Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson

Here’s a terrific unabridged ten minute short story that’s the subject of an upcoming podcast. It was first published in Putnam’s Monthly, February 1909. Never before audiobooked, it is a William Hope Hodgson gem, a sketch that allows for two different readings (naturalistic and supernaturalistic – and both horrific).

Out Of The Storm is read for us by Brian Murphy.

|MP3|

And here’s a |PDF| version.

Posted by Jesse Willis

19 Nocturne Boulevard: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Temple AUDIO DRAMA

SFFaudio Online Audio

Discussed in our latest podcast, and one of the best adaptations of a Lovecraft story I have heard, here is Julie Hoverson’s audio drama of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Temple.

19 Nocturne Boulevard - The Temple19 Nocturne Boulevard – The Temple
By Julie Hoverson; Adapted from the story by H.P. Lovecraft; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: 19 Nocturne Boulevard
Podcast: April 19, 2011
The crew of a WWI U-boat finds that some danger runs…. very deep. First published in Weird Tales, September 1925.

Cast:
Cap. Karl Heinrich … Rick Lewis
Lt. Keinze … Julie Hoverson
Shawn Connor … crewman
Bryan Hendricksen … crewman

Music by Kevin MacLeod
Cover by Brett Coulstock

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #174 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #174 – The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft, read by Mirko Stauch. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (37 minutes) followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Mirko, and Julie Hoverson.

Talked about on today’s show:
who’s the womanish Rhinelander?, Rhinelanders are manly(!), superstitious swine, Julie has a transsexual voice in the morning, Julie’s reading of The Temple, renaissance fairs, big crazy hats, Julie’s audio dramatization, the explanation, what’s with the curse, the practical and science-minded captain, insanity, The Call Of Cthulhu RPG, “panzaism”, WWI, unrestricted submarine warfare, The Crime Of Crimes by H.P. Lovecraft (a poem written in response to the sinking of the Lusitania), The Abyss, supernatural dolphins?, a heroic action villain, The Horror At Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft, Herbert West: Re-animator, The Call Of Cthulhu, Cool Air vs. Sunset Boulevard, a consistent philosophy, WWI vs. WWII, Kaiserliche Marine, Portland, New York, a proto-nazi, an “iron German will”, unrestricted submarine warfare, submarines don’t have windows, “stop hitting yourself”, the laurel wreathed figure, Atlantis, The City In The Sea by Edgar Allan Poe, Below (2002), Zach Galifianakis, cosmic horror vs. karmic punishment, teasing the insane, creepy sped up dolphin laughter, […UNTRANSLATABLE…], The Island Of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, nautical tales, William Hope Hodgson, 20° North, 35° West, Yucatan, S.T. Joshi, Mu and Lemuria, wrong ocean(!), the cousin of Cthulhu, Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft, a collection of short stories, poems, and propagandistic essays.

The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft

The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft - illustrated by Stephen Hickman

The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft - illustration by Mihail Bila

ad for The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft from Weird Tales, August 1925

Tim Kirk art for The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here’s a recording of The Temple by H.P. Lovecraft. It was the his first professional sale. And, it’ll be the subject of an upcoming podcast.

It’s read for us by Mirko Stauch, a massive fan of Lovecraft, and a cool German dude with an authentic German accent – something highly appropriate for this story. He is a first time audiobook narrator, and yet, I think he’s done a fine job with it. Check it out for yourself!

The Temple by H.P. LovecraftThe Temple
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Mirko Stauch
1 |MP3| – 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Mirko Stauch
Provided: August 2012
The skipper of an Imperial German Navy U-boat, in World War I, documents the disaster and ruin of his ship and crew after they torpedo an enemy ship at sink it’s lifeboats. First published in Weird Tales, September 1925.

And here’s a |PDF| version.

Here’s an illustration from a David E. Schultz article found in Crypt Of Cthulhu #038 (1986):

Illustration from Crypt Of Cthulhu #038

And here’s Stephen Hickman’s rendition as seen in Science Fiction Age:
The Temple - painting by Stephen Hickman

Posted by Jesse Willis