Recordings Recovered

Found footage horror on the radio anybody? You bet! Mike Walker's Recordings Recovered from the House of Leaves, is an adaptation of Mark Z Danielewsky's House Of Leaves, though I was unaware of this at the time of first listening. Maybe it does pale in comparison to the book - still on my 'to read' list - but, just like Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds (75 years young this year), I think this audio drama stands on it's own two feet apart from the source material. This is atmospheric, bizarre, creepy, and all that good stuff. Goodnight. If you can!

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Hauntology for Halloween

The Shadow of Aethereus by Soulless Central Radio on Mixcloud

Recommended further listening: The Soulless Party - Tales From The Black Meadow



"If you were born between the late 60's and mid 70's then this is for you...don't blame me if you have nightmares...you have been warned!! - markmorb

Electric Hell!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate tonight's festivities than by spending an hour listening to Gibbet Of The Damned; a mixtape courtesy of the never not brilliant Cottage Of Electric Hell. The mix was originally created for Six Ton Armor and if psych is your thing you should head over there right away. Check out their Soundcloud too, it's chock full o' nuggets.

Goodnight... if you can!

A Sound British Adventure

This week's listening recommendations are twofold:

1:A Sound British Adventure.

"Comedian Stewart Lee is passionate about electronic music and he takes us on a remarkable musical journey. We discover how, after the Second World War, a small group of electronic pioneers began tinkering with their army surplus kit to create new sounds and music.

Tristram Cary started the first electronic music studio in Britain but, while France, Germany, Italy and the USA had lavishly funded research centres, British electronic music remained the preserve of boffins on a budget.

As the programme reveals, this make do and mend approach prevailed long after austerity Britain had given way to the swinging 60s, with Peter Zinovieff developing EMS synthesizers from a shed at the bottom of his garden in Putney. (Paul McCartney put on his wellies and took a look). Zinovieff is interviewed about his experiments in sound.

Unsurprisingly, the electronic community in Britain was a small, intimate group and joining Cary and Zinovieff was Daphne Oram, who devoted decades to developing a 'drawn sound' electronic composition system that never really quite worked.

Brian Hodgson tells us about 1960s experimental and electronic festivals, including The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave (1967) at which The Beatles' electronic piece Carnival Of Light had its only public airing. We shall also hear how the radiophonic workshop broke new musical ground with Dr. Who.

Experts in the history of electronic music, including author and musician Mark Ayres and Goldsmith College lecturer in computer studies Dr. Michael Grierson give the boffins' view and Portishead's Adrian Utley explains why the early forays in electronics are still relevant today.

2:Book at Bedtime: The Greatcoat.

"A new ghost story from Helen Dunmore set during and after the Second World War, about the power of the past to imprint itself on the present, and possess it.

Summer Ghosts

Three short stories about "daytime ghosts"

"Yes, the ghosts you see at night, they're the souls - the auras, if you like - of good people who didn't deserve to die. That's why they're full of regret, and frightening. Ghosts we see in broad daylight are the ones whose death were right and fair - they've been redeemed by death. They were evil while alive..."

In this series of commissioned stories the aim is to present ghosts or ghostly happenings in the cold light of day. Will something 'unexplained' be as scary in a light that is... well, reliable to the eye!

1. All The Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends by Sophie Hannah.
Mel makes a friend at the school gates and learns about the different types of ghosts in the world. Then the theories are tested out...

2. The Queen of Craigielee by Louise Welsh
Photographing the deserted tower block means going to its thirtieth floor, which isn't really the place to be...

3. Swings by Adam Thorpe.
Howard is alone when he visits the deserted playground. Then something starts to make a squeaking noise...

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David 8 vs Dracula

Dracula by Bram Stoker. Michael Fassbender (Jonathan Harker) and Gillian Kearney (Mina Murray) head a multi-voiced reading of the classic novel, abridged by Daragh Carville in 2003. This is probably my favourite of the seemingly (ahem) 'Count'less adaptations for radio down the years.

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Haunted

Dark psychological contemporary thriller, by Sally Griffiths. Really great stuff, well worth your time.

"Professional illusionist, Will Morgan, is to front a TV show in which he exposes spiritualist mediums as frauds. Hayley Taylor is the spiritualist medium who refuses to back down under Will's scrutiny - a challenge Will can't walk away from. Both are to have their belief systems sorely tested when a voice from one of their pasts refuses to keep silent. Starring Steffan Rhodri as Will and Zoë  Tapper as Hayley.

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The House at World's End

The first of two ripping M.R. James pastiches by Stephen Sheridan.

"M.R.James, Provost of King's College Cambridge explains to a Christmas gathering of friends and undergraduates how he first became interested in the supernatural. He tells the tale of an ancient cabalistic text that dooms the family and associates of a Cornish bibliophile.

What terrible secret lies hidden in the library at Cranleigh Hall, and why is old Uncle Magnus so afraid of the night?

Cranleigh Hall, earlier.

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M.R. James at Christmas

Derek Jacobi plays Montague Rhodes James and is our narrator for these five brief dramatized contemporary audio adaptations. Though well worth a listen in their own right, they are simply too short to capture the mood of James' prose. Ripping yarns for the time poor if you will.

Illustration by  James McBryde for 1st ed. of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

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Further reading - BFI: Sight & Sound: "Ghosts Of Christmas Past - M.R. James, Lawrence Clark and 'A Ghost Story For Christmas'. M.R. James links.

Late Night Story with Tom Baker

Late Night Story (1978). The 4th Doctor takes time out from battling Kroll, the giant Lovecraftian god creature that lives beneath the marshes of Delta Magna, to read five tales of terror from the comfortable surroundings of TARDIS back up study #3f. Audio is ripped from video in similar fashion to the previous post and comes courtesy of the supreme being, X-Y-Z Cosmonaut.

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Classic Ghost Stories

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin."

Robert Powell reads the classic ghost stories - The Mezzotint,  The Ash Tree, Wailing Well, Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad and The Rose Garden - of Montague Rhodes James.  The short series was originally broadcast over the BBC 2 Yuletide schedule back in 1986. You can find them (ripped from off air VHS by the look of it) out there in torrent land, or via the youtubes below. For this post I've ripped the audio, corrected the mono balance for stereo playback and cleaned it up the hiss a little where possible. I think they work rather well as audio-books without the visuals.

The Mezzotint (Pt.1)

The Ash Tree (Pt.1)

Wailing Well (Pt.1)

Oh, Whstle and I'll Come To You My Lad (pt.1)

The Rose Garden (Pt.1)

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Mother Father Son

What's on the other side of that door? It's a classic start to any horror story. Mother Father Son is a darkly comic tale starring two of Scotland's best loved actors, Ann Scott-Jones and Peter Kelly. This play won the Arches theatre award 2007 for its writer Hugo Plowden and director Rosie Kellagher. It's hands down one of the creepiest audio dramas I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. 

Goodnight, if you can.

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Lovecraft: Weird Tales

Mike Mignola

"Weird Tales: The Strange Life of H P Lovecraft (2006) examines the strange life and terrifying world of the man hailed as America's greatest horror writer since Poe. During his life Lovecraft's work was confined to lurid pulp magazines and he died in penury in 1937. Today, however, his writings are considered modern classics and published in prestigious editions. Among the writers considering his legacy are Neil Gaiman, S.T. Joshi, Kelly Link, Peter Straub and China Mieville.

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Lovecraft: The Young Man of Providence

The Young Man of Providence. This dramatized documentary from 1981 delves deep into the authors tortured genius. Suitably eerie soundscapes accompany readings from various letters and classic stories from the Lovecraft canon. I found this recently on t'Internets and thought it was worth posting as a companion piece to the above post, which comes direct from the t_ape archives. The audio quality is not of the highest, but it is quite listenable and the programme itself is first rate.

"Cthulhu lies dreaming"

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Lovecraft's The Tomb

The obsessive Jervas Dudley reveals how he came to be incarcerated in an asylum. H.P. Lovecraft's chilling tale is read by Ryan McCluskey.


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Late Night Story No.2

Tom Baker tells the twisted tale of Sredni Vashtar from that master of the short story format Hector Hugh Munro, aka Saki.

Sredni Vashtar (1981) Dir. Andrew Birkin

Carnivorous Lunar Activities

An American Werewolf in London (1997) adapted for Big British Castle Radio Station No.1 by Dirk Maggs and what a fine job he did too.

"How does a werewolf get onto the Yorkshire Moors? Why do the citizens of a remote village allow two American backpackers to walk to their doom? What is it like to be undead? John Landis' 1981 movie remains an unforgettable cinema experience. In this expanded version some twenty minutes of new story has been added, leading up to the violent and emotional climax on the streets of London. Reprising their roles from the movie, Jenny Agutter, Brian Glover and John Woodvine are reunited in this audio movie.

 "Have you ever tried talking to a corpse? It's boring!"

Hellooo nurse!

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No.27 - Staking A Vampire (3 Mallet Blows)

BBC Sound Effects No.27 - Even More Death and Horror. The son of the bride of a classic amongst sound effects records.

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The Pit and the Pendulum

Three tales of mystery and imagination: The Pit and the Pendulum, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar and The Cask of Amontillado. Each short story is expertly read by the great Bill Wallis. The music is by British jazz musician Colin Purbrook.

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Late Night Story No.1

Late Night Story (1978) Tom Baker reads The Photograph by Nigel Kneale.