Lovecraftian Obsession Podcast

The Cthulhu Cult website has launched a new series of podcasts called "Lovecraftian Obsession." Its purpose seems to be to provide a platform for experts "obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft." The first episode contains a discussion with longtime writer and game designer Kenneth Hite. Check out this episode, which will hopefully be the first of many insightful audio ruminations on modern Lovecraftiania.

-Grim Blogger

Lovecraftian Obsession Podcast

Read more...

The Ooze Talk Radio Show

The Ooze is a talk radio show that started earlier this year, notable here for its discussion of H.P. Lovecraft and other subjects relevant to the weird. It's hosted by "Beast" and "Venger" at noon (central time) every Saturday. Venger is the short form of Venger Satanis, a name that has stirred a mixture of interest and controversy for several years. This is, in fact, Darrick Dishaw's alter-ego/mystical name(?), the real Cult of Cthulhu's High Priest.

Aside from his fledgling cult that seeks to blend Satanic and Lovecraftian forces into a dark whole, Dishaw has pursued other media and art projects, including a Role Playing Game and Lovecraftian paintings. This radio show appears to be his latest effort.

Some may balk at the appearance of a talk radio show melding Lovecraft with Satanic and sexual content. On the other hand, radio devoted to these subjects, much less weird fiction, is exceedingly sparse to begin with. So, Satanis may inadvertently create a prototype for a radio show based around the weird aesthetic. This would be a heady step up in terms of media for the weird, in my opinion, regardless of the wrapper its packaged in.

Keep an ear on The Ooze in the weeks to come. The hosts seem friendly enough to callers based on the episodes I've sampled, and the subjects chosen for each installment have potential to go in nearly any direction.

-Grim Blogger

The Ooze Talk Radio Show

Read more...

Resonance 104.4's Weird Tales for Winter

This week, Resonance 104.4 FM begins a series of atmospheric readings by various authors entitled "Weird Tales for Winter." The broadcasts will stream at midnight (time zone unclear) each day. The most notable name on the list is that of Thomas Ligotti. An audio rendition of his story "The Bells Will Sound Forever"by Mordant Music will play on January 30th. This particular tale is a selection from his collection In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land.

This rare audio performance of a Ligotti story will be of definite interest to weird fiction readers. Though the other stories and authors lined up for the series are less well known, its theme suggests other weird yarns are worth hearing. More details are reportedly forthcoming from Resonance 104.4's website.

-Grim Blogger

Resonance 104.4's Weird Tales for Winter

Read more...

BBC Radio 7: M.R. James at Christmas

Britain's BBC 7 Radio channel is about to begin another seasonal run of ghost stories written by the prolific M.R. James. Five selected tales are up for offer this year: "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," "The Tractate Middoth," "Lost Hearts," and "The Rose Garden," "Number 13." The shows run from December 21-26. Catch them on your local radio if you're in the U.K., or stream it with the Listen Live link at the BBC 7 website.

As many know, the British Isles have a strong history of the holiday ghost tale. M.R. James himself frequently read his works to friends as bells began to jingle and snow drifted down from gray skies. It's nice to see a touch of horror still riding on the caboose of the Yuletide. The dead winter ghost story is a past time non-Britons should be glad to appropriate for their own seasonal festivities. And the BBC radio adaptations make that a little easier to do, year after year.

-Grim Blogger

BBC Radio 7: M.R. James at Christmas

Read more...

Seattle Geekly: H.P. Lovecraft in "Geekdom"

The folks at the "Seattle Geekly" podcast have just released an episode about H.P. Lovecraft. The focus of their Lovecraftian broadcast is on the role played by HPL in 21st century "geek" culture, a niche group with very deep roots in the techno-boom. From the rise of the internet to today, the broad sub-culture has drawn its influence from almost everything involving technology, games, and learned pursuits in arts of all types. Naturally, this has led some members of geekdom to H.P. Lovecraft, and occasionally the broader weird by extension.

This "Seattle Geekly" program contains interviews with Lovecraftian commentators: Eric Morgret, K.L Young, and Jenna Pitman from the film and magazine industries weigh in on the grand weird author's immense influence. Like most podcasts, it's available for easy listening at home or on the go as a MP3.

-Grim Blogger

Seattle Geekly: H.P. Lovecraft in "Geekdom"

Read more...

Modern Film Zine on H.P. Lovecraft

The "Modern Film Zine" blog has a fairly extensive article up about H.P. Lovecraft's influence in films, radio, and elsewhere. While this piece is hardly the first to try its hand at analyzing Lovecraft's cultural imprint today, it contains a number of good observations in one cohesive presentation. The article also mentions the recent audio dramas put out by the H.P. Lovecraft Radio Hour--a new group of radio performers who attempt to recreate Lovecraft's tales in early 20th century radio fashion using appropriate narration and sound effects.

Though Lovecraft has become more popular, articles taking a serious look at his works in relation to contemporary historical events and trends are not easy to find. So, anyone with an interest in this matter should find the "Modern Film Zine" entry sufficient in satisfying at least a few of their curiosities.

-Grim Blogger

Modern Film Zine on H.P. Lovecraft

Read more...

Cthulhu Podcast

The internet continues to amass larger amounts of Lovecraftian and weird audio material every day. One of the best emergent resources is the "Cthulhu Podcast" blog, a neighbor of "Grim Reviews" here on Blogspot's little Lovecraftian network. Their own description is quite clear:

This show is inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos. You will hear readings of his works, and horror or ghost stories by other authors. The Lovecraft "period" is primarily the 1920's and you will also hear history and music from that period. The aim is to provide anything appropriate to that time frame. However anything "Lovecraft" like or spooky is likely to appear on this show. You are invited to contribute your stories!

Since starting up in 2008, they have regularly produced a new show nearly every week. H.P. Lovecraft works alongside other strange tales and appropriate radio relics from Lovecraft's time appear in each podcast. Naturally, these shows are a great way to hear Lovecraft's tales and gain an understanding of the early twentieth century era he worked in. Tune in or download today for some of the most easily accessible Lovecraftian podcasts.

-Grim Blogger

Cthulhu Podcast

Read more...

BBC Radio Production of Major Hodgson Work

Only a few days remain to listen to the complete BBC Radio production of William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. This is a classic of weird literature beloved by H.P. Lovecraft and many other prominent connoisseurs of the strange. The BBC Radio page here includes the story divided up into compact audio episodes for easy, compartmentalized listening. Given the quality of traditional BBC Radio productions, look for this one to at least have a shot at making it onto CD or purchasable MP3 after some time has elapsed. Then, perhaps, Hodgson will be able to join other greats like M.R. James in the long history of BBC wireless dramas.

The House on the Borderland is a masterpiece shimmering with such eerie brilliance that it demands attention from those genuinely appreciative of the outre. Read it here via Project Gutenberg in multiple text formats. It won't take no for an answer.

-Grim Blogger

BBC Radio Production of Major Hodgson Work

Read more...

An Interview with Kenneth Hite from Wild Claw Blood Radio

WildClaw Theater, the troupe of weird performers responsible for putting on plays of Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" and H.P. Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch House" have been doing an excellent online radio show for some time now. WildClaw Blood Radio features a printed blog and podcast of happenings in the weird community alongside strange ephemera of interest. Their recent interview with Kenneth Hite, who is a game designer, regular columnist for "Weird Tales" magazine, and author of Tour de Lovecraft: The Tales, is a treat for readers who wish to hear opinions from a major observer in the weird field today.

In the interview, Hite discusses performance adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft's work (including his opinion on WildClaw's own "Dreams in the Witch House"), the Lovecraftian influence in weird horror today, and his work on the new Role Playing Game "The Trail of Cthulhu." It's also interesting to see Hite name Thomas Ligotti as the "most Lovecraftian" contemporary writer. Hite is not the first commentator on the weird to place Ligotti at the vanguard of weird literature today. Overall, this is a quality interview that takes the temperature of quite a few trends and projects in the weird community--something sure to boost interest in WildClaw's Blood Radio and stage productions as well.

-Grim Blogger

An Interview with Kenneth Hite from Wild Claw Blood Radio

Read more...

Lovecraft on Drunken Zombie Podcast

"Drunken Zombie Podcast" has created an episode based on the life and works of H.P. Lovecraft for its fiftieth installment. After somewhat of a rough start, the show gets off to a Lovecraftian radio fest featuring recorded commentary from several individuals and a live dialog about Lovecraft with the podcast's hosts. Much of the material covered here won't be news to Lovecraft admirers. However, hearing commentary about HPL from an up and coming horror podcast should be very interesting to readers of weird fiction and beyond.

All in all, the podcast does a nicely balanced job of covering H.P. Lovecraft's life, historical influence on other authors, and his continuing power in contemporary culture. Several popular products of direct Lovecraftian inspiration or peripheral influence are also discussed. The podcast can be streamed at the page linked above, or downloaded in .MP3 form for high speed internet users.

-Grim Blogger

Lovecraft on Drunken Zombie Podcast

Read more...

Long List of Lovecraft Story Readings from LibriVox

Resting your weary eyes from weird texts? No problem, thanks to LibriVox. They have graciously put up a long list of H.P. Lovecraft works read by various narrators for podcasts and pleasant listening elsewhere. A good many of Lovecraft's shorter works are there in multiple convenient formats for downloading. The full list includes twenty four of Lovecraft's best short stories (excluding novellas), from "The Alchemist" to "The White Ship." Some have said the Lovecraft audiobook experience is a strange and cumbersome one, but who can really pass up the chance to listen to HPL's stories on a bus or in a waiting room? LibriVox's selection also has the trappings of a great play list for online radio broadcasts or Halloween night gatherings.

-Grim Blogger

Long List of Lovecraft Story Readings from LibriVox

Read more...

Vintage H.P. Lovecraft Radio Drama

Thanks go out to the "Datajunkie" blog for posting this upload of a vintage H.P. Lovecraft radio production. Here, you will find a link to a 1945 radio play of Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror," put on by Ronald Coleman. For the unfamiliar, Coleman was an Englishman and a Golden Globe winning actor from the Golden Age of radio dramas. It was typical to find him in many television and radio performances during the first half of the 20th century. Coleman hits it right here--his version of this Lovecraft story nicely captures the mood of horror lurking throughout the tale, and echoes the nostalgic radio practices of an era very close to Lovecraft's own. The full drama runs about thirty minutes long. The radio play can be downloaded or streamed, and may be just the thing for those hoping to incorporate some classic Lovecraftiana into their Halloween festivities later this month.

The Lovecraft radio drama is back in a more modern form as well. Check out Dark Adventure Radio's rendition of The Dunwich Horror and see how it compares with Coleman's version.

-Grim Blogger

Vintage H.P. Lovecraft Radio Drama

Read more...

H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Announces New Radio Shows

The intrepid H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (HPLHS) has announced several new shows slated for release next year as part of its "Dark Adventure Radio Theater." A downloadable version of Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time" will be available to order as soon as next week on October 1st. The Shadow Out of Time radio drama is due to appear on CD as well. The growing series puts major pieces by Lovecraft to a 1930s style radio drama performance, and has previously been responsible for productions of At the Mountains of Madness and The Dunwich Horror, both of which received favorable reviews. The HPLHS is also busy working on a film version of "The Whisperer in Darkness," though production updates since the trailer was released are sparse.

Additionally, HPLHS has announced that another radio production of The Shadow Over Innsmouth is currently being made. The addition of both of these new radio dramas adds to the HPLHS library of H.P. Lovecraft's major works on audio. Historically, the Society has put out some nice extras with their CD releases, so expecting the same with CD orders of "The Shadow Out of Time" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is reasonable. It would also be nice to see them turn toward Lovecraft's shorter works once they have adapted all of his longer pieces to radio.

-Grim Blogger

H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Announces New Radio Shows

Read more...

HPLHS Releases "The Dunwich Horror" Album

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has released another installment of its period-appropriate radio shows. "The Dunwich Horror" is currently retailing on CD for about $20 (or a stand alone MP3 download for $10) on the organization's website. HPLHS' previous production of "At the Mountains of Madness" won rave reviews for attention to detail in both the Lovecraftian and radio realms. The society, as a historical and Lovecraftian venue for appreciation, continues to make a good name for itself in both. Their story selection is very fitting this time as well. Something about "The Dunwich Horror" has always screamed for an audio adaption. Maybe it's the action and mystery of Dunwich's decrepit dabbling in the occult--resulting in the awful confrontations with both Wilbur Whateley and his unspeakable sibling. Whatever the case, it shouldn't be surprising to see this newest HPLHS release bolster their earlier success, and hopefully their coffers for future films and radio plays.

As if a full blown play of "The Dunwich Horror" isn't enough, the society is currently offering bonuses bundled with the $20 CD. Physical copies of articles, diary pages, and maps lifted from H.P. Lovecraft's story are among the offerings. These treats are sure to not only enhance the listening experience of the weird tale, but to appeal to gamers as well. Call of Cthulhu players and other RPG fans may find these accurate new props for scenarios involving haunted Dunwich.

-Grim Blogger

HPLHS Releases "The Dunwich Horror" Album

Read more...