Sandman Stories Presents

In the first story, we learn about  how tortoise got his shell. He wasn't always a slow moving shelled animal. He used to be fast and strong and handsome. But because he was late, he got locked out of the party.

In the second story, a hunter finds a beautiful tortoise singing a mesmerizing song. He wanted to take her home, but she would only go with him on one promise: that he would not tell anyone. 

Source: West African folk-tales by Barker, William Henry, 1882-; Sinclair, Cecilia

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann @StoriesSandman or @SandmanStories on Mastodon and on Galas

Music: Dagbon Melodies from the 80s 

Sound FX: Crickets Outside My Window by Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shoutout: Mythological Africans/Helen

Listener Shoutout: Northern Ireland

"Florida's Gopher Tortoise" by minds-eye is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

In this story, a peasant family has a son. His mom doesn't want him to waste his life, so they take him out to get educated. Through a bit of chance, the Devil is the one to educate him, but only if the father can recognize his own son. After he does, the Devil is on the look out to get the kid back under his control. Who will win? The answer might be in the title.

Source: GEORGIAN FOLK TALES translated by Marjory Wardrop

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Transcaucasie - Kartvelebi 

Sound FX: Thunder and Birds by TeTeNoise on Freesound.org

Photo Credit: "თბილისი / Tbilisi" by miss_rubov is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Podcast Shoutout: Crime Diner We are a true-crime podcast that shares food and wine recommendations while telling a collection of incredible true stories. It‘s kind of like Dateline, meets 60 minutes, meets Oprah, meets Rachael Ray, only without the investigative journalism or...

Listener Shoutout: Attica Greece

In the first story, a father tells his son the story of how the small and weak overcame the large and mighty. Lions should always be careful when challenging mosquitoes. 

And in the second story, an elephant is used to determine guilt and innocence. But the elephant is not really magical, everything comes from the people themselves.

Source: Chinese Fables and Folk Stories by Mary Hayes Davis and Chow Leung 1908

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Erhu(traditional music instrument) Creative Commons

Sound Effects: Pond_in_Dongguan_Huying_Country_Park_night_3AM_april_2013_take02.wav by dmitry_patrakov on freesound.org

Podcast Shoutout: Bewilderbeasts Join Melissa as she dives deep into the weirdest, funniest, sciency-est ways in which animals intersect at humanity. How is a horse responsible for the FDA? How did fish farts nearly cause bombs to fly between Russia and Sweden?

Listener Shoutout: Kampala Uganda

In this story Sribatsa and Chintamani are caught in a bad spot. Sani and Lakshmi want to know who is better, so they ask Sribatsa to decide honestly. He picks Lakshmi and Sani is not happy about it. Because of this, Sribatsa and Chintamani go on the adventure of a lifetime.

Source: Folk-Tales of Bengal by Lal Behari Day 1912

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Tora Dohalai Chandrajhumpi (ତୋର ଦୋହଲାଇ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ରଝୁମ୍ପି)   Khandapada Dhumpa Sangita (ଢୁମ୍ପା ସଙ୍ଗୀତ)

Sound Effects: Stream by Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shoutout: Just the Zoo of Us is an animal review podcast by Ellen and Christian Weatherford of Jacksonville, Florida.

Listener Shoutout: Béjaïa Algeria

Photo Credit: "Protection From the Evil Eye" by vjmurphy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

In this story, a princess lives in a castle with many rings. Every day she plays with a cute bunny. Eventually, she notices that she is losing rings, but she loves the bunny so. Finally she runs out of rings and is sad. This makes the king and queen call for all of the story tellers in the land. This sets us off on a whole new journey.

Source: THE ISLANDS OF MAGIC LEGENDS, FOLK AND FAIRY TALES FROM THE AZORES RETOLD BY ELSIE SPICER EELLS

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Sound fx: AHEV forest by Dustin Steichmann

Music: Dança de Carnaval Recolhimento Santa Maria Madalena- Santa Maria Açores 2012

Podcast Shoutout: Betwixt the Sheets

Listener Shoutout: Assam is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Language Assamese

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The king needs the apple of life, only thing is, it is stolen every night by giants. First son failed. Second son failed. Can the third son get the job done?

Source:  The Golden Maiden by A. G. Seklemian 1898

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Թավ շվի Զանգեզուրի մեղեդի

Sound Effects: Waemok Village Waves by Dustin Steichmann 

You can reach me on twitter at @StoriesSandman or here on Galas

Podcast Shoutout: Avast, a pirate podcast full of piratey fun. Hosted by the awesome Paul Csomo

Listener Shoutout: Plzeň, Czechia and Uncle Mickey

"File:Monasterio de Tatev, Armenia, 2016-10-01, DD 86-88 HDR.jpg" by Diego Delso is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This is the final story of the Halloween series. I will be finishing this book next year, until then, this is the final story.

Vico, the same young boy that caused trouble before, has grown up to be a bad guy. He drinks, smokes, and tries to steal girlfriends. Unluckily for him, he's no match for the boyfriend and just ends up with a hangover and a busted lip. But a mysterious guy comes along and tells him he can have her and any other woman he wants, if he'll just take this coin. The man is familiar. Could it be?

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Source: Ecuadorian Ghost Stories by Mario Conde Copyright Mario Conde (used with permission)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Myuu Toubled Waves (Creative Commons with accreditation)

Sound FX: Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com

Photo Credit: "Diablo (Potosi Bolivia)" by Ahron de Leeuw is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

In this story, two young police officers are patrolling the city, when they see something spooky down the way. There is an eerie drum beat and a procession of ghosts and skeletons followed by the devil. The men run away only to find that the drumming is getting closer. Was it all a dream?

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Source: Ecuadorian Ghost Stories by Mario Conde Copyright Mario Conde (used with permission)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Sound Effects: Zapsplat.com and Freesound.com

Music: Dolly's Nightmare - Creepy music box by Robert Austin Music

Photo Credit: "Skulls" by echiner1 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The is the second part of my halloween series featuring stories recorded by Mario Conde. 

In the first story, a bus driver picks up a woman on a bridge, but she leaves him wanting more.

In the second story, a man gets drunk the night before his wedding and makes some promises that he would rather not keep.

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Source: Ecuadorian Ghost Stories by Mario Conde Copyright Mario Conde (used with permission)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Myuu- Silent Turmoil, La Guayaquileña | 2018 (con letra)

Sound Effects: Zapsplat.com + Freesound.org

Picture credit: "Quechua Night, Peru" by Rod Waddington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

In the first story, a boy named Vico doesn't listen to his grandma and plays marble games late into the night. One night, he meets another marble player who has some cool marbles. They play and Vico loses, but he is saved by his grandma. He vows to win and aims for a rematch. Can he beat the imp of the valley?

The second story is a bonus. I wasn't going to release it yet, but it goes so well with Day of the Dead that I wanted to include it. That's why there is minimal sound design. In the story, a playboy seduces a married woman and her husband comes home to challenge them. The husband is killed and the new couple runs away, but every All Soul's Day the husband comes back to haunt the couple. Will they ever find peace?

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Source: Ecuadorian Ghost Stories by Mario Conde Copyright Mario Conde (used with permission)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Sad Horror Music - "A Family Tragedy" (Slow Strings Composition) By Pianogeist (used with permission)

Sound Effects: Zapsplat.com and Freesound.org

Thank you to Mario Conde for permission to read his stories aloud.

Picture credit: "File:QUERO HUAMBALO - panoramio.jpg" by DIOHER_PAVAL is licensed under CC BY 3.0.