The Oddcast: Tales of the Occult, Weird, and Arcane

Originally published by Esquire in 1954. Summary: While at dock, a passenger of a banana boat encounters a mad, weary traveller seeking passage away from the terrors he experienced on a lost expedition. Dr. Goodbody played by Hunter Hash.Narration, Sound Design, and Composition by Jon Fredette.

Summary: A psychopath finds brief reprieve from a prolonged depression in a Parisian daredevil's act. The Cyclist played by Tony Wolf. Narration, Sound Design and Composition by Jon Fredette.Jeanne Mareteux Level (1875-1926) was a doctor and author of some 700 'conte cruel', many of which were adapted for performance at the infamous Grand Guignol theatre in Paris. Level began to write while on night shifts in a hospital where he was working as a surgeon, and his stories soon began to appear regularly in the newspaper, Le Journal. 26 of his 'cruel tales' were translated into English by Alys Eyre Macklin and published shortly after the First World War as Tales of Mystery and Horror in the US, and as Crises in the UK.

Summary: With his imagination, a sickly boy creates his own religion, worshipping a merciless and vengeful god, to help him cope with his dull, depressive existence. Originally written by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) between 1900 and 1911 and initially published in his book The Chronicles of Clovis. It has been adapted for opera, film, radio and television.Narration, Sound design, music by Jon Fredette. Additional voices by Megan McIver: www.meganmciver.comMusic during end "pitch" provided by Myriad Black: https://myriadblack.bandcamp.com/

Summary: A baby and her mother are visited at home by a gift-bearing stranger in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Mark Slade has appeared in numerous publications such as The Stray Branch, Weird Year and Wicked Gardens. He has written/and created such audio shows as Blackout City, The Sundowners and written for audio shows The Curiosity Peddler and Manor House. His new anthology (co-edited by Gavin Chappell) is Dark Dreams where all the characters in the stories share the same dreams and nightmares.Now available at this link http://www.lulu.com/shop/rogue-planet-press/dark-dreams/paperback/product-22931027.html Mark has a forthcoming book about a secret society WPS written with other members of that secret society.Mark lives in Williamsburg, VA with his wife, daughter, and a Pomeranian that uses mind control on humans.Mark's website: http://bloodydreadful.blogspot.com/Megan's website: www.meganmciver.comAborted Mother. Written by Mark Slade. Sound design, music, and narration by Jon Fredette. Additional voices by Megan McIver. 

Summary: A man encounters an isolated stranger who lives at the edge of his village and discovers there is more to the stranger than he first surmised. John Davys Beresford (17 March 1873 – 1 February 1947) was an English writer, now remembered for his early science fiction and some short stories in the horror story and ghost story genres. Beresford was a great admirer of H.G. Wells, and wrote the first critical study of Wells in 1915.Narration, sound design, and score by Jon Fredette

Summary: The fate of humankind hinges on informational broadcasts from the Emergency Alert System about an unknown pathogen outbreak. I decided to write a short story and keep the podcast going while I am away from my home system and incapable of recording my voice. Story, composition and sound design by Jon Fredette Soundcloud (Overflow Downloads): https://soundcloud.com/the-oddcast-2/the-vectorBandcamp (Lossless Downloads): https://jonfredette-sounddesign.bandcamp.com/

Summary: Peyton Farquhar, a plantation owner in his mid-thirties, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War.Background Info: Originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, it was first collected in Bierce's 1891 book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. The story, which is set during the Civil War, is famous for its irregular time sequence. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is considered an early example of experimentation with stream of consciousness.Narration, Sound Design, and Music by Jon Fredette. Additional voices by Tony Wolf and Megan McIver.

Summary: In the 1940s, Russian scientists kept 5 men awake for 15 straight days. The results were horrifying. Background Information: This story was taken from the horror site Creepy Pasta, and is one of the more celebrated stories on the site. To my knowledge, the author is still unknown to this day. Narration and Sound Design by Jon Fredette.

Summary: the testament of a tortured, morphine-addicted man who plans to commit suicide over an incident that occurred early on in World War I when he was a merchant marine officer and adrift on the open ocean. Written in July 1917, one of the first stories HP Lovecraft wrote as an adult. It was first published in the November 1919 edition of The Vagrant (Issue #11). Narration and Sound Design by Jon Fredette. 

Summary: A man encounters a terrific monster and believes it to be an omen of his own death. Background Information: "The Sphinx" was only published once, in Philadelphia's Arthur's Ladies Magazine during January of 1846. The story takes place right outside of New York City, where Poe was living with Virginia at the time. The story is set fourteen years into the past in 1832, when a terrible epidemic of cholera had indeed infected the people of New York City. This is a historical fact, and thousands of people died as a result. The relevance to Poe's time is that, in 1846, a new sort of epidemic had infected the populace, principally his very wife, Virginia. The horror that the narrator reflects throughout his tale for his dying friends no doubt reveals Poe's own fears about the imminent death that is soon to claim Virginia's life, which shall be taken a year later on January 30, 1847.Narrated by and Sound Design by Jon Fredette.