Behold, The Crawling World. A thickly huddled mass. Dark-hued, folded in on itself a thousand, nay ten thousand times over. From your vantage point beyond the veil, you can dimly make out vast oceans, a tumult of mountains honeycomb-riddled with caves, extending you suppose, down into the fused depths.

Into this world is born Athamas. A sleeper, now awakened into a very dangerous reality indeed.

Part 1 of a multi-part, weekly series.

Cast
Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road
https://andrewwinson.com/
Thomas Barker as Athamas

Produced and written by Thomas Barker

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Sword and Sorcery clashes with the Cthulhu Mythos in this thrilling tale of the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, by Robert E. Howard (a contemporary and correspondant of HP Lovecraft and creator of Conan the Barbarian). In order to bring justice to one of his people, the warrior-king enlists an ancient foe.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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The first in a sequence of three stories (The Shambler from the Stars, The Haunter of the Dark and The Shadow from the Steeple), this gruesome narrative involves a burgeoning writer who, in the desire for occult knowledge, purchases a forbidding book: De Vermis Mysteriis.
This tome has had quite the afterlife in subsequent fiction, appearing in many other stories by Bloch and Lovecraft, as well as (among many others) the opening title card of the 2004 movie Hellboy.
This is my first reading of a Bloch tale, and I can promise you now, there will be many more.

Tibi, magnum Innominandum, signa stellarum nigrarum et bufoniformis Sadoquae sigillum.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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This famous story (regarded by Kurt Vonnegut as the best short story in American literature) describes (in a style that today might be described as Lynchian) a moment in time. A man, condemned, and a dreamlike escape.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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Narrated by a (somewhat) impartial court observer, this reworking of a much older tale, concerns the obsessive artistry, and terrible downfall of the painter Yoshihide. First published in 1918 in serial form, the author is considered the father of the Japanese short story, and himself met a tragic end.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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It was a seemingly ordinary mezzotint*, unremarkable except for the unusually high price, and the half-missing attribution on the back. Until the changes began. For the curator of a university art museum, a most unexpected, and shocking series of events is about to unfold.

This tale first appeared in James's first collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, in 1904.


*a type of monochrome print

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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Robert Blake is a hunted man, only he does not know it yet.

A young writer with an interest in the occult, Mr Blake becomes fascinated by a distant church, the spire of which he can see from his garrett window. A furtive exploration uncovers an ancient artifact, and seals his fate.

The last written of H. P Lovecraft's stories (apart from a few collaborations), and is part of a sequence of three stories, the first and last of which are written by Robert Bloch (upon whom Blake is loosely based). It was first published in 1936.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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Warning! Tonal whiplash incoming. This delightful (and delightfully creepy) short story by master of the genre Montague Rhodes James is a sort-of Billy Bunter meets the contents of a Breugel the Elder painting. Hopefully that doesn't give too much away.
First published in 1928, this was a joy to record; you can't beat the old English public-school grotesques.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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An ancient evil festers in the heart of a small community, and though the original perpetrators may be gone, traces of their misdeeds linger on. Also, it's never a good idea to stay the night in a seemingly abandoned mansion, even if you are on holiday.

Written in 1934, "Pigeons from Hell" is one of several regional horror stories by Howard set in the Piney Woods of the ArkLaTex region of the Deep South.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

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In our final instalment of this perplexing and perturbing story, (see episode 34 for part two). Things reach a fever pitch at Bly manor with multiple manifestations, disappearances, and a possible breakdown. Of reality, or of sanity? You be the judge.

Narrated by Thomas Barker

Queries, comments? Write to me at: [email protected]

Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi