Drabblecast 230 – Bears Discover Fire

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Cover for Drabblecast episode 230, bears Discover Fire, by Matt WasielaWe stayed on the path.  The light seemed to drip down from the canopy of the woods like rain.  The going was easy, especially if we didn’t try to look at the path but let our feet find their own way.
Then through the trees I saw their fire…

This episode of the Drabblecast examines humanity through anthropomorphism. In the drabble, peacefully grazing sheep get unexpected visitors who reveal that the sheep are not exactly what they seem. In the feature, when bears discover fire, stop hibernating, and begin populating highway medians in the southern US, their changing behavior highlights how a family’s members react to changes in their own lives with varying degrees of acceptance and grace.

Podcast: Download


Episode Art:  Matt Wasiela
Music by:   Jonny Corndawg (Closing)
Twabble:  “As snakes devoured me, I understood: I never should have shopped at Bed, Bath and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. ”  by  Chris Munroe
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Drabblecast 228 – A Fairy Tale of Oakland

  •  Feature:  A Fairy Tale of Oakland  by  Tim Pratt
  •  Drabble:  Last Christmas  by  Greg Winkler
  •  Genre:  Fantasy  Horror  Strange
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

Cover for Drabblecast episode 228, A Fairy Tale of Oakland, by Bo KaierIn some parts of the world — Austria, Croatia, Hungary — they still remember. They understand. You can’t have something bright without having something dark to balance it. If you’ve got St. Nicholas, you also need the Krampus…

This episode of the Drabblecast opens with Norm’s reflections on the holidays, Santa Claus, and the origins of flying reindeer. In the drabble, the mayhem of a large family’s holiday dinner leads to a darkly humorous tragedy. In the feature, an unsavory petty criminal has a chance encounter with a dying old man who confides that years ago Santa bestowed upon him a miracle, a wish, to teach the true meaning of Christmas. Unfortunately, as they both learn, it comes with a catch..

Podcast: Download


Episode Art:  Bo Kaier
Twabble:  “The sky grew dark and Quetzalcoatl beat leather wings against the sky. We were wrong about Y2K, but right about maYan2K. ”  by  Steven D. Lidster
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Drabblecast 226 – The Heroics of Interior Design

  •  Feature:  The Heroics of Interior Design  by  Elise R. Hopkins
  •  Drabble:  Imaginary Runner  by  Tesseract McCrea
  •  Genre:  Drama  Fantasy
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Cover for Drabblecast episode 226, The Heroics of Interior Design, by Skeet ScienskiI can’t fly faster than a speeding bullet. I can’t lift a car. I can’t climb slick surfaces with my bare hands or breath underwater or stop time. All I can do is change blue things to yellow. I didn’t bother to buy a cape or a spandex suit like the others. I just bought a blouse and some slacks and went into interior design…

This episode of the Drabblecast explores the idea of being happy with yourself as a unique individual. In the drabble, the titular imaginary runner is invented as part of a game to pass time in the car, but meets a tragic end. In the feature, a woman with a minor Gift (turning blue things yellow) in a world of high-powered superheroes struggles to find a niche.

Podcast: Download

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Our new Submissions address: submissions@drabblecast.org
Episode Art:  Skeet Scienski
Read by:  Veronica Giguere
Twabble:  “My Angry Birds expertise proved me the best. The admirals all agreed I was Earth's last, best hope. My catapult awaited. ”  by  Dolohov
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Drabblecast 225 – Trifecta XIX

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Cover for Drabblecast episode 225, Trifecta XIX, by Steve SantiagoOnce, at the beginning, you asked why you were brought here. This is what I told you: your parents made a deal. I would rid them of their plague of rats, and they would pay me. I cleared the town of pests, easily done, and returned for my payment. They laughed at me and tried to send me away with less than they promised. Money is not important. Deals are.

The theme of this episode of the Drabblecast is fairy tale child abduction. In David is Six, David cannot wait to be seven. In his desperation, he strikes a bargain with a fairy that appears to him as a talking toad and is taken to the fairy queen. The Best Boy, The Brightest Boy picks up where the Pied Piper of Hamlin left off, following the children and the Piper into his kingdom under the mountain where after a series of cruel games and tests, only one boy remains alive. He becomes the Piper’s apprentice. In Broken, a father stumbles upon a fairy in the act of exchanging his disabled child for her own enchanted brood. A heart-breaking decision follows.

Podcast: Download

Spec the Halls, EMP Collective
Episode Art:  Steve Santiago
Twabble:  “"Jesus Christ!" Mary yelled when she saw the muddy sandal prints across the living room, "What were you, born in a barn?" ”  by  Chris Munroe
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Drabblecast 224 – Doubleheader X

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Cover for Drabblecast 224, Doubleheader X, by Mary MatticeJames Kennedy had stared at his sock drawer for a good ten minutes that first morning, dumbfounded. He’d never seen it so neat, and he didn’t remember doing it. But there they were: threadbare, but tidy and folded…

Another Drabblecast doubleheader special, featuring two stories from from author John P. Murphy.

Help support Norm’s New CD: The Esoteric Order of Sherman. Pre-order the Order.

Episode Sponsor: The Flash Pulp Podcast, thrice weekly pulp stories for the modern age.

Podcast: Download

Chuck Wendig's "Terrible Minds"
Episode Art:  Mary Mattice
Twabble:  “They rolled into the cities and encircled the places of government, chanting aloud their slogan: "We are the 3.1415% ”  by  Steven D. Lidster
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Drabblecast 223 – Bearing Fruit

  •  Feature:  Bearing Fruit  by  Nikki Alfar
  •  Drabble:  Déjà vu  by  Ben Parker
  •  Genre:  Fantasy  Romance
Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Cover for Drabblecast episode 223, Bearing Fruit, by Alyssa SuzumuraThis, of course, is what comes of being overly friendly with strange mangoes. One day you’re a wide-eyed virgin, with nary a care in the world; the next, you find yourself most unexpectedly and all but inexplicably burdened in a manner that afflicts virgins only once every two thousand years or so, to the best of your understanding. It isn’t fair, but folk tales rarely are to young maidens — this is the first thing that you really ought to have known.

This week’s episode of the Drabblecast podcast begins with Norm imploring listeners to chip in for the production of his highly anticipated second CD. The Drabble is Déjà vu, by Ben Parker, concerns old magics and old memories. The feature is a change of pace story, Bearing Fruit by Nikki Alfar, in which a naive lass learns of life and her burgeoning womanhood upon unexpected contact with the supernatural. The show closes with classic bbardle Radioactive Runaways.

Help support Norm’s New CD: The Esoteric Order of Sherman. Agree to contribute, guarantee yourself a copy – Pre-order the Order. Classic Norm Sherman penned and performed “bbardles,” done up proper with the full studio treatment, in a package featuring art work from man of mundane mystery Bo Kaier.

Podcast: Download


Episode Art:  Alyssa Suzumura
Read by:  Kimi Alexander
Twabble:  “I thought I could hold it, but when I reached the bathroom it was too late; the baby alligator’d already slipped my hands. ”  by  Travelin Corpse Feet
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Drabblecast B-Sides 15 – In Search of the Brain-Eating Nandi Bear

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Warning:  Mature (Immature) Humor and Subject Matter

Cover for Drabblecast B-Sides episode 15, In Search of the Brain-Eating Nandi Bear, by Bo Kaier“The Nandi… a magical bear… a brain-eating bear…”

Oddly-accented cryptozoologist Connor Choadsworth once again embarks on a quest to find mythical beasts, this time in the deep jungles of Kenya.

Drabblecast B-Sides: Donate


Episode Art:  Bo Kaier
Read by:  Norm Sherman (as Connor), Mike Boris (as Tainthammer)
Music by:   Jonny Corndawg (Closing Music)
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