Drabblecast Covers Collage 2018 01

Category: Fantasy Page 10 of 11

Cover of Drabblecast episode 110, Trifecta 6, by Tom Morganti

Drabblecast 110 – Trifecta VII

Cover of Drabblecast episode 110, Trifecta 6, by Tom MorgantiThe village of Kriegerwald on the shores of Lake Teufel high in the Swiss Alps couldonly be reached by foot or ski lift, which suited the villagers. Each villager possessed broadforeheads and flat noses with strange guttural accents even the people in the valley below barelyunderstood. They also had a singular tourist attraction, popular enough to fund villagemaintenance but not to flood them or stir a desire for greater accessibility.

This trifecta episode of the Drabblecast features three stories, each exploring humanity’s reaction to strange and threatening situations. In the first story, The Frozen People, Swiss villagers sustain their existence by selling views of their 7000 year old perfectly preserved frozen warrior. When lightening strikes, everyone’s life changes. In Sheltered, a fast approaching asteroid threatens to wipe out all of mankind. This sends many burrowing deep into the ground, while a few brave individuals stay above to revel in the cataclysm. Interactions between the groups take on an ironic twist. In Order to Conserve speaks to governments and people as they are threatened by the loss of the most precious of all natural resources…. and it’s not oil or water.

Of note: this episode marks the debut of Twit-Fic/Twabbles.

Cover for Drabblecast 108, The Wicked Witch Looks at 40 (Decades), by Mary Mattice

Drabblecast 108 – The Wicked Witch Looks at 40 (Decades)

Cover for Drabblecast 108, The Wicked Witch Looks at 40 (Decades), by Mary MatticeThe wicked witch business wasn’t what it used to be.  It had been such a simple thing, to lure children with candy; back in the old days when candy had been hard to come by…

In this episode’s Drabble, a moth eloquently expresses her attraction to a bright light and her own subsequent destruction. The feature story, The Wicked Witch Looks at 40 (Decades), follows Winnie the witch through her (long overdue) midlife crisis. After a particularly discouraging Halloween, where not a single child is captured, she takes the advice of an article in Martha Stewart Living magazine, changing her house and her lifestyle.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 107, The Alchemical Automaton Blues, by Josh Hugo

Drabblecast 107 – The Alchemical Automaton Blues

Cover for Drabblecast episode 107, The Alchemical Automaton Blues, by Josh Hugo“How often does it do that?”  the faun asked.
“Most of the time.  The poor thing’s totally neglected.  They never speak to it or interact with it– except for when the kids are throwing rocks at it…”

This episode of the Drabblecast begins with a Drabble News story about an employee finding a Brazilian wandering spider in the bananas at a Whole Foods in Oklahoma. In the Drabble, a little girl plays hide and seek with her friend, Rex. T-Rex. In the feature story, The Alchemical Automaton Blues, the good intentions of a kind-hearted couple concerned for the welfare of their ogre neighbor’s badly neglected and constantly crying guard golem have unexpected and disheartening consequences for the creature in question.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 105, DoubleHeader 2, by Kelly Martinez

Drabblecast 105 – Doubleheader 2

Cover for Drabblecast episode 105, DoubleHeader 2, Kelly MartinezShe’d been hunting full-grown pies for four years now.  The little hand-held fruit pies were for kids– the preservatives made them slow and stupid– but pies in the wild, they were the true treasure, they had formed the culture of her people…

This episode of the Drabblecast features two pie-themed stories set in one fantasy world. In The Blueberry Pie, successfully slaying the titular food item stands as the first rite of passage for a child wishing to officially join the tribe of the pie hunters. One young pie hunter cannot ignore the allure of hunting a crusted, culinary legend. In The Last of the Pie Hunters, a peaceful gardener gives care and compassion to a battered warrior in the war between the pie hunters and the cake eaters.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 104, The Food Processor, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 104 – The Food Processor

Cover for Drabblecast episode 104, The Food Processor, by Bo KaierThough the boy’s birthdays occurred weeks apart, Mother combined their gift to please Father.
“You may choose your present this year, boys,”  said she.  “Something to fulfill your destiny, perhaps.”  The boys were born to change the world…

The winners of the Drabblecast People’s Choice Award are announced: Best Drabble “Please Allow the Door to Close” by John Medaille (episode 89) and Best Feature Story, Floating Over Time by Robert Reed (episode 83). In the Drabble, gods get whatever they can afford at a marketplace of souls. The feature, The Food Processor, is a coming of age story about two brothers who use their birthday gift, an industrial food processor, to break free from the expectations and control of their formidable chef father.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 101, Bemused, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 101 – Bemused

Cover for Drabblecast episode 101, Bemused, by Bo KaierMy Muse is the life of every party.  He does keg-stands and plays beer-pong like he was born to the game…

This episode of the Drabblecast podcast opens with a DrabbleNews story about immortal jellyfish, jellyfish that under certain circumstances can reverse the aging process. In the Drabble, a stalker cheerfully greets, drugs, and kidnaps the object of her desire. The feature story, Bemused, is a hack-to-riches-to-hack tale about a mediocre, rejected writer who discovers his muse and a catapult to fame and fortune. The only problem: his muse is a real jerk.

Cover for Drabblecast 100, Trifecta VI, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 100 – Trifecta VI

Cover for Drabblecast 100, Trifecta VI, by Bo KaierThe 100th episode of the Drabblecast opens with Norm thanking donors, contributors, and listeners for its success and growth. Norm announces the opening of nominations for the second annual Drabblecast People’s Choice Awards, now including a category for drabbles as well as feature stories. In Cork Ringtone and the Break Dancing Pig, a desperate, Jesus-costumed liquor store robbery, which may be wholly unnecessary when a loan shark experiences an alien-induced vision of god. In Gerri’s Sounds, the events occurring in a torture chamber are experienced in disturbing detail by its sounds alone. In Cupid, Playing, new love is cut short by a deranged cherub.

Cover for Drabblecast 99, Sarah's Window, by Philip Pomphrey

Drabblecast 99 – Sarah’s Window

Cover for Drabblecast 99, Sarah's Window, by Philip PomphreyThe shadow lingered at Sarah’s window, balanced on air, certain to fly away the next step I took.  Another moment and it would be gone.  Another moments and I would call the police, report my daughter missing, and spend the rest of my life convincing myself I’d imagined it…

This episode of the Drabblecast opens an announcement introducing the Drabblecast Archive CDs, featuring episodes 1-79 in a 3 disc set. In the drabble, a sleep-addled God himself cannot (or will not) provide a reason for why the world ended. The feature story, Sarah’s Window, explores the familiar theme of children leaving our world for one of fantasy, with the twist of a distraught parent serving as protagonist. A single father tries to convince a trespassing, morally ambiguous shadow creature to return his apparently kidnapped daughter, Sarah, amid its assertions that it is innocent of wrongdoing since “not all lost things are stolen.” An otherworldly realm seduces with magical delights.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 98, The Graggleberry Thief, by Matt Wasiela

Drabblecast 98 – The Graggleberry Thief

Cover for Drabblecast episode 98, The Graggleberry Thief, by Matt Wasiela“Mark my words Monkey,” said the chicken.  “If you’re up to no good, Felonious Peck will find you out…”

This episode of the Drabblecast revolves around birds. It opens with a Drabble News segment about a bald eagle that caused a power outage in Juneau, Alaska by crashing into transmission lines while carrying a deer’s head. The Drabble features ever-vigilant pigeons performing an important job for the good of humanity. The feature story, The Graggleberry Thief, is a humorous tale about a thieving monkey who outwits the grumpy bird in charge of Graggleberry, Inc.

Cover for Drabblecast 097, Daydream Nation, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 97 – Daydream Nation

Cover for Drabblecast 097, Daydream Nation, by Bo KaierFrom a small, dusty box similar to a contact-lens case, she took a fresh iDreams bindi, a self-adhesive circlet displaying the iDreams logo: a stylized human head wreathed in fluffy clouds and displaying a Third Eye…

This episode of the Drabblecast explores the relationship between technology and romance. In the Drabble, cryotechnology brings new dimensions to love, loss, and grieving. The feature, Daydream Nation, is a post-modern fairy tale exploring how the development of an iDreams caster, a device allowing users to broadcast crafted or purchased iDreams to one another, might affect courtship and relationships. After the story, Norm waxes poetic about the effect of our instant message society on “good old fashioned cheesy flirting.”

Cover of Drabblecast episode 95, On Dasher, by Matt Cowens

Drabblecast 95 – On Dasher

Cover of Drabblecast episode 95, On Dasher, by Matt CowensSeen from a hundred feet up–if one could see any of this meeting, which they can’t – Saint Nick and his reindeer are red and brown dots standing on a potmarked gray island spanning hundreds of feet, lapped by waves…

Norm begins this Christmas episode with musical satire of the “Night Before Christmas” poem, twisting it into an explanation of the subprime derivative collapse: “We Don’t Have to Liquidate Christmas.” Jonathan C. Gillespie, a veteran of the podcast “Variant Frequencies” among others, focuses on those unsung worker heroes of Christmas, the everyday average reindeer, who pull a heavy load (and toys too) across the skies. As it turns out not even these mythic creatures are immune to office politics. The titular Dasher is given a chance to prove himself, and keep his day job, amid a desperate sky race around the world.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 85, Trifecta V, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 85 – Trifecta V

Cover for Drabblecast episode 85, Trifecta V, by Bo KaierThe fifth of the Drabblecast’s Trifectas gathers three stories about addiction to love. Due to the subject matter, Norm issues a warning about it’s kid unfriendliness.  First, the narrator of Suzanne Vincent’s story, “Strange Love,” discovers the erotic secret behind the popularity of tattoos among space alien visitors. Next, Jim Bernheimer, (who had previously contributed the story “Reality Bites!”), offers “Cookies,” a quixotic tale leaving listeners to ponder whether we raise our kids, or they raise us.  Finally, “Forbidden Love,” by Ian Fossberg, describes the final quest of a familiar love-lorn character from our shared childhood.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 84, DroubleHeader 1, by Mike Dominic

Drabblecast 84 – Doubleheader 1

Cover for Drabblecast episode 84, DroubleHeader 1, by Mike Dominic“She was called Mrs. Underhill, because that’s where she lived, and I assumed she was some kind of hob, because she obviously wasn’t human…”

In some Drabble News, Norm Sherman shares the interesting tale of well fed “Terry the Crocodile.” The featured stories are a double-dose of Michael Stanwick goodness. “Hush and Hark” brings a god back home, if only for a moment. “Metasciencefiction” shows just how writers come up with those wonderful stories about dinosaurs and guns and awesome stuff like that. Feedback is for Episode 80, “Standing in Line.”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 80, Standing in Line, by Rick Green

Drabblecast 80 – Standing in Line

Cover for Drabblecast episode 80, Standing in Line, by Rick Green

I sense a diference the instant I step out of the water.  In the unnatural stillness there is an arid taste in the air that assaults the back of my throat…

Norm Sherman brings us an episode about endings, and why they don’t always have to be bad. The Drabble is about a “beautiful” end. The feature is a touching tale of family’s facing their impending end with strength and solidarity. Feedback is for “Apologies All Around,” episode 76.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 79, Low-Carb Cheesecake, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 79 – Low-Carb Cheesecake

Cover for Drabblecast episode 79, Low-Carb Cheesecake, by Jonathan Wilson

“Just one thing,” I said, nodding towards the cheesecake. “How do you do it?”

Norm Sherman gives us more of the Mega-Beast Death-Match. The Drabbles for this episode depict lawn ornament assassins and a man’s true form. The feature story describes the horrible price others pay for your health foods. Feedback from “Witchcraft in the Harem” by Aliya Whiteley (Episode 74) and episode 75’s Trifecta IV.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 74, Witchcraft in the Harem, by Caroline Parkinson

Drabblecast 74 – Witchcraft in the Harem

Cover for Drabblecast episode 74, Witchcraft in the Harem, by Caroline Parkinson

“I’m in serious trouble here,” I said to the pale man.  “Give me some words of wisdom.”

This episode’s Drabble details a disturbing beginning. The feature is a haunting tale of desire and eternity. Norm Sherman gives us more information on the Mega-Beach Death-Match, which contains a squid with tank treads, a giant wasp, and a robotic tanuki. Feedback is from Episode #96 “The Story-Teller” by Saki.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 71, Perfect Down Further, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 71 – Perfect Down Further

Cover for Drabblecast episode 71, Perfect Down Further, by Bo Kaier“All the Kings have been doubtful at first.  To be honest, there have been humans who have declined, but it’s just a  matter of trying….and believing…

Cover for Drabblecast 69, The Story Teller, by Brent Holmes

Drabblecast 69 – The Story-Teller

Cover for Drabblecast 69, The Story Teller, by Brent Holmes“Once upon a time there was a little girl named Bertha, who was extra-ordinarily good…”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 67, Malish, by David Steffen

Drabblecast 67 – Malish

Cover for Drabblecast episode 67, Malish, by David SteffenHis method of running was simple and to the point:  he was usually last out of the gate, last on the backstretch, last around the far turn, and last at the finish wire…

Cover for Drabblecast episode 57, The Tiger Fortune Princess, by Caroline Parkinson

Drabblecast 57 – The Tiger Fortune Princess

Cover for Drabblecast episode 57, The Tiger Fortune Princess, by Caroline Parkinson“Your daughter will die unborn unless she rides the dragon’s tail…”

Page 10 of 11

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén