Drabblecast Covers Collage 2018 01

Tag: creatures

Drabblecast 255 – The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward pt. 2

Looking away from the light that showed the Charles Dexter Ward was no longer entirely dead was as hard as opening a rusted zipper. But Cynthia did it, and didn’t let herself look back She pulled Hester a little further down the corridor and said, “Now we really need to know how she killed him. And whether it’ll work a second time…”

Drabblecast 254 – The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward pt. 1

Cover for Drabblecast 254, The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward, by Bo KaierSix weeks into her involuntary tenure on Faraday Station, Cynthia Feuerwerker needed a job. She could no longer afford to be choosy about it, either; her oxygen tax was due, and you didn’t have to be a medical doctor to understand the difficulties inherent in trying to breathe vacuum.

You didn’t have to be, but Cynthia was one. Or had been, until the allegations of malpractice and unlicensed experimentation began to catch up with her. As they had done, here at Faraday, six weeks ago…

Drabblecast 253 – Maybe the Stars

Cover for Drabblecast 253, Maybe the Sea, by Steve SantiagoPresently it rose, and with a shuffling walk it supported itself along the bars until it reached the bucket.  With a sigh it plunged its hands inside.

Little Useless inched closer and watched while the creature cupped the salt water and brought it to its face: not to drink, but to moisten its skin…

This episode of the Drabblecast continues H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month with an eye towards Lovecraft’s fascination with and misgivings about the sea. It starts with a quote from Dagon, which kicked off the very first H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month. In the drabble, there is more to a fisherman’s remarkable sea wife than meets the eye. In the feature, a nod to Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, a young girl living among humans who act savagely encounters a sympathetic, otherworldly Deep One. She faces hard questions: where does she truly belong, and where should her loyalties lie?

Drabblecast 252 – The Elder Thing and the Puddle People

Cover for Drabblecast episode 252, The Elder Thing and the Puddle People, by Matt WasielaUpon the coming of the rain and the and the reawakening of the Krr’at race, the Elder Thing returned to us and squealed Its sky-splitting squeal and waded in among us. It came with the green feet that had eyes and mouths, and with the yellow, rubbery outerskin, and with the lace and the glitter — oh, the horrible, horrible glitter…

This episode of the Drabblecast continues H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month, specifically focusing on the frequent appearance of cults in Lovecraft’s work. In the drabble, cult meetings aren’t always all about sacrifices and secret rites. In the feature, what starts out as an innocent encounter between a little girl and her imaginary friends takes an ominous turn when the “puddle people” turn out to be real creatures who worship her as their capricious god. When a rebel revolts against the the cult to save her daughter from being sacrificed, how will their deity react?

Drabblecast 251 – The Music of Erich Zann

Cover for Drabblecast episode 251, The Music of Erich Zann, by Bill HalliarMy room was on the fifth story; the only inhabited room there, since the house was almost empty. On the night I arrived I heard strange music from the peaked garret overhead, and the next day asked old Blandot about it. He told me it was an old German viol-player, a strange dumb man who signed his name as Erich Zann, and who played evenings in a cheap theater orchestra; adding that Zann’s desire to play in the night after his return from the theater was the reason he had chosen this lofty and isolated garret room, whose single gable window was the only point on the street from which one could look over the terminating wall at the declivity and panorama beyond…

This episode of the Drabblecast kicks of H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month. It begins with a reading from Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth. In the feature, an impoverished student is forced to take an apartment in an almost empty building on the mysterious Rue d’Auseil. One of the other tenants, a viol player named Erich Zann, lives alone on the top floor and plays strange, otherworldly music at night. The student, drawn to his music, eventually gains Zann’s trust and learns catastrophic secrets.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 250, Trifecta 22, by Liz Pennies

Drabblecast 250 – Trifecta XXII

Cover for Drabblecast episode 250, Trifecta 22, by Liz PenniesMy name is… John.

I am…

I have a wife and a daughter. They are visiting me today. Their names– Alice. And Anna.

I can see, sort of. Everything is blurry. I am submerged in a coffin, a clear coffin with green water. There’s a tube in my mouth so that I can breathe, machine-like.

My legs are transparent. I see veins and arteries, thin muscles that look like spiderwebs bundled together. The doctors say my memory will be fuzzy. It’s supposed to come back quickly.

I am…

The theme of this Drabblecast Trifecta is “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.” In Faithful Servant, a long-suffering butler’s poorly timed fit of temper is nearly the end of him. In Selfless, a man with an incurable illness goes to great lengths to ensure his wife and daughter enjoy a normal, happy life. In Prophecy Negotiations, a fateful farm boy learns that if you want to rise to a new station, it pays not to accept the first offer.

Drabblecast 244 – Doubleheader XI

It had rolled and tumbled, whatever it was, gelatinous and tentacled, from lake to canal to stream.

People watched from the shore, following it with opera glasses and sea telescopes. Some thought it was a squid, others an octopus, others still just a glob of fatty flesh from some aquatic animal long torn apart and rotten. It was milky and translucent with tiny red hooks lining the each of its sixteen flacid arms. Deep blue bruises speckled the skin, wrinkling in like spots on a tomato. It had no visible eyes…

This double header features two “postcard stories” by Will Ludwigsen. In Nora’s Thing, sickly Nora’s sister and friends bring her to a mysterious creature they hope has healing powers. In Endless Encore, a sinister puppet show occurs nightly for its audience of one.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 192, Rangifer Volans, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 192 – Rangifer Volans

Cover for Drabblecast episode 192, Rangifer Volans, by Bo KaierIn early December, Brad Miro walked into the office of his partner, Dr. John Estes, and said, “I’ve got our next target. It’s perfect. The public is going to love it.”

John closed his eyes. “I haven’t even finished writing the paper about the Mongolian death worm yet”

This Christmas Special episode of Drabblecast starts with Norm’s Lovecraft inspired take on “The Night Before Christmas”. The theme this week is a creepy yet festive take on Christmas. The feature lets us see the career of a successful crypto-zoologist. As we see Dr John Estes just recovering from discovering the Mongolian death worm when his partner wants to catch a flying reindeer. Norm discusses how it’s better not to believe, like in Santa… or the Mayans.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 189, DoubleHeader 8, by Tania Henderson

Drabblecast 189 – Doubleheader VIII

Cover for Drabblecast episode 189, DoubleHeader 8, by Tania HendersonThey needed a virgin to make a bargain with the sea monster who hunted the waters off their coast, and they were not willing to sacrifice their daughters…

With the theme this week being about freedom, this episode of Drabblecast sees Norm musing about the irony of song about freedom written by a man name Key… it could be a trap. Mermaids of the Old West centers on the mistreatment of captured Mermaids. In Darkness we learn what makes a sacrifice worthy.

Special thanks to Salim Fahdley and Jan Dennison for lending voices and artistic help.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 186, Garkain, by Jerel Dye

Drabblecast 186 – Garkain

Cover for Drabblecast episode 186, Garkain, by Jerel DyeHis home is in the dense jungle along the banks of the Liverpool River. Should anyone venture into that jungle Garkain, who can fly as well as walk, will wrap himself around the intruder, and smother him with the loose folds of skin which are attached to his arms and legs.

—Charles P. Mountford, The First Sunrise, 1971

In this episode of the Drabblecast podcast, the theme is mythical beasts and creatures, imagined, extinct or otherwise. Norm discuss fantastic animals from down Under (Australia). In the feature we are presented evidence of the existence of the frightful Garkain. The monster’s aspects are recalled in several accounts from eye witnesses and scholars.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 181, Funeral Song For a Ventriloquist, by Caroline Parkinson

Drabblecast 181 – Funeral Song for a Ventriloquist

Cover for Drabblecast episode 181, Funeral Song For a Ventriloquist, by Caroline ParkinsonA puppet’s words infect. They taint. They do this without ever sounding like a thing, without the listener realizing they have been spoken. A true ventriloquist, as those who are educated and informed may or may not choose to tell you, is an adept in the art of keeping those mouths shut…

On this episode of Drabblecast, Norm focuses on the bliss of ignorance versus the pain of knowledge. In Drabble news he muses about the fact that (oh no!) scientists have decided that the Triceratops never existed. The feature, narrated by podcast regular Mike Boris, is a new, sinister spin on puppetry. Ventriloquists, it turns out, are the guardians of terrible secretes tasked with preventing their loose-lipped dummies from bringing darkness in to the world.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 170, Mongoose pt. 1, by Jerel Dye

Drabblecast 170 – Mongoose : Part I

Cover for Drabblecast episode 170, Mongoose pt. 1, by Jerel DyeIzrael Irizarry stepped through a bright-scarred airlock onto Kadath Station, lurching a little as he adjusted to station gravity. On his shoulder, Mongoose extended her neck, her barbels flaring, flicked her tongue out to taste the air, and colored a question. Another few steps, and he smelled what Mongoose smelled, the sharp stink of toves, ammoniac and bitter…

Drabblecast B-Sides 6 – The Horror at Martin’s Beach

Cover for Drabblecast B-Sides 6, The Horror at Martin's Beach, by Kathleen BeckettIts extraordinary mouth, its thick and scaly hide, and its single, deep-set eye were wonders scarcely less remarkable than its colossal dimensions; and when the naturalists pronounced it an infant organism, which could not have been hatched more than a few days, public interest mounted to extraordinary heights…

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 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 94, Squidges, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 94 – Squidges

Cover for Drabblecast episode 94, Squidges, by Jonathan Wilson“Squidges?” This was a term I hadn’t heard before.  I was used to Maine brother colloquialisms, they had adopted a vocabulary largely unique to themselves, but this went beyond even that…

Norm rewards forum participant Wonko by reading his Drabble about an unwilling exposure to the majesty of nature. Rish Outfield and Big Ankelvitch, narrators of the Dunesteef podcast, assist Norm in telling Thomas Canfield’s story, “Squidges.” In it, an unsuspecting patron of eccentric auto-mechanics learns about the unseen gremlins plaguing cars the world round. Feedback from Frank Key’s surreal sci-fi piece, #90 “Far Far Away,” demonstrates the magnetic qualities of magnetic love monkeys to fans of the Drabblecast.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 66, A Creature in Disguise, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 66 – Creatures in Disguise

Cover for Drabblecast episode 66, A Creature in Disguise, by Bo KaierThey didn’t feel things the way humans did…things like mercy…

Cover for Drabblecast 65, Old Clara's Favorites, by CRNsurf

Drabblecast 65 – Old Clara’s Favorites

Cover for Drabblecast 65, Old Clara's Favorites, by CRNsurfOld Clara only bought gourds.  God only knew why, and folks weren’t asking themselves.  Not that Clara would have answered…

Cover for Drabblecast 54, Unholy Fruit, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 54 – Unholy Fruit

Cover for Drabblecast 54, Unholy Fruit, by Bo KaierThe demon oranges- one for every tree in Roland’s orchard – appeared on an otherwise average Tuesday morning…

Page 2 of 2

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén