The devil lives in Houston by the ship channel in a high-rise apartment fifty-seven stories up. They say he’s got cowhide sofas and a pinball machine and a telescope in there that can see past the oil refineries and across Pasadena all the way to the Pope in Rome and on to where them Arabs pray to that big black stone.
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In 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..
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Once, 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.
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Cover for Drabblecast episode 216, The Book of Eternity, by Jan Dennison
Is eternal life real worth it? A demonic tale from Mike Resnick explores the question in the final week of Lovecraft months Story features In Search of the Brain-Eating Nandi Bear Part V.
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A 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.
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Damascus started to object, but feeling the stares from those in the infinite line behind him, he angrily flipped open his courier’s bag and grabbed two bloody, dripping muslin bags. He slapped them on the counter and huffed away…
A special episode of the Drabblecast podcast. For each of the seven deadly sins: gluttony, envy, wrath, lust, greed, pride, and sloth, comes a deadly drabble, written by 100 word auteur Jake Bible.
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“I can smell the blood on your hands, I can smell your innocence dead and stinking on your breath!”
Max quickly glanced down at his clean hands. Just before he arrived he had washed them with disinfectant soap and meticulously cleaned under the nails.”
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This episode of the Drabblecast features “Babel Probe” by David D. Levine.
This superbly narrated tale follows a nano scale robot on its mission to the past. Six thousand years earlier it uncovers the myths surrounding the Tower of Babel. A thought-provoking story unfolds. Which came first, God or man?
I have been sent to investigate one of the greatest mysteries of all time. The identity of Jack the ripper, the fate of the lost colony at Roanoke, even the hidden story of the Crucifixion have all been revealed, but the truth–if any– behind the Tower of Babel myth, found in so many cultures, still lies shrouded in secrecy…
Norm also brings you a special Bbardle for Eisenbrauns Bookstore called “The Babylon Battle of the Bands.” We thank you so much for your generous contribution!
And now folks, without further ado, enjoy the show!
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A terrible accident on the highway brings about an even greater collision of forces…
A problem with Norm’s planned story for this week results in him falling back on one of his own – Guardians. This tale explores a world where guardian angels exist. Norm also reports on one of his favorite personal topics – cryptozoology – with news of a Colossal Squid being caught in Antarctic waters.
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In the Drabblecast’s very first episode, ‘Norman’ Sherman introduces his own story The Coughing Dog. It’s a tale about a family reuniting at Christmas, and a domestic pet with a very… unusual condition.
Norm also introduces the basic concept of the show. He describes it as “flash fiction of an atypical nature […] by very strange people,” and admits that while not all stories will include demons, chupacabras, aliens and yetis, many will.
Feature: The Coughing Dog by Norm Sherman – A Drabblecast original story.
Episode Art: Liz
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Angels, fallen or otherwise, weren’t known for their appreciation of human art…
