Archive for Horror Audio
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
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This October, Macabre Mansion is set to release The Fall Of The House Of Usher – an original Audio Drama adaptation of the short story by Edgar Allan Poe – on CD. The Audio Drama will star Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, the Legendary Journeys, Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda), John Billingsley (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Others, True Blood, 2012), Bonita Friedericy (NBC’s Chuck), and Jim O’Rear (The Dead Matter, Day Of The Dead, Star Trek 4, Lethal Weapon 3, Cop & 1/2).
This adaptation stays true to Poe’s original vision with only minor changes in dialogue. The script consists of four speaking roles: Roderick Usher, Madeline Usher, the family Doctor and the Narrator who is an un-named childhood friend of Roderick. The Audio Drama will have the same feel and style of the classic Old Time Radio shows.
A portion of the proceeds from The Fall Of The House Of Usher are being donated to A World Fit For Kids.
A limited number of autographed reward items are available in exchange for funding donations including CDs and photographs signed by the cast.
For more information: Macabre Mansion Presents The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Pod of Horror #61
Posted by: | CommentsPod of Horror #61 has interviews with two of the hottest writers in the field, as John Everson discusses Siren and Tim Curran exhumes The Corpse King. Also included in the current podcast … Nanci has all the news that fits in The Call of Kalanta, Jason L. Keene is back with his macabre movie feature, Moonshine Matinee, and they have a winner in The Tomb of Trivia.
Listeners can download the show at iTunes or at Horror World.
Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.
Theater of Illusion
Posted by: | CommentsA lifelong fan of magic, Nox Arcana founder Joseph Vargo was inspired to create a musical tribute to the mysterious realm of illusion. As a result, Nox Arcana invites listeners to immerse themselves in a soundscape of haunting melodies, mystical rhythms and pulse-pounding orchestrations.
“The setting for this concept album is an old Vaudeville theater, hidden from the outside world, where master magicians gather to display their talents every Halloween night. The 21 tracks take the listener on a musical journey throughout the theater and provide a cinematic soundtrack for the eerie acts that play out on stage.
“Our music has always been very popular with magicians, and several professional illusionists have used various Nox Arcana CDs to enhance their acts. With Theater of Illusion, I wanted to create something specifically for magicians and fans of dark fantasy.”
The tracks range from haunting melodies on piano, harpsichord, and music box chimes to dramatic orchestrations accented by gothic choirs and pipe organ. Other tracks offer exotic, mystical rhythms and hypnotic narratives to create a spelbinding atmosphere.
You catch some samples and order the CD here: Theater of Illusion
Music in The Horror Film: Listening To Fear
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Routledge has released Music in The Horror Film: Listening To Fear, edited by Neil Lerner.
Lerner is Associate Professor of Music at Davidson College, with his Ph.D. in Musicology from Duke University. He has several published articles and numerous conference presentations to his credit, including co-authorship on our book with Joseph Straus, Sounding Off: Theorizing Disability in Music. Moreover, he is an active teacher of Film Music and carries a full load, teaching the curricula for general liberal arts students as well as required courses for music majors.
Music in Horror Film is a collection of essays that examine the effects of music and its ability to provoke or intensify fear in this particular genre of film. Frightening images and ideas can be made even more intense when accompanied with frightening musical sounds, and music in horror film frequently makes its audience feel threatened and uncomfortable through its sudden stinger chords and other shock effects. The essays in this collection address the presence of music in horror films and their potency within them. With contributions from scholars across the disciplines of music and film studies, these essays delve into blockbusters like The Exorcist, The Shining, and The Sixth Sense together with lesser known but still important films like Carnival of Souls and The Last House on the Left. By leading us with the ear to hear these films in new ways, these essays allow us to see horror films with fresh eyes.
“I noticed early in my teaching career that pieces by Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Webern, some of the major composers of the early 20th century, drew troubled looks from students when they heard them in the stark isolation of a classroom, staring at a speaker or a score,” Lerner says in a piece on College News. “Those same musical gestures, though, made much more sense to students when they encountered them in the context of a scary movie. I recognized long ago that studying musical styles, even particularly difficult ones, shouldn’t end with the concert hall and opera stage, but should extend into the study of mass media, where musicologists have much to add to the scholarly conversation.”
You can catch the rest of the article here: Music in The Horror Film
Pod of Horror #60: Peter Straub
Posted by: | CommentsPod of Horror is back … in a big way. In episode #60 Mark Justice talks to Peter Straub about writing, horror and A Dark Matter. To continue their Peter theme, Peter Clines discusses his superheroes versus zombies novel, Ex-Heroes. Nanci has all the news that fits on The Call of Kalanta, and they give away a bunch of book in The Tomb of Trivia. Get it at iTunes or download it at Horror World. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.
Listen To A Clip From Blockade Billy
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Simon & Schuster has set up a promotional page for the audio book of Stephen King’s Blockade Billy where you can listen to a clip.
Description: Even the most diehard baseball fans don’t know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first—and only—player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game’s history.
Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse … and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all.
This original, never-before-published novella represents Stephen King at his very best.
You can listen to the clip here: Blockade Billy Clip
And you can order the audio book here: Blockade Billy
The Dark Verse Episode 67
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The Dark Verse Episode 67, The Summit And The Sacrifice, is available for download at The Dark Verse, on iTunes, or at the Zune Marketplace.
This story is based off of Johnny Figura’s entry in The Dreadful Inspirator contest from last October. His entry:
(A) A strange creature, being, or person – Nyarlathotep
(B) A strange setting (on earth or elsewhere) – The top of a mountain, with a sacrifical altar, similiar to the one in The Dunwich Horror
(C) A strange occurrence (can be random, minuscule, or monumental) – Making a deal with a human
Here’s how it opens:
I found the perfect summit to erect the altar for my sacrifice. It was sunken down in a valley surrounded by mountains of tremendous size. Instead of aiding in the formation of the valley, this mountain housing the summit I eyed stood independent within the valley, standing against erosion of age old time — an oddity of nature. As I stared at this gem of existence, my heart raced with gladness. I knew there was no better place to proclaim and exalt the One Whom I Followed.
I had walked hundreds of miles in search of such a destination — miles covered by the scourge of rock, plant, and tree. Not a single civilization was remotely nearby; there were not even wandering nomads, and so certainly there were no roads, paths, or trails. My journey was dominated by coarse, seemingly impassable terrain. And all through this traveling, I carried with me an immense prisoner wrapped in a thick tarp tethered to my back that writhed in such ways that sent ripples of exhaustion through my limbs. It longed to kill me even in its capture, and it often came close. Every time I propped open its immurement of tarp to pour it water or feed it food, I cringed terribly at this thing that laded me; it only avoided death by the facet of my purpose.
Listen to the rest: Dark Verse 67
