Downs – "I Traded My Eyes"

Out of the past, phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale …

I’ve spent the last few years on a “back to basics” kick, reading a ton of classic sci-fi and a bit of classic horror. I’m talking about old masters like H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson and E.A. Poe, moving up through “newer” masters like Alfred Bester, Larry Niven and Joe Haldeman. And soundwise, I spent several months binging on classic sci-fi radio, most notably the long-running “Space patrol” series. This is after a long, long stretch in classic pulp & radio from my teens, primarily “The Shadow.”

I’ll talk more about those things more later, but right now I have to talk about what’s currently knocking me out: Classic horror radio from Relic Radio.

The standard plug for classic radio is that your own mind fills in the majority of the story. You don’t have to worry about cheesy special effects or low-rent sets. The show is as real and terrifying as your imagination (plenty terrifying, in my case).

Listening to classic horror on my earbuds creates a kind of locked-in effect. Even if I’m walking down the tree-lined streets of my neighborhood, but in my head I’m at an English country estate while my fiancee’s father’s corpse lies headless in the family crypt.

But the real draw of these shows, oddly enough, is the actors. These actors go for broke on every take. There is not one ounce of ironic distance in any of the performances. You have not heard an actress scream in terror until you’ve heard it on old-time radio. You have never heard a man be strangled by a nameless fiend.

What I really love about these is they’re weird as shit. Like, really weird. A guy with an iron maiden fixation starts a blood vendetta with a cat after accidentally crushing her kitten. A Chinaman’s severed hand comes back to life to choke you. A falsely hanged witch takes posthumous revenge on state highway patrolmen at a haunted crossroads.

And these were major-network shows! These make your typical Law & Order look like an episode of Scooby-Doo.

Here are two samples to get you started, both from my favored purveyor, Relic Radio. These are also available on iTunes.

The Haunted Crossroads by The Witch’s Tale

Mad Monkton by The Weird Circle

You gotta love the intros and outros on these Weird Circle joints. Too much.

Bell-keeper! toll the bell!

Out of the past, phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale …

I’ve spent the last few years on a “back to basics” kick, reading a ton of classic sci-fi and a bit of classic horror. I’m talking about old masters like H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson and E.A. Poe, moving up through “newer” masters like Alfred Bester, Larry Niven and Joe Haldeman. And soundwise, I spent several months binging on classic sci-fi radio, most notably the long-running “Space patrol” series. This is after a long, long stretch in classic pulp & radio from my teens, primarily “The Shadow.”

I’ll talk more about those things more later, but right now I have to talk about what’s currently knocking me out: Classic horror radio from Relic Radio.

The standard plug for classic radio is that your own mind fills in the majority of the story. You don’t have to worry about cheesy special effects or low-rent sets. The show is as real and terrifying as your imagination (plenty terrifying, in my case).

Listening to classic horror on my earbuds creates a kind of locked-in effect. Even if I’m walking down the tree-lined streets of my neighborhood, but in my head I’m at an English country estate while my fiancee’s father’s corpse lies headless in the family crypt.

But the real draw of these shows, oddly enough, is the actors. These actors go for broke on every take. There is not one ounce of ironic distance in any of the performances. You have not heard an actress scream in terror until you’ve heard it on old-time radio. You have never heard a man be strangled by a nameless fiend.

 What I really love about these is they’re weird as shit. Like, really weird. A guy with an iron maiden fixation starts a blood vendetta with a cat after accidentally crushing her kitten. A Chinaman’s severed hand comes back to life to choke you. A falsely hanged witch takes posthumous revenge on state highway patrolmen at a haunted crossroads.

And these were major-network shows! These make your typical Law & Order look like an episode of the James Bond Jr.

Here are two samples to get you started, both from my favored purveyor, Relic Radio. These are also available on iTunes.

The Haunted Crossroads by The Witch’s Tale http://www.relicradio.com/otr/2012/11/h466-the-haunted-crossroads-by-the-witchs-tale/

Mad Monkton by The Weird Circle http://www.relicradio.com/otr/2012/05/h418-mad-monkton-by-the-weird-circle/

You gotta love the intros and outros on these Weird Circle joints. Too much.

Bell-keeper! toll the bell!