Happy birthday to me! I just turned thirty last week and I can’t think of a better present than the fact that my birthday month is the start of Dracula season. Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel begins with an entry from Jonathan Harker’s journal dated May 3. Last year, I wrote about following along with the email newsletter Dracula Daily, which kicked off a fervor for experiencing the story of Dracula in real time through the letters and diary entries that comprise this epistolary tale being sent to you one by one on the corresponding date. If you missed it last time, the Dracula Daily newsletter has just started up again for its third yearly cycle. But this year, there’s yet another way to follow along with the daily adventures of Jonathan Harker and his friends, and this one’s in my favorite format: audio. Re: Dracula is a brand new podcast that turns the letters and diary entries of Stoker’s novel into short audio episodes. As with Dracula Daily, each episode is released on the date that corresponds with the events of the novel.
Tag: podcast
Review of The Lost Son—Gothic Audio Drama
A man’s frantic breathing is suddenly interrupted by a low, ominous growl… Before the words of the story even begin, these sounds paint a picture at the beginning of The Lost Son. Sound has a peculiar ability to immerse you in dread and terror in a way that I find harder to accomplish through the other senses. Perhaps that is why we’re seeing such a boom right now of horror stories being produced through audio fiction. These days, I devour audio fiction at a rate about five times faster than any other format. I started reading audiobooks around the same time I launched this blog and then reluctantly branched out into fiction podcasts. But I’ve been delighted over the past couple of years to see a rise in a new kind of audio fiction: the audio drama mini series. Often hosted on podcast platforms, these stories blend the best of both audiobooks and podcasts, with a bit of a throwback to old radio dramas, as well. They are self-contained stories, limited to a small number of episodes, and they revel in the audio format through the use of sound effects, background music, and talented voice actors. I’ve been venturing into this format through the shows produced by Realm, such as Beatrix Greene. And now there’s a new show coming out by a small group of independent creators that seems especially created for my tastes: The Lost Son. Continue reading Review of The Lost Son—Gothic Audio Drama
Podcasts to Check Out If You Love This Blog!
Looking for more content like what I post here on The Gothic Library? There are plenty of knowledgeable folks sharing their love for the darker side of literature—especially in the podcasting space! Podcasts are one of my favorite ways to get book recommendations or study up on a new genre. Here are just a few of the podcasts I love that I feel like have a similar vibe to what I’m trying to do with this blog: Continue reading Podcasts to Check Out If You Love This Blog!
Review of Beatrix Greene—A Spooky Fiction Podcast
When a fraudulent Spiritualist hosts a séance in a genuinely haunted house, she proves to be the key to unlocking the manor’s dark secrets. This is the premise of the fiction podcast Beatrix Greene. A short, nine-episode series produced by Realm and released last spring, Beatrix Greene is written by Rachel Hawkins, Vicky Alvear Shecter, and Ash Parsons, and features the skillful voicework of Shiromi Arserio and Alister Austin. If you love haunted houses, Victorian Spiritualism, and atmospheric horror, I highly recommend that you check it out!
Continue reading Review of Beatrix Greene—A Spooky Fiction Podcast
Guest Appearance on Sublimely Gothic Podcast
There’s a new Gothic podcast in town! Sublimely Gothic is a Gothic literature-themed podcast hosted by Amy Sophiamehr and Jessica Znidarsic. In each episode, they discuss a single Gothic text along with its core tropes and themes. The podcast launched last month with a debut episode on Jane Eyre. And I had the pleasure of being a guest on Episode 2: The Castle of Otranto, which aired on Friday. You can find both episodes on the Pagan Poetess website!
Let me know what you think of the episode! I’m hoping to do more guest appearances with Sublimely Gothic in the future, so keep an eye out.
Check Out My Interview on Crash Chords: Autographs Podcast!
In case you missed it, I was featured on a podcast episode earlier this week! My good friend Matt Storm, a.k.a. Stormageddon, runs a podcast called Crash Chords: Autographs in which he interviews artists, performers, content creators, and all sorts of interesting people from different walks of life about their projects and their passions. 
Tune in to episode #115 to hear my interview! In it, Matt and I chat about how I started blogging, my work as a content creator for VampireFreaks.com, and what it’s been like serving as the Panelist Coordinator for Dark Side of the Con—a dark alternative convention in New Jersey that will be taking place at the end of March.
Search for “Crash Chords: Autographs” on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, GooglePlay, or Spotify and check out episode #115 “Feat. Julia O’Connell.” Or simply follow this link to the Crash Chords website and give it a listen.
Let me know what you think of the interview! Are there any other podcasts you’d like to hear me on? Drop some suggestions in the comments!
The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures Review
A couple of months ago, I started listening to an excellent podcast called Lore, in which Aaron Mahnke tells spooky stories from folklore around the world. Now Mahnke is coming out with an affiliated book called The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures, which hits stores tomorrow, October 10. This beautifully illustrated book collects a variety of folklore stories with a focus on particular types of monstrous creatures. It’s the first in a World of Lore series, and Mahnke plans to follow it up with two more books on Wicked Mortals and Dreadful Places within the next year. Continue reading The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures Review
Limetown Review: A Suspenseful Sci-fi Podcast
I tend to focus primarily on books on this site, but this week I decided to branch out into a new medium—podcasts! I just finished listening to Season 1 of Limetown, a podcast drama produced last summer about mysterious disappearances, mind-blowing scientific advancements, and the quest for truth, even in the face of death.
Limetown is a fictional podcast in the style of a radio show, much like the ever popular Welcome to Nightvale. Or so I’ve heard anyway, since I haven’t actually listened to Nightvale, yet. Podcasts are a new medium for me, and I find myself easily intimidated by the idea of committing to a long series with so many episodes. For this reason, my friend recommended that I start with Limetown, which has a similar sense of sci-fi spookiness but on a much more easily digestible scale. Continue reading Limetown Review: A Suspenseful Sci-fi Podcast