Audio Fiction: 'The Screamer,' 'That Old Problem,' and now 'Low Hanging Clouds' All Available Oline in Free Audio Format

(c) Rhys "Hidden Moves" Owens

Hearing sentences you first crafted in your own head (and then translated to the page by your fingers) spoken for the first time is always a trip.  In fiction, we write our stories in our own internal voice, with distinct modulations, timbre, and emphasis, and then readers translate it into theirs, keeping the experience entirely unique and personal to both writer and consumer.  It remains an echo chamber of the familiar.  That makes hearing ones prose read aloud all the more interesting. 

I spent nearly 12 years writing screenplays, and have seen my work spoken and acted out on the screen by others, who have no tie to the subject matter, or the source marrow from whence it was born.  But that's screenwriting, which has its built-in limitations as far as playing with language.  Unless you're Tarantino or Mamet, it's a visual medium, first and foremost, and the words - the sinewy pop of the language - are often gutted by directors, or pared down by actors that just can't get their mouths around what is was you wrote, or really wanted to write in the first place.  It's a frustrating medium for writers in love with the full palette of language. 

Back to the realm of fiction...  I don't do readings of my own work, as I suffer from a crushing case of stage fright, and realize that if one isn't a natural orator or spoken word natural, the story might suffer in the pauses and fumbles in the vocal communication of the literary arts.  So, readings can either bring life to a written work (if done correctly), or harm it in the ears, and mind, of the audience.  It's a risky proposition, my friends.

The rise of audio books helped to change the entire dynamic, allowing skilled voice artists a medium to read aloud the work of a writer, away from the podium and the klieg lights.  It is a more intimate experience, and can be an effective for a reader to absorb the words of a writer when unable to sit down and stare at a page or digital screen.

In the spirit of audio books (remember when they were called "books on tape"?), there has been a movement afoot lately, where works of short Horror fiction are read by voice artists, peers, and fans, and then posted online, offering yet another way for readers to stuff dark fiction inside their gourds, while also allowing writers a chance to hear their words translated through the brain of another, and then projected into the world by a objective voice.

I'm humbled to say that three of my stories have been read aloud, recorded, and are available for your listening pleasure right this very instant.

First of all, the wonderful Julia Morgan, aka Morgan Scorpion, honored me with a reading of my short story "The Screamer," published in Urban Cthulhu: Nightmare Cities.  Morgan is a Lovecraftian/Weird fic fan who combines her talents as a voice artist to bring sound to so many pieces of classic and contemporary literature, including Poe and Lovecraft.  Not surprisingly, I was quite happy when she asked if she could read "The Screamer," as I knew the story would be in good hands... er, vocal chords.  Plus, what flatlanding Yank doesn't want to hear their work read in a British accent?

If you haven't clicked the link above, please check out Morgan's YouTube Channel.

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I wrote the story "Low Hanging Clouds" almost two years ago, then bribed author and editor Bruce L. Priddy with baubles, trinkets, and a hillock of cocaine to publish it on his now unfortunately retired e-publication Eschatology Journal.

About a year later, I stumbled across the Reddit dark fiction journal, The Library of Shadows, and decided to post up "Low Hanging Clouds" there, in an effort to whore myself in every conceivable area of the ether in a very unassuming way.  I received a few lovely comments, and then thought nothing of it after that.

Soon after, David Cummings - who runs the fantastic horror storytelling broadcast site The Nosleep Podcast - read "Low Hanging Clouds" and tried to contact me through the Reddit e-mail system.  Not being a Reddit reg, combined with my Cro-Magnon level of understanding of most contemporary technology, I never checked my messages, so I never discovered his inquiry about doing an audio reading of the story.  Luckily, he took my e-silence as acquiescence, and read, recorded, and broadcast the story himself on the August 12, 2012 edition of the podcast.  It's a fun listen.  His zeal for the genre is undeniable.  

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Lastly, but certainly not leastly, Mike Davis of the essential reading Lovecraft eZine published my story "That Old Problem" exactly one year ago, in March of 2012.  In a coincidence of fate, Bruce Priddy, who also serves as an editor at the eZine, read the story for broadcast, hopefully while topless.  You can download the audio version of the story at the top of the top of the page.

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So, if you're inclined, or just tired of reading all those icky, monosyllabic words, but still want to check out a bit of Weird/Lovecraftian fiction, please give these stories a listen, and more importantly, dig deeper into the linked sites and journals provided above.

Feed your head, lest it devour you instead.

Publishing News: "That Old Problem" Published in Issue #12 of the Lovecraft eZine, Available Now To Read Online and for Free Download

Lovecraft eZine Issue #12 Cover Art by Stjepan Lukac

The wax and wane... The hustle and the flow.

Things are happening fast and with resounding fury around The Cosmicomicon as of late, with publishing and acceptance announcements, coming interviews/book reviews, and even a bit o' long overdue Weird news in general all on the docket and jockeying for position.  I'm a few days behind updating about it all, so I'll try to hesitantly embrace the soul of wit and hammer through these postings without my usual digressions and blathery verbal claptrap.  I doubt I'll be successful on the latter, but please know that it truly is the thought that counts.

To start this week off correctly, I'm INCREDIBLY proud to announce that my story "That Old Problem" - which first started out as an idea for a short film that could be shot relatively cheaply in some High Desert shithole diner - was published just this last weekend in Issue #12 of the always nails Lovecraft eZine, founded by devoted 'Craftian and reputed Olympic-caliber bobsledder Mike Davis, aided in his salty endeavor by co-editors A.J. French and Bruce L. Priddy (often, but not exclusively, of Cosmicomicon-fave Eschatology Journal).  My humble tale joins those written by Nicole Cushing ("A Catechism for Aspiring Amnesiacs"), Mark Howard Jones ("Taking the Cure"), Randall D. Larson ("The Fire of Zon Mezzamalech")  and fellow Angelino John Palisano ("Available Light").  Please go read these stories and let the authors know what you think in the comments section.  We insecure hacks absolutely LIVE for validation.  Well, that and the huge satchels of cash that are part and parcel of the indie/small press world.

"That Old Problem" original art by Galen Dara

Also of note, "That Old Problem" features an outstanding work of visual art from Galen Dara, an artist with whom I was unfamiliar until this weekend, but who is an obvious talent that I'm very happy to have finally discovered, and even more happy to have associated with my writing.  Her kick-ass portfolio is available here, and she'll definitely be one to watch for future covers and anthology/collection interior art.

As for the publication itself, what is so refreshing, blessed, and necessary about the Lovecraft eZine is that it's one of the few consistent resources that provides an opportunity to read some of the finest contemporary writers of Lovecraftian fiction every month for free.

This cannot be overemphasized, and I don't draw special attention to this out of some innate sense of stinginess - as we in our house forego many other avenues of capital depletion in order to set aside enough cash each new moon to purchase new tomes, as avid supporters and fans of genre and small press speculative fiction.  I draw attention to this "gratis factor" because it is perhaps completely unprecedented for a professional market publication to assemble such an array of writers and artists and editors, and then allow readers - like you and me and that asshole down the street who might be an asshole but damn does he have good taste in literature - a chance to sample the wares of writers and visual artists whom we have only seen in the table of contents for a book or magazine we can't afford, or through the promo for a exhibit in a city too far away to reach by recumbent bike.

So, I'm thankful for the Lovecraft eZine, additionally thankful to be featured in it, and am hugely thankful to all of you whole stepped up and helped out Mike and the eZine when they needed us most.  It's a give and take, this balanced life of ours.  After taking so much for so long, it felt good to give a little, and our reward is not just this handsome Issue #12, but Issue #13 through infinity.  That's a lovely thing to contemplate....

Now, that wasn't too blathery, was it? ...
...

DON'T answer that!  I'll do better next time.  Pinky swear...

(Issue #12 of the Lovecraft eZine will be available for Kindle/Nook in a few days, while an audio version of "The Old Problem" will be popping up at the top of the story page very soon, as well)

(Also, buy a freakin' T-shirt, people.  Electronic publications devoted to Lovecraftian fiction and art don't grow on trees, you know...)

Publishing News: "Low Hanging Clouds" Published Today at Eschatology Journal

My second flash fiction piece, "Low Hanging Clouds", was published today at Eschatology Journal, the fantastic online journal of Lovecraftian and apocalyptic flash fiction.  The site is run by devoted weirdling and editor Bruce Priddy (who recently joined forces with Mike Davis at the white hot Lovecraft eZine), offering writers a wonderful canvas on which to paint short, punchy pieces that can haunt, chill, or drill a hole through your forehead in under 1,000 words.

I wrote the skeleton of the story in a matter of minutes after arriving to work one morning in the middle of February (just days before "Downhill" was published in Eschatology, shared here), which is smack dab in the middle of the rare, three or four month window for rain in Los Angeles.  That gorgeously gloomy, rainy morning, the top of the twin Century Plaza Towers that mark the white collar enclave of Century City (which boasts as its biggest claim to fame - at least in my mind - as being the primary location of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, almost immediately after it was constructed), and the upper floors of all other modest skyscrapers in the area, including my own office building, were swaddled tight by a thick layer of viscous, bright white clouds, that reminded me of a cappuccino, or, as my story details, something far more sinister but no less tasty.

I love finding the horror in the benign, the dread in the beautiful.  From religion to home to a burst of welcome weather, disrupting the security of the common and cozy is one of my top goals as a speculative fiction writer.  Yes, I'm an asshole.  Just hopefully an entertaining and slightly interesting one.  :)