The Magnus Archives: A Review

 

The fiction podcast format is filled with amazingly talented creatives.

I’m currently listening to season 1 of The Magnus Archives, a Rusty Quill production.

I’ve listened to 22 of the 40 episodes and am very impressed with the quality of the production and voice acting.

Thus far, most of the episodes consist of one actor, Jonathan Sims, who is the head archivist of The Magnus Institute, a fictional agency located outside London that investigates the paranormal.

What began as one off episodes of Sims reading a report of some bizarre occurrence, is slowly developing into a connected story. I’m just about dying to see how this develops and can’t listen to the episodes fast enough.

Each episode is a self-contained story, with a slowly developing overarching storyline.

Jonathan Sims is an incredibly creative writer with an awesome imagination. He is also a very talented voice actor.

The music is top drawer. Spookily eerie. And sets not only the mood, but intensifies the suspense.

You can catch The Magnus Archives here on the Rusty Quill website. The show is also on Spotify and YouTube.

Four complete seasons of the arcane, bizarre, terrible, and horrific. This is horror done up right.

And the best thing about fiction podcasts is that you don’t have to set aside time to watch. You can listen on the go. And podcasts are so much better than audiobooks. Seriously.

Tune in to The Magnus Archives. The YouTube link is here. The show is fabulously well done by the very talented folks at Rusty Quill. Enjoy!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with two bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

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The Lovecraft Investigations: A Review

 

Since the 1920s, the BBC has been producing radio dramas. Today, BBC 4, aka BBC Sounds, is still producing radio dramas. They have also ventured into fiction podcasting. And boy, oh boy, do they put on a class act.

I recently listened to all four seasons of The Lovecraft Investigations and was very impressed, for the most part. The production was top drawer. The writing, by Julian Simpson, was superb for the first three seasons, and then hiccuped in season 4.

Mr. Simpson, in the fourth season, lost the story in his fanatical quest to bash fascists in the British government. The propaganda overwhelmed the narrative and, for me, became distracting.

That written, the overall quality of The Lovecraft Investigations is truly superb and I will listen to the next season, should a fifth one be produced. Unless, Mr. Simpson decides, once again, that politics is more important than good storytelling.

The format is a podcast within a podcast and works extremely well. The stories are exceedingly loose adaptations of the work of HP Lovecraft. I would call them Lovecraftesque, with barely any Lovecraft being present. 

It works, though, and that is what is ultimately of importance.

Matthew Heawood and Kennedy Fisher are true crime podcasters who stumble onto the strange disappearance of Charles Dexter Ward — and thereby get sucked into a nightmarish secret world of monsters and occult magic.

The writing is excellent, the voice acting superb, the sound effects are magnificent. There is really nothing here not to like. And if you relish fascist bashing, season four will be your cup of tea.

While each season is more or less complete in itself, Simpson has tied the four together to form an overarching story. So you do want to start at the beginning. That way everything will make sense.

You can listen to the episodes for free on the BBC’s website. They are also available on various podcast services, such as Apple and Spotify.

All in all, I can highly recommend The Lovecraft Investigations. In my opinion, they’re far more satisfying entertainment than most of the tripe on the TV.

Start season 1, episode 1 on the BBC here.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with two bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

Scripted Fiction Podcasts: the radio drama reborn

 The other day, one of the members of the Underground Authors (my writing group) asked if I’d consider entering the fiction podcast category of the Austin Film Festival annual podcast competition.

The idea being to enter 3 scripts drawn from Death Wears a Crimson Hat (Book 1 of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles).

Not having any idea what a scripted fiction podcast was, I did a bit of research. Basically, the scripted fiction podcast was the contemporary reincarnation of the old radio drama.

What many of you who are younger than myself may not realize is that before television people listened to the radio for entertainment. Not only music did they listen to, but also dramas. Plays, as it were, adapted to listening rather than seeing.

Scripted fiction podcasts are the same thing: plays adapted to listening, rather than watching. Audio dramas, as it were.

Whereas TV and movies rely mostly on what we see and hear, the podcast relies solely on what we can hear.

A scripted fiction podcast is a story with dialogue, music, and sound effects to convey the tale. There is nothing to see and everything to hear.

I’ve been reading old radio drama scripts and have listened to quite a few contemporary fiction podcasts. And have found that I like them very much. Sort of like an audio book on steroids.

Here is a sample of what I’ve listened to thus far:

Death by Dying, Episode 1

The Lovecraft Investigations: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Episode 1

Take a listen and you’ll understand what I’m writing about. A drama, story, that is written to be listened to.

They’ve been around for quite awhile, since 2012.

What I especially like about scripted fiction podcasts is that they are dialogue dependent. Which is what my writing style is.

I get flak that my books and stories are too skimpy on the description. And that’s because I think most description is unnecessary. I don’t like reading it and often skim or skip it entirely. And if I don’t like, then there are others who don’t as well. And it’s those folks that I write for.

So it may be that I’d make a better script writer than a novelist. Maybe. Won’t know until I try, eh?

And try I intend to. Of course, the obstacles to getting a scripted fiction podcast produced are fairly large. Like getting a play produced. Or a movie produced. Unless one does it one’s self.

But that is something to consider down the road. In the meantime, I’m going to try my hand at writing one. If the writing comes easy, then the rest of it can be considered. No sense considering the obstacles if I don’t like writing the things.

If I was making beaucoup bucks on my books, I’d most likely not even consider scripted fiction podcasts. But I’m not making beaucoup bucks. So what do I have to lose? Nothing, that’s what.

Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how this new writing adventure plays out.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!