Season 17, Episode 3: Pulp Weirdos!

Hile, Cromrades! We continue our poetry season by opening things up a bit... For this episode we contrast select poems of the Weird Tales Three! Read the entries here:

Clark Ashton Smith's Nyctalops!

H.P. Lovecraft's Fungi from Yuggoth!

Robert E. Howard's Adventurer!

One Things

Luke: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones!

Jon: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, starring the incomparable John Candy!

Josh: Ash vs. Evil Dead, by way of a recent episode of The Weird Studies Podcast!

Some Advent Calendar Mentions

Finally, if you crave more poetry reading by REH, definitely check out Porchlight Poetry sessions from past Howard Days. You can find some of our audio recordings here, and view some performances on our YouTube channel here!

Questions? Comments? Curses? 

Call us at (859) 429-CROM!

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
We're posting photos on the Instagrams!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Outro: Like a Rolling Stone adapted by Jimi Hendrix (Live at Monterey)! Music obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work! 

Cromtober 2020 - Halloween Traditions, Part 1: The Halloween Game

Welcome back Cromrades. Cromtober 2020 begins, and finds your three intrepid pulp podcasting heroes discussing the traditions and trappings of Halloween... This week, Luke submits 'The October Game' by Ray Bradbury. Join us, won't you?

One Things

Jon: Unsolved Mysteries

Josh: Old Gods of Appalachia

Luke: The Second World Fantasy Awards, an older anthology of fiction.

Next time: Pumpkins, carvin', 'n traditions!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0!

Season 10 Episode 4: "The Prophet"

Welcome back for one more episode this season, Fremen Cromrades! We wrap up our journey to Arrakis with a discussion of Book III of Dune entitled, "The Prophet."

One Things:
Jon: Blurry Photos' episode on Creepy Cults!
Josh: David Fincher's Zodiac!
Luke: Luca Guadagnino's Suspira!

Where do we go from here? What road will we walk next? Lay your ear close to the ground, and soon you may hear a tale of a new season!

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
We're posting photos on the Instagrams!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. 

Outro: "Dune (Desert Theme)" by Toto. Music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober 2019 - Fear, Part III: Beyond the Light

Welcome back Cromrades. Cromtober continues, and finds your three intrepid pulp podcasting heroes trapped within The Witch's hut, where their own worst fears are being used against them! This week, Josh discusses his fear of the unknown - not the darkness itself, but what lies concealed within it - in the context of H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Outsider."

Join us, won't you?

One Things

Jon: The Big Book of the Unexplained by Doug Moench

Josh: Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

Luke: Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner

Next time: Wine & Witches returns! 

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
We're posting photos on the Instagrams!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. 

Outro: "It Will Never Die" by Murder by Death from their album Big Dark Love.  All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober 2019 - Fear, Part I - Infinity

Welcome, Cromrades! It's our favorite time of the year, the season of Cromtober! This year, we go a little free-form with a discussion of our fears. For this first episode (click here) we use HPL's poem, "Nemesis," as a lynchpin for our discussion. Find it here!

One Things
Jon: Anthony Bourdain's 'Hungry Ghosts'
Josh: Final Fantasy Tactics
Luke: Shirley Jackson's 'We have Always Lived in the Castle'

Questions? Comments? Curses?
Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)
You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Theme music is "Right Behind You."

Season 10 Episode 3, "Muad'Dib"

Welcome back, Fremen Cromrades! We are continuing our sojourn through the hot and arid sands of Arrakis, ever in search of that spice which makes intergalactic travel possible! This week, we discuss Book II of Dune, titled "Muad'Dib". Let's catch up with Paul and Jessica, meet Stilgar, become better acquainted with the complex interactions between civilization and barbarism inherent to Fremen culture, and dig into the layers of humanism and cosmicism that Frank Herbert wove into his story of betrayal, revenge, heroes, and Messiahs! Also - knife fights!

Art by Nick Patterson, found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BBNtsXyQGUd/

One Things:
Jon: Browsing "Imaginary Maps" on Reddit!
Josh: Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Luke: Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison

We will continue along the Road to Arrakis soon, and cover Book III: "The Prophet" shortly. However, we must take a break. The days are shortening. Nights are becoming longer. Leaves are changing color and growing sere on the trees. Moonlight shines down upon a hut, balanced upon a chicken leg, surrounded by a vast expanse of corn fields. Last year, we entered The Witch's Hut. This year, we'll tell you what we found there, or should we say -- what found us there.

Cromtober is at hand! What are you afraid of? 

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
We're posting photos on the Instagrams!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. 

Outro: "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe.  All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 7: The Black Stone (Epic Closer for Season 7)

Greetings, Cromrades! This week we conclude our seventh season with a discussion of REH's The Black Stone. It's free on Project Gutenburg or, if you're on the hunt for an audio retelling of the story, check out an older post by SFF Audio. They give some great shout-outs to podcasts that narrated The Black Stone. Their post also presents some additional art inspired by the story! Here's the  cover art for Bantam's 1979 edition of the "Wolfshead" collection...

This widely-lauded "Cthulhu mythos" story was first published in Weird Tales in November of '31... We think this is a tremendous story! While there are arguments to be made about its derivative qualities (see this well-written essay by Price), this is as much a tale that exhibits "Howardian" themes as those typically associated with Lovecraft....

One Things

Jon: Magic for Humans on Netflix.

Josh: Aw...Crap, A Hellboy Podcast and the Hellboy Book Club Podcast.

Luke: Trilogy by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

Also... Be sure to check out "The Terrible Parchment" by Manly Wade Wellman, as recommended Rusty Burke!

Next time... Cromtober!

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!

Did you know that we're on Facebook?

Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!

Or, check us out on iTunes!

We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!

Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Pop music includes Donovan's "Season of the Witch." All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 5: De Vermis Mysteriis

We continue down this path of weird, arcane books and our next tome to read is Robert Bloch's De Vermis Mysteriis. This grimoire first appeared in Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars" and is such a powerful book that it summons forth something our narrator cannot deal with! Bloch even based one of the characters off of his idol, HP Lovecraft. Lovecraft picked up the thread and used De Vermis Mysteriis himself in "The Haunter of the Dark". 

These two tales are our featured stories and we hope you'll read them and join us for a discussion on these mysterious worms!

One Things
Jon: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars by David Bowie
Josh: James Acaster's "Repetoire", streaming on Netflix (dun dun)
Luke: Luke's gotten wise and gone to church, The Church of the Cosmic Skull that is, Check out their album "Science Fiction"

Next time we'll cover De Vermis Mysterious, as referenced in Bloch's Shambler in the Stars and Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark.

Questions? Comments? Curses?
Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)
You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Did you know that we're on Facebook?
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Shamble on, you crazy, fleshy diamond

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: Starman by David Bowie, The Thin White Duke. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 2: Behold the Necronomicon!

Welcome back, Cromrades! Episode 2 on our road of grimoires features that magical book we all know and love, The Necronomicon! To get acquainted with this particular tome, we have read "The Hound" by HP Lovecraft and also discuss "The Nameless City" and "The History of the Necronomicon". What sort of terrible knowledge did Abdul Alhazred write down? 

To read with us: 

H.P. Lovecraft's "The History of the Necronomicon" and "The Hound"

Join us, if you dare!

One Things

Luke: Monster Talk podcasts on grimoires and the history of the esoteric 

Josh: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Sam Keith 

Jon: The Museum of the Bizarre in Wilmington, NC 

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

You know you want to follow us on Twitter!

Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!

Or, check us out on iTunes!

We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!

Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: "Do the Necronomicon" from Evil Dead the Musical. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober, Part II: "The Music of Erich Zann" by Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Greetings, young scholar. I'm glad you found my advert in the newspaper!

Yes, I still have a room to let. It's up the stairs here. In fact, it's are right below the top floor. One Mr. Zann holds the room above you. Have you heard of him? I'm told he's a viol player of some repute.

Looks like a student of metaphysics to us!

In our second Cromtober episode of 2014 we tackle H.P. Lovecraft's The Music of Erich Zann! It was first published in The National Amateur in 1922. If you haven't read this story, we really recommend it. If you don't have a copy of it, read it here for free! 

Artwork by Andrew Brosnatch used for publication of the story in Weird Tales in 1925

And we had a plethora of spooky 'One Things' as we prep ourselves for Halloween....

Jon: Weird Kentucky (and the larger Weird US series)!

(Note - Check out some of the Kentucky ghosts and monsters we mentioned! The Pope Lick Monster, and Bobby Mackey's Music World.) 

Hail, Goatman!

Josh: The Black Wings of Cthulhu (there's a follow-up, too)!
Luke: The Best Horror of the Year, Volumes Four & Five!

Our Cromrade Whiskey51 shared a link to an audio play version of this story with us. You can find it on archive.org! (Thanks for sending us the link!)

Don't forget that you can support The Cromcast by signing up for your free trial of Audible at audibletrial.com/thecromcast. We recommend trying out one of the The Best Horror of the Year anthologies!

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ The spooky organ intro comes from (we think) the public domain (via the YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2RP1GivOqo). The disconcerting violin interludes are Alexey Voytenko's The Music of Erich Zann, composed for violin in 2009. These were accessed via the Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAwSxtaD4II). We hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Questions? Comments? Curses? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

Leave us a voice mail! (859) 429-CROM! (That's 859-429-2766)
Follow us on Twitter! Or on Facebook!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner! Or, check us out on iTunes! Don't forget Stitcher!