Bourbon & Barbarians Episode 26: Season 1 Finale... Run to the Hills!

Greetings, adventurers! We return with the final episode for this season of Bourbon and Barbarians. Herein, two of our three adventurers return to the Keep, and depart on one final mission...

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. "Black Vortex" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Likewise Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Otherwise, we round out this episode with Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," from the landmark The Number of the Beast. If you don't have any Maiden in your collection, then this is the place to start! Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

Bourbon & Barbarians Episode 25: Embrace the Cold Shadow

Greetings, adventurers! We return with another episode of Bourbon and Barbarians, an actual play recording from your Cromrades!

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. "Black Vortex" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Likewise Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

Season Six: The Road to Lankhmar!

Hile, travelers! No doubt you too have noted the smoky there, low on the horizon? They don’t call Lankhmar the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes for nothing, eh?! If it pleases, allow us to pass ye, as we are trying to make the outskirts of the city by nightfall… I’d rather find my way behind a door before dark, if it is all the same to you!

The map of Lankhmar included in the 1985 AD&D supplement.

There are lots of sources for the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber, but the misc editions from Ace Books in the '60's - '70's are pretty cheap and available secondhand from many sources. Considering this, our ‘Core Texts’ will be as follows:

TSA = The Two Sought Adventure (1957)

SAD = Swords Against Death (1970)

S&D = Swords and Deviltry (1970)

DHC = Dark Horse Comics Collection (2007)

Mignola’s depiction of the protagonists! His art is incomparable!!!

Our tentative Story List and plan for episodes follow here:

- Introduction to Leiber / Ill Met in Lankhmar, Part I (S&D, DHC).

- Ill Met in Lankhmar, Part II / The Circle Curse (S&D, SAD, DHC).

- Jewels in the Forest / Early Publication History (SAD, TSA).

- Thieves’ House (SAD).

- The Bleak Shore / The Howling Tower (SAD, DHC).

- The Sunken Land / Seven Black Priests (SAD).

- Claws from the Night / The Price of Pain-Ease (SAD, DHC).

- Bazaar of the Bizarre (SAD, DHC).

- Retrospection & Reflection

That should keep us busy! See you on the morrow; we'll look for you at the market square!

Cromtober 2017, Part III: Spooky Dreams

Welcome, Cromrades! Quick, inside! The moon still shines bright, but is beginning to set low on the horizon... We just have to hold out 'til morning! Until then, how about one more round of stories to pass the time? This time we're keeping it simple, and talking through some of the dreams that still haunt the recesses of our minds...

Van Gogh's Starry Night from 1889... But you knew that, right?

One Things
Jon: Haunted Heartland, by Michael Norman!
Josh: Spookiest Stories Ever... by Roberta Simpson Brown and Lonnie E. Brown!
Luke: Haunted Kentucky, by Alan Brown!

Next time... Where will we be? We'll be starting down the ROAD TO LANKHMAR!

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/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Pop music includes "All I Have to Do is Dream" by the Everly Brothers, and "I Love the Night," by the Blue Oyster Cult. All music was obtained legally, and kicks ass. We hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober 2017, Part II: Terrifying Tales by Ambrose Bierce and Laird Barron!

Welcome, Cromrades! Quick, inside! The rising full moon brings with it things no mortal man would wish to meet alone. We'll have to wait here for morning. Until then, how about some stories to pass the time?

The moon shed a ghostly light upon us as we recorded this episode... 

First, we have a terror of a tale by Ambrose Bierce, called "The Damned Thing." An invisible beast roaming the land? Surely you jest...

Ambrose Bierce, by J.H.E. Partington

Second, a yarn recounting a hunting competition, told as only Laird Barron can tell. But the quarry is no mere stag, friends. No, the hunters bite off more than they can chew in pursuing Blackwood's Baby.

Luke's pre-show sketch.

Perhaps some whiskey will calm your nerves as these tales unfold... And perhaps a silent prayer that the sun will rise and cleanse the land of its devils, or at least provide a temporary reprieve...

And if morning never comes? Banish the thought! Focus instead on One Thing.

Jon: Phantom Encounters, a Time Life book. Get information that could save your life! Or your afterlife..?
Josh: Universal Monster movies - Perfect for this time of year!
Luke: Prime Evil, a top notch horror anthology! Read something scary!

Next time... Traversing a Dreamscape, trapped in a Nightmare... What is the scariest dream you ever had? Tell us!

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: Night Break, then Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Closing theme: Old Number Seven by The Devil Makes Three. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober 2017, Part I: Howard's Werewolf Stories!!!

Hail there, wayfaring stranger! We travel down this darkened road on this crisp Cromtober evening! For this first horror-filled episode we're discussing a couple interrelated werewolf stories by Robert E. Howard, In the Forest of Villefere and Wolfshead. The art included in this blogpost comes from the contributions of Greg Staples to The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard.

One Things
Jon: Batman Beyond!
Luke: The Horror Hall of Fame!
Josh: Kubo and the Two Strings!

After this stint of horror content we'll begin our journey on the Road to Lankhmar!

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: Night Break, then Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Closing theme: Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon from Stand in the Fire. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!