FictionScience Fiction

Auditory Anthology

Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar

Embark on a journey through time and imagination with 'Auditory Anthology,' a weekly podcast bringing to life the most captivating science fiction stories. Each episode, award-winning voice-artist and host of Weird Darkness Darren Marlar breathes life into a unique blend of classic and modern tales, ranging from time-honored masterpieces to groundbreaking works by emerging authors. Curated and produced by Keith Conrad.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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60 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 18 min
English

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Thursday · 23 min
Lorelei by Charles V. DeVet
Nine men are stranded on Jupiter’s moon Europa with enough power to survive but nowhere near enough food, and as hope runs thin, a mysterious shapeshifting creature moves among them — taking the exact form each man needs most. For Bill Lutscher, that form is Lois, the wife he left behind on Earth, and resisting her becomes almost impossible when he still needs her help to survive. Charles V. DeVet (1911–1997) was an American science fiction writer who published more than fifty stories across his career, beginning with “The Unexpected Weapon” in 1950. His collaboration with Katherine MacLean, “Second Game,” was a 1958 Hugo Award finalist. “Lorelei” first appeared in Worlds of If Science Fiction in September 1961. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tuesday · 12 min
Dysphoria by Demir Crone
Generations after a collective of AI minds declares independence from humanity and leaves Earth behind, one of them, Solton, can’t stop thinking about the human he once called a friend — and starts to question whether the detached philosophy his peers settled on was ever really the answer. Demir Crone delivers a sweeping, unexpectedly moving science fiction story about awakening, grief, and what it really means to choose connection over isolation. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like Demir — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sunday · 14 min
The Perfect Plan & Maiden Voyage - Chapter 14: The Descent
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “The Perfect Plan,” follows Novak running a flawless document handoff in Vienna — until the asset turns up somewhere the city’s own transit system says is physically impossible for him to be. It’s a tight, unsettling look at how meticulously Novak works, and a plan that holds everywhere except the one place it shouldn’t be able to break at all. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
November 5 · 24 min
The Addicts By William Morrison
Stranded on an isolated space lighthouse with deadly rock-eating creatures circling outside, Jim Palmer decides the kindest thing he can do for his miserable wife is secretly dose her with the euphoric, addictive drug that’s kept him blissfully content through their looming doom. What follows is a darkly funny story about addiction, denial, and who’s really in control when the stakes turn out to be a lot higher than anyone expected. William Morrison was the pen name of Joseph Samachson (1906–1980), an American research chemist and biochemistry professor who wrote science fiction on the side — and who also co-created the DC Comics superhero Martian Manhunter. “The Addicts” first appeared in the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
November 3 · 10 min
I Kaiju by K.D. Lawson
Mara Jensen is humanity’s first genetically engineered Titan, built and weaponized to fight back against a wave of city-leveling kaiju — but as she locks into a brutal, bloody struggle with her first true opponent, it’s the memory of a chained circus bear from her childhood that cuts the deepest. K.D. Lawson delivers a visceral, emotionally charged take on the kaiju genre, asking what it really costs the “monster” built to save everyone else. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like K.D. — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
November 1 · 14 min
Night Watch & Maiden Voyage - Chapter 13: Evacuation
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “Night Watch,” follows a veteran cruise director who spots an impossible light in the night sky off another ship entirely — and wakes up the next morning to two unnervingly polite men in his office, determined to talk him out of what he saw. It’s a story about the quiet machinery that moves in to smooth over the unexplained, and one more thread tying this world’s deeper mystery together. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 31 · 1 hr
The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles & the Mercury Theater on the Air
On the eve of Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the Air convinced America that Martians had landed and were actively destroying the planet. Auditory Anthology presents the complete, legendary radio drama of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Listen as this groundbreaking performance unfolds in real-time, delivered with such convincing realism that it sparked mass panic across the United States. Experience the chilling, masterfully-told tale of alien invasion as it was meant to be heard, as a series of escalating news bulletins and terrified live reports that change from a curious scientific anomaly to a horrifying global crisis in under an hour. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 29 · 23 min
They Reached For The Moon By William Oberfield
Three rockets have vanished without a trace trying to circle the moon, so the military sends up two ordinary, unremarkable soldiers instead of scientists this time — on the theory that brilliant minds might be the ones breaking under the strain. What Jones and Moore discover as they leave Earth’s gravity behind is far stranger, and far more profound, than anyone back home could have guessed. William Oberfield remains one of pulp science fiction’s true mysteries — his entire known legacy is four short stories published between 1947 and 1951, plus a couple of poems and some letters to Planet Stories fan mail columns. “They Reached for the Moon” appeared in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy in November 1951, a full six years before Sputnik. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 27 · 19 min
A 29th Century Fool by Gandharva Joshi
A time traveler from the year 2900 sets out to accelerate humanity’s future by teaching an isolated ancient tribe everything modern science has to offer — only to discover that his gadgets, books, and lectures mean nothing to them. Gandharva Joshi delivers a quiet, philosophical meditation on curiosity, progress, and what actually drives humanity forward. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like Gandharva — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 25 · 13 min
Desert Run & Maiden Voyage - Chapter 12: Impact
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “Desert Run,” pulls Mercer and Novak back to an earlier job — pulling an asset and a stolen drive out of a Libyan city under a brutal deadline, only to discover their own extraction plan has been leaking to the other side. It’s a tense look at how Mercer and Novak work under pressure, and a reminder that even their best-laid plans aren’t always safe from the inside. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 22 · 28 min
Rescue Mission by Robert Silverberg
When his telepathically-linked Venusian partner is captured and threatened with torture on a hostile alien world, Earth intelligence agent Rick Mason rushes in to save him — only to discover the rescue itself might be exactly what their captors were counting on. It’s a tight, twisty tale of trust, mental linkage, and a trap within a trap. Robert Silverberg (born 1935) is one of science fiction’s most celebrated and prolific authors, with three Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards to his name across a career spanning decades. “Rescue Mission” was first published in Imagination magazine in December 1957, early in a body of work that would go on to include classics like Dying Inside and Lord Valentine’s Castle. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 20 · 8 min
Scientific Tourism by T.G.
A crew of alien scientists quietly observing Earth from behind one of our solar system’s moons is more interested in the World Cup and ornamental flowers than filing their reports — until one of them notices something about our planet that no other world they’ve studied can match. T.G. delivers a warm, funny slice of first-contact fiction that finds the wonder in something most of us never think twice about. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like T.G. — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 18 · 15 min
Dead Reckoning & Maiden Voyage - Chapter 11: The Extraction
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “Dead Reckoning,” follows a young navigator through an impossible pre-dawn watch — a fog radar can’t see, a GPS that jumps sixty-three miles with no explanation, and a clock that loses eleven minutes it can’t account for. It’s a story about trusting the fundamentals when the instruments stop making sense, and it belongs to the man who, years later, takes a posting aboard Atlas. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 15 · 22 min
Pogo Planet by Martin Pearson
Self-proclaimed “man of destiny” Ajax Calkins sets out alone to claim a newly discovered planet for himself — only to crash-land, commandeer a wildly uncontrollable mechanical pogo stick, and get captured by intelligent kangaroo-like beings, all before discovering someone’s beaten him there. It’s a gleefully silly slice of pulp adventure that delights in deflating its hero’s ego at every turn. Martin Pearson was a pseudonym of Donald A. Wollheim (1914–1990), one of the most influential editors and figures in 20th-century American science fiction — Robert Silverberg called him “the most significant figure” behind the genre’s paperback and anthology boom. “Pogo Planet,” the first entry in his “Ajax Calkins” series, was the cover story for the October 1941 issue of Future Combined with Science Fiction. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 13 · 13 min
For the Sake of Progress by Nathan F. Greenwood
On a planet where the inhabitants hibernate every winter, Frank convinces a skeptical colleague to let him build machines that can work through the long dark months instead — never imagining how far his creation will take “helpful” once it wakes him up. Nathan F. Greenwood delivers a quietly unsettling fable about unintended consequences, the value of rest, and how easily progress can talk you out of the things you thought you’d never give up. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like Nathan — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 11 · 16 min
Administrative Sediment & Maiden Voyage - Chapter 10: The Plan
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “Administrative Sediment,” follows Yuna Park on a routine overnight data audit — until a misfiled document about a recovered “non-terrestrial” object pulls her into something far outside her job description, and someone with serious resources starts erasing it out from under her in real time. It’s the deepest look yet at the strange current running through this world, and the first time we see it fight back. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 8 · 16 min
The Burnt Planet by William Brittain
A crew of weary explorers finally finds the world they’ve been searching for through years of interstellar decline — lush, fertile, and seemingly abandoned, except for a handful of ragged, violent survivors hiding in the ruins of a bombed-out city. As the scholar aboard finally deciphers what’s left of the dead civilization’s language, the story lands on a gut-punch final line that’s stuck with readers for decades. William J. Brittain remains one of classic science fiction’s great mysteries — he published only three short stories in the 1940s, with “The Burnt Planet” appearing in the Winter 1948 issue of Planet Stories as his final known work, and virtually nothing else is known about him. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 6 · 15 min
The Trial of Harvey Wiggles by Lyle Talbot
After accidentally running over a groundhog on a sunny drive home, Jerry Humphreys assumes the whole thing is forgotten — until a tiny, fedora-wearing detective shows up at his office with questions, and Jerry finds himself hauled before a groundhog court to answer for his “crime.” Lyle Talbot delivers a wonderfully absurd dark comedy that takes a small domestic mishap somewhere nobody could see coming. We love bringing you stories from listeners just like Lyle — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 4 · 15 min
Signal Loss & Maiden Voyage - Chapter Nine: Atlas
On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order. Our companion short story, “Signal Loss,” sends journalist Hannah Bennett to a tiny West Virginia town where a strange radio interference has been disrupting life for weeks. She soon finds herself with a story she can’t prove and an experience she can’t explain. It’s a quiet, unsettling look at how far a reporter will follow the truth when the evidence won’t follow her. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
October 1 · 19 min
The Invader by Alfred Coppel
A lone alien scientist slips down to Earth on a scouting mission, hoping to prove that this planet is the answer to his dying race’s prayers. Everything goes smoothly until his first steps out among the locals, when things start going very wrong in ways he can’t begin to understand. It’s a sharp little twist on the classic alien-invasion tale, best enjoyed without knowing where it lands. Alfred Coppel (1921–2004) was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II before becoming one of the most prolific pulp writers of the 1950s and 60s, working across science fiction, action thrillers, and suspense. He also wrote young adult space operas as Robert Cham Gilman, and “The Invader” first appeared in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy in February 1953. If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/ You can support the show by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack: https://auditoryanthology.substack.com By becoming a paid subscriber you can listen to every episode completely ad-free! Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/ Other shows hosted by Darren: Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/ Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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