Jeffrey Combs Reads H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West Re-Animator (Audiobook)

Halloween is drawing ever closer,
and with only six days left it is becoming increasingly obvious that I am not going to have time to post all of the material that I would have liked to. Regardless of that fact it has still been a good run. Last September we made the most posts this blog had seen in almost two years, and we have exceeded that total once again this month. The request thread has been a welcome addition, and I would like to thank Strange Ranger from the Motherfucker=Redeemer blog once again for doing such a great job of helping to fill the majority of the requests that have been made.

I'm pleased to be able to present another audiobook for all you Lovecraft fans out there. This is actually a re-up of one of the numerous audiobooks I posted for the H.P. Lovecraft audiobooks mega-post This one features Jeffrey Combs, best known for playing the role of Dr. Herbert West in Stuart Gordon's 1985 film "Re-Animator", reading H.P. Lovecraft's 1922 short story "Herbert West-Reanimator." I can't think of too many people that would be more fitting to read this story than the man who has become synonymous with the character of Dr. Herbert West. Lovecraft originally serialized the story in Home Brew Vol. 1, No. 1–6, an amateur magazine published by his friend George Julian Houtain. The tracks are split up and given the same names as those originally used by Lovecraft. This audiobook recording was released by Beyond Books in 1999 and has been out of print for some time now.

Year of Release:
Label: Beyond Books
Genres: Audiobook, Horror, Science Fiction
Bitrate: 128kbps

Tracklist:
1. From The Dark
2. The Plague-Demon
3. Six Shots By Moonlight
4. The Scream Of The Dead
5. The Horror From Shadows
6. The Tomb Legions

Download: Jeffry Combs Reads H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West Re-Animator
Download Size: 68MB

The Story of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, & Return of the Jedi (Audiobooks)

It is past midnight, and I had originally planned to post my first material for "Halloween Countdown 2010" since it is technically October now, until I realized that I forgot to share these albums. It would be borderline-blasphemous to finish off "Sci-Fi September" without even making the slightest mention of Star Wars. I had intended to kick off "Sci-Fi September" with these, but I encountered problems with my copy of "The Story Of The Empire Strikes Back". I wanted to share the entire set released by Buena Vista Records, however, the version of Empire I'm sharing was released by RSO as both "The Story of The Empire Strikes Back", and the strangely-titled "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker".

Before I write too much more, I should point out that these are not audio recordings for the Star Wars read along books. Basically these albums are abridged audio recordings of the dialogue and sound effects from each of the films in the original Star Wars Trilogy, with a narrator describing certain action scenes and transitions in the films. Each album was released the same year the respective film was released in theatres. In all honesty I personally don't expect to find myself listening to these very often in the future. So, why am I sharing these you ask? Because I know there are a ton of Star Wars fans who snatch up anything and everything related to Star Wars, including a few who may appreciate and listen to these much more than I would. It's also a great source for anyone looking for audio samples from the films.

This officially brings "Sci-Fi September" to an end, which leads us to "Halloween Countdown 2010". I have a lot of deliciously horrible stuff that I look forward to sharing with you over the next month. Tomorrow I will post a summary of all the albums that we shared during "Sci-Fi September", and also dedicate an introduction post to "Halloween Countdown 2010". Expect to see a new look for the blog to accompany the event also.

The Story of Star Wars

Year of Release: 1977
Label: Buena Vista Records
Bitrate: 192kbps

Download: The Story of Star Wars
Download Size: 67MB

The Story of The Empire Strikes Back

Year of Release: 1980
Label: RSO Records
Bitrate: 320kbps

Download: The Story of The Empire Strikes Back
Download Size: 97MB

The Story of Return of the Jedi

Year of Release: 1983
Label: Buena Vista Records
Bitrate: 128kbps

Download: The Story of Return of the Jedi
Download Size: 41MB

Harlan Ellison - Jeffty Is Five (Audiobook)

Continuing with "Sci-Fi September", I thought that I would share another audiobook from the legendary sci-fi author, Harlan Ellison. I was delighted to see a few Ellison fans in the comments section of "Ellison Reads Ellison". As with my previous post, this audiobook features Ellison reading another one of his own short stories, in this case "Jeffty Is Five". The story was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1977, and included in the "Shatterday Collection" three years later. I hope those of you who are accustomed to me primarily posting music here won't mind the break from tradition, as I have a few more items that I would like to post for "Sci-Fi September" that aren't music related.

As with most Harlan Ellison recordings from the '70s and '80s, this little gem is extremely rare. A very limited number of cassettes were released on Ellison's own label, The Harlan Ellison Record Collection, in 1982. The download provided below was ripped from one of these extremely rare cassettes, of which only 500 were released. I'm short on time, so I hope you all won't mind if I post a plot summary from Wikipedia, which does a better job of giving a condensed description than I could.

"Jeffty is Five" concerns a boy who never grows past the age of five — physically, mentally, or (oddly enough) chronologically. The narrator, Jeffty's friend from the age of five well into adulthood, discovers that Jeffty's radio plays serial programs no longer produced on radio stations that no longer exist. They are contemporary, all-new shows, however; not re-runs. He can buy comics such as The Shadow and Doc Savage that are, again, all-new although they are no longer being produced, not to mention long discontinued pulp magazines with new stories by Stanley G. Weinbaum, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard despite the authors being long dead. Jeffty can even watch films that are adaptations of old pulp fiction novels like Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. The narrator is privy to this world because of Jeffty's trust, while the rest of the world (the world that grew as Jeffty did not) is not. When Jeffty's world and the "real" world intersect Jeffty loses his grip on his own world, eventually meeting a tragic end. It won the short story Nebula Award in 1977 and Hugo Award in 1978. It was also voted in a 1999 online poll of Locus readers to be the best short story of all time." - Wikipedia

I should point out that the bitrate of the audio is an abysmal 56kbps. Ordinarily I would refrain from posting a recording consisting of such inferior audio quality; however, I have decided to go ahead and post it for two reasons, the first being that this recording is so extremely rare, and the second being that the recording is still very listenable despite the low bitrate. If it were music released at such a low bitrate it would be unlistenable due to the amount of distortion, but since this recording strictly consists of dialougue it simply sounds like the nearly 30 year old recording that it is. For those who demand better audio quality, you can find a recording of "Jeffty Is Five" on the audiobook compilation "Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century". I may post this compilation before the end of the month, providing it is still out of print, as I believe it is. I hope that you Ellison fans enjoy this rare gem, and hopefully this will serve as an introduction to those who are unfamiliar with his work. As always, please share your opinions, and feel free to post any requests you might have for additional Harlan Ellison recordings in the comments section.

Year of Release: 1982
Label: The Harlan Ellison Collection
Genre: Audiobook, Science-Fiction, Short Story
Bitrate: 56kbps

Download: Harlan Ellison - Jeffty Is Five
Download Size: 18MB

Harlan Ellison - Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison (1976 Audiobook)

While Harlan Ellison might not be a household name, he has developed a reputation among science-fiction fans as one of the greatest sci-fi writers to ever live, and perhaps one of the greatest short-story writers as well. Ellison brought different approach to science-fiction when he broke on the scene. His stories often dared the reader to question the status quo, ponder about their role within the universe, and contemplate the consequences our technological innovations might have on the future. Several years ago I was introduced to Ellison by my friend Brian, who occasionally posts on this blog as Psyche Zenobia. He let me borrow a paperback collection of Ellison short-stories entitled "Paingod and Other Delusions". Although it contained one of Ellison's most celebrated works, "Repent, Harlequin! said the Ticktockman", Paingod stood out to me as being one of the most original and though provoking science-fiction short stories I had ever read. My girlfriend bought me a massive collection several years later, "The Essential Ellison: A 35 Year Retrospective (Revised and Expanded Edition)", which contains a great deal of his work. I now rank Ellison, alongside Lovecraft and Poe, as one of my favorite writers of science-fiction/horror short stories.

In the mid-'70s Harlan Ellison started bringing his stories to life on audiobooks. At that point in time audiobooks hadn't managed to gain much popularity, but Ellison's decision to read his own written material helped to expose a large number of people to the concept, especially those interested in science-fiction. He also raised the bar for the quality of audio book standards by injecting a bit of personality, setting them apart from many other very dry and sleep-educing recordings. His vinyl audio book recordings from the '70s remain harder to find than most of his out-of-print books and often fetch a hefty price. In the years to follow a number of these recordings were reissued on cassette collections, which also remain extremely difficult to find. "Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison" was originally released in 1976 by the Alternative World Recordings label. It was rereleased on Ellison's own label The Harlan Ellison Recording Collection (HE101) in 1981. Unfortunately it is now currently out of print. This album features Ellison reading both "Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman" and "Shatterday".

"Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman" is one of the most reprinted short stories in the English language, it's popularity transcending the science-fiction genre. Ellison wrote it during a single six-hour session, then submitted it to a Milford Writer's Workshop the following day. It first appeared in the sci-fi magazine Galaxy in 1965. It would go on to win the Nebula Award in 1965, then the Hugo Award for best short story in 1966. Stylistically, the story is remarkable for purposely ignoring many "rules of good writing", including a paragraph about jelly beans which is almost entirely one run-on sentence. The story is a satirical look at a dystopian future where time is strictly regulated. In this future, being late is not merely an inconvenience, but a crime. The crime carries a hefty penalty in that a proportionate amount of time is "revoked" from one's life. The ultimate consequence is to run out of time and be "turned off". The story focuses on a man who, as the anarchical Harlequin, engages in whimsical rebellion against the schedule kept by the Master Timekeeper, or "Ticktockman".

The second track on the disc is Shatterday, written in 1975, and later reprinted in a collection by the same name in the early '80s. The story alludes to Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” in its portrait of a man undergoing a physical transformation which he cannot control or comprehend. The character discovers he has literally split into two distinct people. The dark doppleganger attempts to overtake the life of what he considers to be his inferior twin. Although It didn't receive a fraction of the attention that "Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman" did, it was nominated for a Hugo Award, and still stands as a well written story in it's own right. When the new Twilight Zone television series premiered in 1985, "Shatterday" was the first episode that aired. A young Bruce Willis starred as the story's protagonist, Peter Jay Novins.

I have a few other audiobooks by Harlan Ellison which I will be sharing over the next couple of days. I hope you all enjoy these two outstanding stories by one of the most creative writers in the science-fiction genre. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of these.

Year of Release: 1976
Label: Alternative World Recordings
Genre: Science-Fiction, Audiobook
Bitrate: 128kbps

Tracklist:
1. Harlan Ellison - Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman (1965)
2. Harlan Ellison - Shatterday (1975)

Download: Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison
Download Size: 50MB

Michael Jackson Tribute (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

This blog traditionally strays away from mainstream material, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of who I consider the greatest entertainer of all-time. Although I have been quite promiscuous with music; experimenting and dipping my fingers in any honey pot I could find, you never forget your first love. Michael Jackson was my first love. In a sad attempt to reconnect with that little girl singing "Heal the World" into a hairbrush, I purchased tickets to what was supposed to be Jackson's final tour in London. The purchase highlighted my European vacation planned for mid-July, but obviously upon the news of his death; plans have been altered.

Dubbed "The King of Pop" and deservedly so with such accolades as 13 Grammys and 750 million records sold. His Thriller album remains the best selling album of all-time, and the 1987, Bad album is the only album ever to produce five #1 singles. ("The Way You Make Me Feel," "Bad," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," " Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana")



I decided not to go with the more popular of Michael Jackson releases, since the majority of his catalog is so readily available. The first album I have decided to post is The Jackson 5's ABC album. ABC was the second studio album release by The Jackson 5. Although The Jackson 5's Third Album was more successful, I find ABC to be the band's best work. Album highlights include their covers of Funkadelic's "I'll Bet You" and the Delfonics' "La-La (Means I Love You,)" and the title track, "ABC." Although the standout track for my money is by far, "The Love You Save." An absolute gem of a pop song where the group's harmonies seem to be at their peak.


Year of Release: 1970
Label: Motown
Genre:Pop/Soul


Track List:
1. The Love You Save
2. One More Chance
3. ABC
4. 2-4-6-8
5. (Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need
6. Don't Know Why I Love You
7. Never Had a Dream Come True
8. True Love Can Be Beautiful
9. La-La (Means I Love You)
10.I'll Bet You
11.I Found That Girl
12.The Young Folks

Download: Jackson 5 - ABC
Download Size: 57.47 MB

The second of the two releases is the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Story Book Album Released in 1982, Michael Jackson narrated it while the infamous John Williams provided the music. Jackson received a Grammy in 1984 for Best Recording For Children.

I hope you enjoy these albums. Regardless of what you thought of Michael Jackson as a human being, his accomplishments as a musicians must be respected. I love Michael Jackson and I have no problem saying that about anyone that enriched my life with so much joy. Apparently, I am not alone in this feeling, as evident by the heavy Jackson related traffic on sites such as Twitter and Google. Sales of Jackson's albums have spiked tremendously on digital sites such as iTunes and Amazon as well. My favorite thing during this whole ordeal has been discussing with others their favorite Jackson songs and what the songs meant to them. Feel free to chime in with your comments here or on the Michael Jackson official site.

Year of Release: 1982
Label: MCA Records
Genre: Soundtrack/Audiobook


Track List:
1. Someone In The Dark
2. Landing / Discovery
3. Home / Intrusion / Chase / Good Bye
4. Reprise (Someone In The Dark)

Download: Michael Jackson - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Download Size: 66.78 MB

H.P. Lovecraft - Audio Books, Radio Plays, & Audio Documentaries

This post is the first part of my Halloween Countdown finale. The next part of the finale will be a collection of various Edgar Allan Poe related items. I hope that all you Lovecraft enthusiasts will enjoy this post, and hopefully this will serve as an introduction to some of you who are not familiar with his work. I've had a fun time tracking these albums down and finding out information about them along the way. This is going to be a long post, so I'm going to skip the introduction to Lovecraft, as I have covered this in previous posts. Although some of the tales appear more than once, they vary in quality based on the narrator's voice and ability to faithfully capture the atmosphere of a Lovecraft story. Some do a much better job than others, and I will point out those that sound rather dry.

I wasn't able to do much reaserch on the previous Lovecraft audio book posts that I made due to limited time. However, I have tried to find out as much information as I could about each of these recordings, although some of these were included in "collections" compiled by various people and downloaded from torrent sites. I have spent a great deal of time doing research on these recordings, which rarely contained any information with them. I was able to find out the narrator, year of release, publishing label, and various other details about a great deal of these recordings.

There are still a few recordings presented here that remain a mystery to me. I have grouped these "mystery recordings" together at the bottom of the post under the "Miscellaneous Audio Books" heading. If any of you have additional information for any of these recordings, please leave a comment and I will edit my post and add the information. I would particularly like to know the narrator, publisher, and the year of release for these.

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft is a five volume set of audio books released by AudioRealms, a firstrate audiobook publishing company. This is by far the best transfer of Lovecraft's literature to audio format that I have had the pleasure of listening to. Wayne June does an amazing job and is perfect for the role. His deep raspy voice helps to emerge the listener in the world of cosmic horror that Lovecraft so often focused on. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lovecraft, these would be a good starting point for those without much time on their hands for reading, though I would recommend reading these stories in their literary form also.
I will also be posting a large collection of Lovecraft e-books also for those interested in doing so, which I will upload shortly after I finish uploading all of the audio books.

Volume 1

Track List:
1. The Call of Cthulu
2. The Dunwich Horror

Download: The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft - Vol. 1 (76MB)

Volume 2

Track List:
1. Dagon
2. The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Download: The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft - Vol. 2 (70MB)

Volume 3

Track List:
1. Herbert West Re-Animator
2. The Horror at Red Hook
3. The Outsider
4. The Statement of Randolph Carter

Download: The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft - Vol. 3 (72MB)

Volume 4

Track List:
1. The Music of Erich Zann
2. The Rats in the Walls
3. The Shunned House

Download: The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft - Vol. 4 (62MB)

Volume 5

Track List:
1. Haunter of the Dark
2. The Lurking Fear
3. The Thing on the Doorstep

Download: The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft - Vol. 5 (80MB)

Excerpts From The Sonic Cycle
"Fungi From Yuggoth"

This recording was originally released on cassette by specialty publisher Fedogan & Bremer in 1989. It features John Arthur reading H.P. Lovecrafts short story "The Fungi From Yuggoth". The ambient style background music is performed by Mike Olson.

Download: Excerpts From The Sonic Cycle, The Fungi From Yuggoth
Download Size: 20MB

David Healy Reads "The Lurking Fear"

A recording of David Healy reading "The Lurking Fear". This was originally released on cassette in December of 1989 by the label Landfall Productions.

Download: David Healy Reads "The Lurking Fear"
Download: Size: 41MB

David McCallum Reads "The Dunwich Horror"
David McCallum Reads "The Rats In The Walls"

Both of these LPs were originally released in the 1973 by the Caedmon label. The bitrate of "The Dunwich Horror" is 320kbps, while "The Rats In The Walls" is 192kbps. These were released independently of one another, as well as on a split LP, although the split LP remains extremely rare and I have yet to see a copy of it.

Download: David McCallum Reads "The Dunwich Horror" (138MB)
Download: David McCallum Reads "The Rats In The Walls" (38MB)

Erik Bauersfeld Productions

The following recordings are either from radio shows produced by Erik Bauerself, or read by Bauersfeld himself. The first recording is "The Haunter of the Dark". A reliable source informed me that this recording was originally broadcast on CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, although I have been unable to confirm this information. I do know that this was released on vinyl some time in the 1970's by Mt. Lava Records, and was recently re-released by Necronomicon Press on cassette. Next we have two episodes which aired on the Black Mass radio show, which was produced by Erik Bauersfeld, and was broadcast on KPFA (Berkeley) and KPFK (Los Angeles) from 1963 to 1967. Both "The Rats in the Walls" and "The Outsider" were released in the 1970s on a limited vinyl LP pressing of 1,000 copies

Download: Erik Bauersfeld Reads "The Haunter of the Dark" (5MB)
Download: Black Mass Radio Show - The Rats In The Walls (6MB)
Download: Black Mass Radio Show - The Outsider (5MB)

Robert M. Price Reads The Dunwich Horror

Robert M. Price has been a major figure in H.P. Lovecraft scholarship and fandom for many years. He is both the editor of the journal Crypt of Cthulhu (published by Necronomicon Press) and of a series of Cthulhu Mythos anthologies. Unfortunately I was unable to find out any information about this recording. I believe that it was either included in an HPL audio book collection, or a radio broadcast. If you have any information regarding this recording please leave a comment.

Download: Robert M. Price Reads "The Dunwich Horror
Download Size: 13MB

Voices In The Dark Productions
Sean Puckett Reads H.P. Lovecraft

Voices In The Dark is a website which specializes in releasing free audio books. The following Lovecraft tales are read by Sean Michael Puckett, who is also the Co-Owner of the Voices In The Dark website. This is a complete collection of all the H.P. Lovecraft audio books that Sean Puckett has released to date. These recordings are offered at a higher bitrate on the VITD website, although I opted for the lower bitrate files in order to upload them all at once. You can find their website here and Sean Puckett's page here.

Track List:
Memory
The Alchemist
The Beat In The Cave
The Music of Erich Zann
The Outsider
The Rats in the Walls
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Street

Download: Sean Puckett Reads H.P. Lovecraft
Download Size: 65MB

Yug-Sothoth Cthulu Podcast

Yug-Sothoth.com is a website and podcast dedicated to all things Lovecraft. They have released three faithful Lovecraft audio books to date. "The Nameless City" and "The Music of Erich Zann" were released in 2006 as part of the "Readings From Yog-Sothoth" series, and "Nyarlathotep" was released in 2007. Their website contains a wealth of various Lovecraft related media, including a regular podcast, interviews, games, music, and much more.

Download: Finlay Patterson Reads "The Music of Erich Zann" (7MB)
Download: Michael Scott Reads "The Nameless City" (9MB)
Download: Tom McGrenery Reads Nyarlathotep (5MB)

Jim Campanella Reads "The Shadow out of Time"

This recording of "The Shadow out of Time" read by Jim Campanella, was recorded in 2007 and released by Uvula Audio. This recording is available for free under the creative commons license. You can find it as well as other free audio books at the Uvula Audio website. Unfortunately, this is a rather dry effort by Campanella. I wish that he had injected a bit more personality into this recordings as this is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, and it is the only audio book recording of it that I have managed to find.

Download: Jim Campanella Reads "The Shadow out of Time
Download Size: 172MB

Maureen O'Brien (aka Maria Lectrix)
"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath"

Maureen O'Brien (aka Maria Lectrix) has a podcast dedicated to releasing her own audio books. This audio book of "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" was recorded in May 2008. There are a total of 14 tracks split up into two different parts. This recording as well as many others can be downloaded for free from her website, located here: http://marialectrix.wordpress.com

Download: Maureen O'Brien Reads The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (Part 1) (110MB)
Download: Maureen O'Brien Reads The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (Part 2) (131MB)

Robert Donald Reads "The Hound"
Robert Donald Reads "The Moon-Bog"

Both of these are fairly recent recordings. They are read by Robert Donald, and recorded for the Audio Books For Free website. They can be found here, along with a number of other audio books: http://audiobooksforfree.com

Download: Robert Donald Reads "The Hound" (24MB)
Download: Robert Donald Reads "The Moon-Bog" (9MB)

Suspense Radio Show - The Dunwich Horror

This is a radio dramatisation of "The Dunwich Horror", which was originally broadcast on the Suspense radio show on November 5th, 1945. Ronald Coleman stars as Dr. Henry Armitage. Suspense was a radio drama series broadcast on CBS from 1942 through 1962. Suspense was one of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era. Approximately 945 episodes were broadcast during its long run, and more than 900 are still intact as high-quality recordings

Download: Suspense Radio Show - The Dunwich Horror
Download Size: 12MB

Atlanta Radio Theater Company

The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company is non-profit organization, formed in 1984, dedicated to preserving, promoting, performing, and educating people about the art of audio theatre (radio drama). These recordings are radio play adaptions performed by the ARTC of five H.P. Lovecraft tales. This is a complete collection of every Lovecraft tale performed by the ARTC to date.

Track List:
1. At The Mountains Of Madness
2. Pickman's Model
3. The Colour Out Of Space
4. The Rats In The Walls
5. The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Download: Atlanta Radio Theatre Company Performs H.P. Lovecraft
Download Size: 84MB

BBC Radio 4 Documentary
The Young Man of Providence

This is a one hour documentary about Lovecraft and his creations. It was broadcast in the UK years ago, although I'm unsure of the exact date. It contains a variety of short quotes and various stories back by eerie sound effects and music.

Credits:
Writer: Mike Walker
Director: Shaun McLaughlin
Narrator: Hugh Burden
Lovecraft: David March
Readers: Blayne Fairman, Garrard Green.

Download: BBC Radio 4 - The Young Man From Providence
Download Size: 39MB

"H.P. Lovecraft and the Occult"
Four Lectures By Justin Woodman

The following recordings are four linked lectures on H.P. Lovecraft and the Occult given by Dr. Justin Woodman at Treadwell's Bookshop in January and February of 2007 at Covent Garden, London. Dr. Woodman lectures in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths College (University of London), where he completed his doctoral thesis on Chaos Magick in 2003. He also lectures at Birkbeck College (University of London), and the University of Westminster. Dr. Woodman has contributed articles on Lovecraftian themes to Strange Attractor and The Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, and is one of the founding moderators of the Lovecraft Scholars Yahoo Group.

Dr. Woodman generously made the audio recordings of those lectures publicly available through Yog-Sothoth.com. The four (hour-plus) lectures are entitled: HPL: Fabulist, Myth-Maker & Shaman, Legends of the Necronomicon, Chariots of the Dark Gods and Chaos, Cthulhu, and Contemporary Consciousness. The Microsoft PowerPoint files from the slideshow that Dr. Woodman used for his presentation are also included.

January 17, 2007
The First Lecture: Fabulist, Myth-Maker & Shaman
In the first of the series Justin Woodman casts a critical eye on the 'magical' context of Lovecraft's life and work. He explores some of the myths surrounding the man and his fiction. This first talk also begins to examine the powerful influence that Lovecraft's unique literary creations have exerted over the contemporary occult imagination.

January 31, 2007
The Second Lecture: Legends of the Necronomicon
In part two of this series, Justin Woodman explores the history of the legendary Necronomicon in fact and fiction, and ponders its continuing relevance to contemporary occult cultures. Penned by the Yemeni poet and mystic Abdul Alhazred circa 700 AD, the dreaded Necronomicon is perhaps one of the most powerful and alluring of HP Lovecraft's creations: a grimoire able to rend apart the very fabric of reality and bring forth the Great Old Ones themselves. Although a work of fiction, the Necronomicon has achieved a social and physical reality with more than twenty versions having been published since the 1960s.

February 14, 2007
The Third Lecture: Chariots of the Dark Gods
Many of H.P. Lovecraft's best known tales of the Cthulhu Mythos intimate that the human species is nothing but a by-product of extraterrestrial interventions in Earth's prehistory. Lovecraft's ideas do, in fact, predate the "Ancient Astronaut" theorists and "alternative archaeologists" by over thirty years. Drawing on the work of Jason Colavito, in this lecture Justin Woodman demonstrates that Lovecraft is a pervasive (but often unacknowledged) influence upon contemporary ufology, UFO religions and the broader 'culture of conspiracy'.

February 28, 2007
The Fourth Lecture: Chaos, Cthulhu, and Contemporary Consciousness
This talk concludes the series exploring the relationship between Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and contemporary occult cultures. Woodman focuses on Chaos magic and other recent movements, and considers the claim that Lovecraft was a "mythographer of modernity" whose work intimates something about the current trajectories of Western culture and consciousness.

Download: H.P. Lovecraft & the Occult - Lecture 1 (51MB
Download: H.P. Lovecraft & the Occult - Lecture 2 (58MB)
Download: H.P. Lovecraft & the Occult - Lecture 3 (46MB)
Download: H.P. Lovecraft & the Occult - Lecture 4 (56MB)

Previous Lovecraft Related Posts

H.P. Lovecraft - Various Audio Books Pt. 1
H.P. Lovecraft - Various Audio Books Pt. 2
H.P. Lovecraft - Various Audio Books Pt. 3

Aleister Crowley - The Great Beast Speaks

At the request of Han Cholo, I have re-uploaded this post. It is now in lossless audio, so the file is a bit larger. It is stored on MEGA so the decryption code is in the comments. NØ

I thought it would be fitting to follow up Psyche Zenobia's post on Anton LaVey with one featuring Aleister Crowley. Like LaVey, whom Crowley indirectly influenced a great deal, Crowley thoroughly explored many aspects of spirituality, the occult, and the physical world during his lifetime. He gained a notorious reputation for his occult writings, drug use, and hedonism. However, unbeknownst to many people, he was also an accomplished mountaineer, poet, yogi, chess player, painter, and astrologer. Due to his notoriety the title of "The Wickedest Man in the World" was bestowed upon him by British tabloids, and even his own mother proclaimed him to be "The Beast", a nickname that he would eventually readily adopt.

"The Great Beast Speaks" collects early 20th century recordings of Aleister Crowley. The claim that this collection features every Crowley recording in existence is false. Though they are very few in number, there are Crowley recordings which aren't featured on this album. Opinions vary on the year that this was recorded, but most experts agree that it was recorded circa 1920, which would have made Crowley close to 45 years old at the time. These were originally recorded on wax cylinders, and later digitally transferred. The quality is still very poor despite the digital transfer, but if you want to hear Crowley this is the only option that you have.

Tracks two through thirteen are a mixture of Crowley reading incantations and poetry, while The last track is Crowley singing unintelligibly in French. You will notice that there are both English and "Enochian" versions of tracks two through five. The back cover states that the tracks marked 'Enochian Version' Are recited in the magical language discovered and used by 'John Dee', magician to The Court of queen Elizabeth. Enochian is not mere Gibberish; it is a real language with a grammar and syntax of its own. Perhaps it is, as more than one occultist has claimed, a degenerate form of drowned Atlantis. Someone was nice enough to create a page which gives a small explanation of each track, which can be found here here.

Track List:
1. Intro
2. The Call of the First Aethy (Enochian Version)
3. The Call of the First Aethy (English Version)
4. The Call of the Second Aethy (Enochian Version)
5. The Call of the Second Aethy (English Version)
6. La Gitana
7. The Pentagram
8. One Sovereign for the Woman
9. The Poet
10. At Sea
11. The Fingernails
12. The Titanic
13. Hymn to the American People
14. Excerts from the Gnostic Mass
15. Vive La French Republic

Download: Aleister Crowley - The Great Beast Speaks
Download Size: 97.5MB

Christopher Lee Reads Edgar Allan Poe - Tales of Mystery and Horror

The Lovecraft and Poe audio books that I posted earlier this month were well received, so I thought I would follow them up with this little gem. There isn't much information floating around about this release, yet I was able to discover that it was originally released in 1985 by the DH Audio label, which specializes in audio book releases. It was only released on cassette, and still has yet to see a CD release.

Once again, Christopher Lee does an outstanding job of bringing Poe's stories to life. If you enjoyed his rendition of "The Black Cat" from the Fireside Tales album I posted earlier this week, then you will love this. His version of The Raven is superior to every other version that I've managed to hear so far. Here's hoping that someone will eventually release a "Christopher Lee Reads Lovecraft" album eventually.

Track List:
1. Hop Frog
2. The Raven
3. The Masque of the Red Death
4. The Tell Tale heart
5. The Rue Morgue - Pt. 1
6. The Rue Morgue - Pt. 2

Download: Christopher Lee Reads Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery and Horror
Download Size: 75MB

Christopher Lee - Fireside Tales

Christopher Lee is best known for his portrayal of Dracula in numerous Hammer Horror films, and more recently as the villian Saruman in Lord of the Rings. Fireside Tales was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on December 30th, 2004. It features Lee reading five classic tales of horror from the late 19th/early 20th century. Lee does a great job bringing these stories to life, and his voice is perfect for the role. Hopefully one day he'll get around to doing a Lovecraft story or two.

Track List:
1. The Black Cat (1843 - by Edgar Allen Poe)
2. The Man of Science (1892 - by Jerome K. Jerome)
3. John Charrington's Wedding (1893 - by Edith Nesbit)
4. The Man & the Snake (1891 - by Ambrose Bierce)
5. The Monkey's Paw (1902 - by W.W. Jacobs)

Download: Christopher Lee - Fireside Tales
Download Size: 78MB

The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Five Discs

It is time for me to pay homage to another celebrated horror writer. It would be impossible to imagine how literature, let alone fictional horror, would have evolved in the 20th century without the influence of Edgar Allan Poe. Much like H.P. Lovecraft, those who lived during Poe's time were unable to grasp the true nature of the genius he possessed, and the enormous influence that he would have on countless aspiring authors for decades to come. Ironically, during his lifetime Poe was widely regarded for his literary criticism, rather than for his contributions to literature and poetry. For those of us alive today, Poe is best remembered for his short stories and poetry. However, he is also credited for inventing the genre of detective-fiction, acknowledged as a major contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction, one of the first American short story authors, and the first well known American writer who attempted to make his living solely as a professional writer. Needless to say, Poe was a major catalyst for American literature in the 20th century, and undoubtedly for centuries to come.

Basil Rathbone

Vincent Price

It would be hard to imagine more fitting narrators for Poe's classic horror tales than Price and Rathbone, two superb, classically trained actors who became household names starring in movies of suspense and mystery. Poe's work is especially well-suited to audio, and these remastered, archival Caedmon recordings, originally released on phonograph records, showcase the two actors at their finest. Both Price and Rathbone perfectly convey the prototypical Poe narrator trying to come to grips with the horror he has experienced. In "Berenice," Price's voice sounds refined yet deeply troubled as he struggles to explain the insidious, neurotic obsession taking over his life. "The Cask of Amontillado" finds Rathbone chuckling with evil pleasure at the well-planned murder of one who has slighted him. Among the remaining featured tales are "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," "The Black Cat" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." I can't recommend this audio collection enough, especially for Poe enthusiasts.

Disc One - Basil Rathbone
1. To-
2. Alone
3. The City In The Sea
4. The Fall of the House of Usher
5. The Haunted Palace
6. The Pit and the Pendelum

Disc Two - Basil Rathbone
1. The Mask of the Red Death
2. The Tell-Tale Heart
3. The Black Cat

Disc Three - Basil Rathbone
1. The Raven
2. The Facts of the Case of M. Valdemar
3. The Cask of Amontillado
4. The Bells
5. Annabel Lee
6. Eldorado

Disc Four - Vincent Price
1. Ligeia
2. The Imp of the Perverse
3. Morella

Disc Five - Vincent Price
1. Berenice
2. The Gold Bug

Download: The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Disc One
Download: The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Disc Two
Download: The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Disc Three
Download: The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Disc Four
Download: The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Disc Five

Current 93 with Thomas Ligotti - In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land

Year of Release: 1997
Label: Durtro
Genre: Soundtrack

In a foreign town, in a foreign land by Thomas Ligotti is a collection of four short stories in the fantastical horror vein of Lovecraft: "His shadow shall rise to a higher house", "The bells will sound forever", "A soft voice whispers nothing", and "When you hear the singing, you will know it is time". The book is dedicated to Stephen Stapleton of the British surrealist/cut-up band Nurse With Wound, and is accompanied by a CD of music by David Tibet of Current 93, which is the suggested appropriate aural ambience for reading the stories. For your listening pleasure, I present this wonderfully dark soundtrack by Current 93.

Christoph Heemann
Steven Stapleton
David Tibet
David Kenny (guitar)
Jem Noble (tuba)
Andria Degens (vocals)
Shirley Collins (vocals)

Track List
1. His Shadows Shall Rise To A Higher Place (17:52)
2. The Bells Shall Sound Forever (14:25)
3. A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing (11:25)
4. When You Hear the Singing, You Will Know It Is Time (15:13)
Please listen to at low volume, at dusk, whilst reading In A Foreign Town, In A Foreign Land

Download: In a Foreign town, in a Foreign Land
Download size: 50 MB (zip file)

note: re-uploaded the files with all of the tracks tagged.

H.P. Lovecraft Audiobooks Part 3

This is the last installment of the H.P. Lovecraft audio books posts. I have included a special bonus that I'm sure Lovecraft enthusiasts will enjoy. It is a special on Lovecraft, titled "Weird Tales - The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft", that aired on BBC Radio in 2006. In this broadcast Geoff Ward examines the life of Lovecraft and the role that he played in contemporary horror fiction. It features appearances by Neil Gaiman and other notable sci-fi and horror authors.

Download:

The Call of Cthulu
The Statement of Randolph Carter
Jeffrey Combs Reads H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West Re-Animator

Download:
BBC Radio: Weird Tales - The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft - Audio Books Part 2

Following up my previous post, here are a few more H.P. Lovecraft audio books. Below the audio book links, I have also linked to a site which features the bulk of Lovecraft's published material in e-book form. Although it boasts the title of "The Complete Works", this is far from a complete collection of HPL's output. For those new to Lovecraftian literature, as I starting point, I would recommend reading At the Mountains of Madness, The Colour of out Space, Dagon, The Tomb, The Shadow Out Of Time, Pickman's Model, and The Music of Erich Zann. The majority of Lovecraft's work is in short story form, and it can easily be read in one sitting.

Download:
The Beast In The Cave
The Cats of Ulthar
The Doom That Came To Sarnath

Dagonbytes: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft:
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/

H.P. Lovecraft - Audio Books Part 1

Some of you may already know that I have a strong fascination with the writing of H.P. Lovecraft. He has been my favorite author of mine since a close friend introduced me to his work a several years back. During his lifetime the majority of Lovecraft's work was published in small pulp magazines, primarily Weird Tales. At the time of his death he was only well known by a small circle of fans and fellow writers. Unfortunately, he died without a heir and the bulk of his work wasn't renewed for copyright. Fortunately for us, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei were able to recognize the work of a genius when they saw it, and they started the publishing house, Arkham House, in order to keep his work in circulation. Since that time Lovecraft has gained a cult following, and like Poe before him, has managed to directly or indirectly influence almost every writer of horror or science-fiction since.

Recently I was fortunate enough to stumble across a few of his audio books. I can think of few authors that would be more fitting for the Halloween season. If you are unfamiliar with his work, and have the slightest interest in science-fiction or horror fiction, then you should do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with Mr. Lovecraft. Although these audio books don't do his writing proper justice, they would serve as a good starting point for those who don't have much time on their hands to read.

Download:
At The Mountains of Madness
The Outsider
The Picture In The House
The Thing On The Doorstep

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - Audiobook

Year of Release: 2005
Label: Recorded Books
Genre: Audiobook, Gonzo Journalism


Today being "patriot day" here in the states and the anniversary of the fall of the twin towers, I thought I might take a brief pause from the music to share with you a bit of American literature. This, the audiobook version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream", by the late Hunter S. Thompson is an amazing listen. If you loved the book, film or even if *gasp* you are unfamiliar with Thompson's work, I highly recommend this recording. It is done in a "seeing ear" theater style, in which sound effects accompany the narrative to better immerse you in the story.
But our trip was different. It was a gross, physical salute to the fantastic possibilities of life in this country - but only for those with true grit
"Giant bats and blotter acid,
cocaine and bright lights:
the late Gonzo journalist
left behind an incredible
chronicle of drug-soaked,
addle-brained,
rollicking good times.
This tale of a long
weekend road trip is
considered one of the
strangest journeys ever taken
in American pop culture..." -AudioFile


Download: Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
Download size: 84 MB zip