Two stories by Arthur Machen in just a few days, what a treat! My thanks to you, Ian, I enjoyed this one immensely. No one writes of the darkness of faerie like Machen, and no one reads these tales like you. I felt as though I'd been transported to the English countryside of the 1890s. The Artifacts of Horror is fast becoming my favorite HorrorBabble series. I'm sure I'll be revisiting this one soon.
Artifacts of Horror Episode 4: The Shining Pyramid Penned by Welsh writer, Arthur Machen, The Shining Pyramid tells of mysterious stones that begin to appear in unusual arrangements on the edge of a man's land... Chapters: 00:24 - Introduction 00:58 - One: The Arrow-head Character 14:56 - Two: The Eyes on the Wall 26:36 - Three: The Search for the Bowl 31:56 - Four: The Secret of the Pyramid 39:56 - Five: The Little People Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Music: "Red Limbo Spread" by Ian Gordon Image used with the permission of mgkellermeyer (mgkellermeyer.deviantart.com) Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble
From under the rocks, That hang black in the high places, From under the lonely hills, Those ones still linger. Those who fled before the fathers of our fathers fathers and before their fathers, They fled from the good iron swords held aloft for terrible strokes. Iron is their bane. They linger like shadows at twilight's end. Beware the the babies cry is not that of their changeling. Old West Highland poem.
Would you be too annoyed if I offered a recommendation? It is kinda connected to this story, since the tale in question deals with "little people" and shows some Machen influence. "No-man's-land" by John Buchan. It is also more than a little reminiscent of REH's stories that deal with the same subject, in that it goes for a more "naturalistic" approach to "little people" (it draws on the same folklorist theories that were thought respectable back then, ie fairies = degenerated Picts). You like both REH and Machen, so you might like this one too. In any case, there's precious few of Buchan's weird and horror stories available in audio form, compared to his popular novels.
Hi Manfred - please submit your request (including a link to the story) for our consideration here (helps us keep track): www.horrorbabble.com/contact Thank you! Ian
Manfred Arcane yes YES!! I too have read Buchan, was that the story in The Watcher By The Threshold?? it's one of my favorites, and actually learned a lot of Scottish and of the Pictish people😀 Sir Thomas's rime was another great one from that book☺
John Bryant thanks!!! I've noticed that you have the king of the wood story on ur channel, lol which is crazy cool cause not too long ago I've learned about Nemi! have you heard of how they supposedly named Hollywood after Nemi? as with the holi tree? I'd so love to visit that place😁
For my money this is Machen's best work. Two lessons for any writer: Show, don't tell Brevity is the soul of wit (said some hack a long while ago) Still creeps me out to this day.
Gorgeous voice, and strange. I'm now in a trance. Arthur Machen really brings the turbulence of Gwent. Terror. Pity. Fantasy. Here's my Celtic twilight. We all owe him.
Machen Machen Machen! (w/apologies to The Brady Bunch) Thanks HB for another fine adaptation of his works. Your The Great God Pan production is flawless and this narration is similarly superlative. Excellent as always, HorrorBabble.
Excellent story, but I've always thought it callous of Dyson not to have brought reinforcements or at least been armed since he suspected that the girl was involved in the mystery. He could have rescued her from the little people.
Dyson, actually *do* something about the primordial horrors around him? You mean actual agency, and a willingness to take risks for his fellow people? Perish the thought.
Did ye nay hear the man's reasoning, Duchess? After having spent a full fortnight amongst those Lilliputian and terrible beings from time immemorial, the poor lass' mind would be so far gone that death would be as a release from the ageless and damning evils she witnessed.
I liked this one even better than the White People and it was really good too. I think it's maybe because they both ring true to me because I come from a place surrounded by standing stones and weird midnight bonfires lol!
I do not know the length of the tale but I would like to suggest the story ‘Who Goes There?’ by John W. Campbell if you haven’t covered it previously. It was a piece of weird fiction penned in 1938 that I believe bears no need for introduction. While I am aware ‘Horror Meets Sci-Fi’ has concluded, I do believe it would be a remarkable fit for this channel.
Hi Vali - this has been requested several times, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be in the public domain. For future ref, please send any requests via the contact page on our website: www.horrorbabble.com/contact Thank you! Ian
This appears to have been written in 1923, which would be not too long after "The Hound of the Baskervilles", a Sherlock Holmes book (the best one?) that briefly touches on the suggestion of the supernatural, I think this book was heavily inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stuff, i'm not sure if any of Arthur Conan Doyle's other works had supernatural elements though.... Sherlock was almost always very straight laced and rational :)
This is a very interesting narrative. The protagonist is a detective acting in a very logical and procedural manner but mired in an illogical and supernatural scenario, like Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula. We don't ever learn much about our detective nor his sidekick (sort of like Carnackie the Ghost Finder in that way). This reads to me much like an episode from a series of adventures by these two British gentlemen. Did they appear in any other Machen stories?
I'm not entirely sure Scott - I'll have to look into it. I do very much enjoy these 'supernatural detective' stories. Our upcoming John Silence readings should be a lot of fun: books.google.co.uk/books/about/John_Silence.html?id=vbdUswEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y
I will always quote Director Krennic when it comes to Machen's stories, "We were this close to greatness." There is something in these stories, all they need is more developed characters, or no characters at all, in the vein of some Lovecraft stories.
Brilliant reading, loved the subtle accent change between characters and narrator. Background music was perfect too. The only criticism i'd have is just to go a fraction slower in places in the reading, other than that, really great, thanks for this, loved it.
Hi Jim! I'd recommend you visit Mr. Kellermeyer's DeviantArt page: www.deviantart.com/mgkellermeyer Or, you should be able to contact him here: www.oldstyletales.com/contact
Hahaha, it’s literally exactly how I used to read just that story. And green eggs and ham. We looked and we saw him step in on the mat, We looked and we saw him the cat in the hat, And he said to us “why do you sit there like that?” “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”
A drawing was made low on a wall in total darkness. I would have guessed someone kneeling with a lantern. This guy thought it must be a dwarf with night vision.
Cuando esté cuento fue escrito aún no existían las linternas...Ni si quiera Nikoka Tesla había llegado aun a comenzar con sus exposiciones. Pasarían años después de ser escrito este libro para que Thomas Edison inventase la bombilla, así que hablar de linternas en esta historia es como hablar de Smartphones en una película de los años 80...No tendría sentido.
NO... not nice. Not until quite recently. The term "Fair Folk" is supposed to flatter them so they won't be offended and take revenge, like the Greek Furies being called the "kindly ones". This is fairly in line with old fairie stories.
The Novel of the Black Seal by the very same Arthur Machen explains the logic and setting of these stories. Excellent spookiness, so much tedious narration beforehand however.
