"The Vaults of Yoh Vombis" / A Weird Tale of Mars by Clark Ashton Smith

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"The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis" is a short story by the American author, Clark Ashton Smith. In the story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in May 1932, a group of explorers on Mars venture into the subterranean passages of a long-abandoned city ... with unfortunate consequences.
00:00 - Introduction
01:04 - Preface
03:16 - The Narrative of Rodney Severn
54:07 - Further Listening
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This recording is dedicated to our Cthulhu and Yellow Level HorrorBabblers:
'General' Dipper, Amir Lampkins, Andrew, Ashley Lindsay, Bernard Mulligan, Brandon, Camerin Seigars, Chris Epplett, DCB, Galen Hoffman, Greyson, Jacob Louwerse, Jessica Mari, Kickweed, Kristinn Hannesson, L. Harris, Madison Scythe, Philip R Aden, Richard WB Feigen, Wes Sale, Zontar Zee
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Adam Beckner, Adriana Alexander, al doty, Alicia, Allan Smulling, Andrew, Andrew Moffat, Ann Bassano, Aromatic Sponge, Art Wagner, Austen Jones, Brian Hendricks, Christian N. Collier, Corey Chimko, Drew Koller, Esmonde, Flying Shoes, Gordon Cooper, James Dunne, James E. Thomas, John Michael, Joshua Camp, Joshua Triantafilou, Kyle Gruber, Larna Dennis, Laura, Laura Scarlett, Mark R Patterson, Mike Chaney, Philippe Lavoie, Rachel, Robert Daniel Pickard, Ryan, Sandy Hale, Shanna Syn, SolaceInChains, Tanya Enright, Thomas Scott, William Butterfield
Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble
Music and production by Ian Gordon & Jennifer Gill
Image by T. Wyatt Nelson (from Weird Tales, May 1932)
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Опубликовано:

31 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 169

@_Darzaka 3 года назад

"I have no time to describe the ruins..." *Proceeds to describe the ruins in detail I have so much love for these readings

@nitayrafowicz5934 3 года назад

The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis is by far one of the scariest Mars stories I've ever read. Its incredible that it was made nearly a century ago... CAS is one of the most unappreciated writers of his time

@Bassist-Beneath 3 года назад

Facts

@donaldmccleary9015 11 месяцев назад

Agree on all accounts. CAS knew how to write, indeed! He was a true master at his craft. Ruins, mummies, and terror. Awesome!!

@nitayrafowicz5934 11 месяцев назад

@@donaldmccleary9015 Alwyas happy to find another CAS enjoyed 😉

@RichardTLDR 6 месяцев назад

I’m shocked always that he only wrote for about 9 years.

@justicepie314 3 года назад

Love the Mars stories that were published well before modern space exploration. It all starts with a little imagination and away we go!

@medicalmisinformation 3 года назад

Me too. How sure are we REALLY that they are telling the truth about modern exploration.

@rwaggs81 2 года назад

Between Planets, by Heinlein, paints super cool alternate pictures of Mars and Venus.

@thefisherking78 2 года назад

Honestly, they are my favorites, and I think it's because there was so much that we didn't know back then, that these writers had less factual inhibition and could really let their imaginations run wild. It made for some truly fantastical stories.

@Nyctophora 3 года назад

I love Clark Ashton Smith's writing. Such an elegant style. Thank you!

@Zarnagel 3 года назад

On Clark Ashton Smith stories, I click first on like and then on play.

@patrickowens4294 3 года назад

Same. You know it's going to be good.

@benjuhmuhn 3 года назад

I'll raise a drink to that!

@VelvetYeti 3 года назад

I thought I was the only one who did that!

@badas45 3 года назад

When he said we left our weapons because we didn't think we needed them I immediately thought your going to need them

@donaldmccleary9015 11 месяцев назад

And that is where the trouble began..... Always bring your weapons.....always.....

@unitedplankton2866 3 года назад

Sci-Fi /Horror...The chocolate and peanut butter of literature.

@joz6683 3 года назад

Or if you're a Brit, a cup of and some chocolate hobnobs!!!

@unitedplankton2866 3 года назад

@@joz6683 mmm, nobs...

@gregbors8364 3 года назад

You got horror in my sci-fi!

@unitedplankton2866 3 года назад

@@gregbors8364 no, your sci fi got into my horror

@gregbors8364 3 года назад

@@unitedplankton2866 Two great tastes that go great together! (No one under 50 will get that reference) 😁

@Wombats555 3 года назад

Glad you got around to this - when Clark Ashton Smith takes it seriously he knocks it out of the park. Shame there isn't more like this - anyone who hasn't heard Ian's reading of The Abominations of Yondo should hurry over there now. Like Yoh Vombis but even more poetic like Lovecraft at his best.

@Paxtonparsnip 3 года назад

Yes! The Abominations of Yondo was just it! I loved every outrageously overly enthusiastic word of it! As soon as it kicked off I thought two things. Can Horrorbabble read this without screwing it up, and can the author maintain the pace. And hit us with an ending that seriously works. My verdict? Five stars (with lots of weird adjectives). Hot damn!

@Wombats555 3 года назад

@@Paxtonparsnip five out of five vernal days!

@thefisherking78 2 года назад

Oh wow. Here I am a year into following HorrorBabble and I'm convinced I will never manage to hear all of his work. He's just so goddamn prolific!... I'm adding that to my queue though.

@Wombats555 2 года назад

@@thefisherking78 I think I've actually listened to all of them and I've been listening nightly since before 2019...Once you've done The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth you should look up The Lovecraft Investigations on BBC Sounds. Its about the only thing I'd stop HorrorBabsing for. It Happened On the Isle of Seacliffe and The Temple of Memory remind me of TLI. There are about 300 on HorrorBabble now so you could conceivably hear the start of all of them falling asleep over a year :)

@jamesmc04 3 года назад

Clark Ashton Smith had quite a talent for "enjoyable" (i.e. haunting & deeply unsettling) stories. How did he do it, time and again ? His vocabulary is part of the effect, but only part.

@joz6683 3 года назад

My favourite story by Ashton Clark Smith. Narrated by my favourite story teller. What can I say, an excellent way to spend an evening. Thanks to all involved, another 1st class production . This helped me relax and sleep after a hard day.

@annvictor9627 3 года назад

"The Seed From the Sepulcher" in my copy of Tales of the Undead, Vampires and Visitants, compiled and illustrated by Elinore Blaisdell, was the only CAS story I had for a long time. It gave me considerable chills about 40 years ago.

@pharaohanakaris 3 года назад

it's crazy how few people i see saying this, which just goes to show how criminally underrated and underappreciated CAS is - this is so obviously a huge inspiration for Alien and i've never seen 1 person make that connection, across ANY youtube audiobook version of this story. i don't understand how i haven't seen anyone else mention it even in passing. Thanks horrobabble your version of this is awesome

@Arley42 3 года назад

I was about to write the same comment. I'm sure I've seen dozens of "making of" featurettes about Alien and the design of it all. But don't recall anyone mentioning tales like this as an influence. But it's uncanny. The team descending through chambers. The urns (eggs). The bigger corpse (space jockey). Then obviously the shadow creature (face hugger). I'm not saying it's a water-tight case, and I concede that many of the events are also what we come to expect in any "explorers finding a cursed Mummy tomb" scenario. But I simply wasn't expecting so many similarities from something made 45 years before the Alien film.

@pharaohanakaris 3 года назад

@@Arley42 yeah for sure, i agree that it is undeniably clear influence. and you're right to point out the (at this point) trope setup of the "cursed mummy tomb". it's crazy to me that CAS is so washed out of everything. he's (in my opinion) equally transformative in his vision/scope/technique to Lovecraft

@markrpatterson9717 3 года назад

I'm glad you all see this. I haven't seen it mentioned previously either.

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

Always thought the same, Evan!

@markrpatterson9717 3 года назад

When I first heard this story I initially thought of the Alien face hugger. Then, when it's described as a sofa cushion, and controlled it's host, I switched to the Half Life head crab.

@robertcopp2411 3 года назад

I always thought of it as a Metroid because of the teeth. I wonder how many of those things were directly inspired by this story.

@charliefortney3445 3 года назад

@@robertcopp2411 :bvviovioo

@micahfoley9572 3 года назад

Hmmm...now i'm wondering if mimics are just a victim of the very rare treasure chest shaped head crab variant.

@nvfury13 3 года назад

I was thinking Cloaker.

@arianchandler9285 2 года назад

Another Half Life similarity is the 3rd arm protruding from some of the aliens chests.

@geoff7936 3 года назад

This was some stunningly vile horror. Loved every minute!

@chungusdisciple9917 3 года назад

My favorite Lovecraft adjacent author. cheers

@Temporal_Assassin 3 месяца назад

That is one of the best from Smith. From you as well, you brought it into reality in a chilling way.

@andreasfilis9001 3 года назад

First-class story, first-class performance!

@rosiemcnaughton9933 3 года назад

As always, thank you for another great narration.

@zaijal1572 3 года назад

Clark Ashton Smith! Excellent!

@machine3589 3 года назад

One of my favorites of CAS. Great version!

@nancyM1313 3 года назад

Thank you. Definitely will be saved for this evening. When I have a a couple of hours left in a quiet home.🌺

@nancyM1313 3 года назад

#like07💙😱💙

@Eris123451 3 года назад

Thank you I love this one; among his absolute best and scariest.

@thelifeandtimesofbrotherneil 3 года назад

Excellent story.....this is what Monday are made for....

@thisisdavid2 3 года назад

oh there can never be enough Clark Ashton Smith :) this is one of my favourites :) well done

@StarboyXL9 3 года назад

Time to listen to some horrific babblings of elder things and unimaginable gulfs of time! Just let me make some popcorn and hot cocoa!

@Paxtonparsnip 3 года назад

That’s rather good! Although mixing popcorn with hot cocoa might inadvertently open a seething vermillion hell-spawned rift of festering madness abominable yet dark as spilled cocoa on your white carpet. With spilled popcorn on it. Probably not. Just a thought.

@beverlyamarantes9775 2 года назад

The scarier the better. Thank you so!

@HorrorBabble 2 года назад

Thanks again, Beverly!

@beverlyamarantes9775 2 года назад

@@HorrorBabble I'm back to listen one more time.

@HorrorBabble 2 года назад

Always great to hear from you. Ian

@Fenizrael 3 года назад

This story perpetually gnaws and scrapes at the edges of my mind at the thought of that great carrion-dark mass of foul abominations within the Stygian abyss. I lie wide awake in my bed while they forever lay patiently in wait, ready to spill and tumble out from that lightless void and consume all. A fate worse than death lurks within every shadow, every piece of debris carried by the wind - watching and waiting for a moment to strike when my back is turned or my guard is down. My mind will not be my own and my life is perpetual terror.

@robertcopp2411 3 года назад

One of my very favorites. There was a channel that had a bunch of Clark Ashton Smith readings that went down a while ago and it made me very sad.

@Paxtonparsnip 3 года назад

When I was but a lad I lent my entire collection to my Gramp. I underlined the ones I thought he’d like. He underlined sentences and paragraphs in pencil and then lost every dam book in my collection.. my beloved Gan did a sweep to sort and tidy and Gramp didn’t tell me. Helpless! WTF? Brutal! Understandable. But such are grandparents!

@cpthurme 3 года назад

Was it ‘Tales of Weird’? I loved that channel.

@robertcopp2411 3 года назад

@@cpthurme I think it might have been

@tomcurran1538 3 года назад

Great fiction writing. A good treatment of the "King's English." I'm an English professor and haven't heard some of the words used for years.

@Jynxxxycat 3 года назад

That was truly horrifying! It's not often, that something gets to me. I may not sleep well, or at all, tonight!

@wolfieworby5653 3 года назад

I have no words to describe the utter titillation I feel when I get that notification and I have a new book to listen to for bed time 🤤 😂 😅

@AcornElectron Год назад

Back for a Clark AS visit. Educating a beautiful girl in the sun. Thanks Jen and Ian, I owe you a drink.

@howardhavardramberg7160 3 года назад

We out here!

@bold810 Год назад

C.A.S. was a masterful storyteller.

@donaldmccleary9015 11 месяцев назад

Incredibly fine story and great narration. Boy, Clark Ashton Smith knew how to write! This is a story filled with ruins, mummies, exploration, and terror. The description of the ruins and life on Mars is amazing. These stories may be lost, were it not for the likes of you. Your page introduced Clark Ashton Smith to me, and I am glad. He is one of my favorite authors! I love the graphic for this recording. It is awesome!! Thanks, Ian!

@DickGallo-dk7wi 7 месяцев назад

Very enjoyable, and creepy! P.s. please give Warren's familly my condolences. 😁

@kidkurmudgeon-0_o 3 года назад

I love this story! Thx always

@troymclure8330 3 года назад

Wow!!! That was such a fantastic story, exceptionally well read of course, cleary à précurseur to the vast majority of sci-fi horror know today! Thanks Ian for that nightmare inducing tale of monstrously xenophobic proportion!!!

@magnustoth8506 7 месяцев назад

Thanks!

@HorrorBabble 7 месяцев назад

Thank you!

@ViktoriousDead 3 года назад

Fantastic work as always

@TheEldritchGod 3 года назад

Ahhhh.... I so love listening to these tales of my "childhood".

@mauricedavis8261 3 года назад

As always excellent presentations Sir, thank you!!!👍👌😷

@CruisingA1A 3 года назад

Wow! What a great story! A new favorite for me.

@bernardorojas91 3 года назад

West coast fantasy tripping at its best by the master CAS no less. Fantasize to thy hearts content until the setting down of the molten orb.

@bitters879 3 года назад

Well then, I'll be a bit nervous everytime I towel up after a shower now. Excellent story!

@learnedtechsolutions 2 года назад

Loved this one!

@jordanrodriguez4126 3 года назад

I love this as well as the other works by CAS, I happened to drawn a illustration of the creatures in the story.

@taterpussy3825 3 года назад

GLORZO IS PEACE. GLORY TO GLORZO!

@MrZooBreak Год назад

Ian! Spectacular reading! As always, that's what keeps me coming back to your remarkable channel! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And what a terrific story! Clark Ashton Smith is unparalleled! What an inspiration! And I love your stories as well!

@pbr-streetgang 3 года назад

Thanks for the reading, love me some C.A.S.

@gregbors8364 3 года назад

Mentions have been made of the face-hugger in Alien, but I'm also thinking of that episode of OG Star Trek that seems very much inspired by this story.

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

Which episode is that, Greg?

@gregbors8364 3 года назад

@@HorrorBabble I couldn’t remember the title so I had to do some research. It’s “Operation - Annihilate!” from the first season. Instead of going through the skull, the mind-control parasites attached to the back and tapped into the spinal column.

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

Fabulous... I'll have to check that one out! Ian

@MrsCaranAmy 3 года назад

That was an excellent story with a lot of description. Also it was very suspenseful. I do enjoy science fiction horror stories. Thank you. Have a wonderful weekend 💖

@Kojoanna 3 года назад

Good story, loved the illustrations

@flashpoint5200 3 года назад

Just wanted to leave a general comment as RU-vid doesn't offer a direct way to communicate with creators outside of individual upload discourse. Absolutely love your channel, I can tell you put a lot of effort into your readings and I appreciate it. I'm new to the weird tales and horror genre and recently purchased a copy of Lovecraft's complete fiction. Your channel has introduced me to a wealth of new content and authors that I was previously unaware of and enjoy listening to your audiobooks. I feel like I'm listening to an old radio program from the 30's or 40's. I even started experimenting with my own weird fiction as my father is a collector of strange knick knacks and I wanted to try writing some short stories involving those. Anyways, I look forward to future uploads and thanks for sharing these recordings. Cheers!

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

Thanks for stopping by! Keep up those weird fiction experiments.

@sinjinmonsoon9055 3 года назад

Great story.

@briangreen1781 3 года назад

Great story, but I have to ask: how fun was it to say "Yoh Yombis"?

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

I've been mispronouncing it now for approximately 30 years...!

@briangreen1781 3 года назад

@@HorrorBabble Nah, you don't give yourself enough credit. Really, it's just a coin toss or I just pretend half the letters are silent.

@unitedplankton2866 3 года назад

The closed captioning said it was 'your vomits'...

@annvictor9627 3 года назад

@@unitedplankton2866 LOL

@micahfoley9572 3 года назад

I say it like i've seen my homie across the street. "Yo, Vombis!" Which turns out to be more or less spot on. Alternately, one could say it with offense, like, "My Vombis? Yoh Vombis!" :)

@ORLY911 3 года назад

"That place is deader than an Egyptian morgue" Giggled at that

@micahfoley9572 3 года назад

It's a bit of a non-sequitur, if you think too hard about it... :)

@steveweidenbaum943 3 года назад

Cool story very intense

@gabriellecoffey2313 3 года назад

All I'm saying is that if we get "Warren is dead" merch, I will definitely not be the only one buying it...

@rayvonpereira8776 3 года назад

Awesome story! It seems that the face huggers from the alien series have taken their inspiration from the leeches of Yho Vombis

@markmark6408 Год назад

If you like this, a good companion piece would be "The Brain-Bats of Venus" by Basil Wolverton, a comic book story that was clearly influenced by this story.

@danjoaquin1571 3 года назад

I can actually picture it. If this was movie or show, the X files introduction song or the more recent Outer Limits intro would fit perfectly

@blakmajk3512 2 года назад

🐐

@CountingHouse 3 года назад

I've read the comments before listening to this. It seems like it's going to be awesome.

@nathanharper5670 3 года назад

BRAIIIIINNNNSSS....

@paulsmart4672 8 месяцев назад

So one of D&D's more absurd monsters (The cloaker) clearly started as an an attempt to stat up the yoh vombis leeches.

@HorrorBabble 8 месяцев назад

Interesting!

@jimjohhnston9992 3 года назад

Interesting to note that no one in the doomed party thought to wear a hat

@nicholasmaddalina3500 3 года назад

Gotta love the Lovecraft circle! I’d love to hear you do Horror from the Hills by Frank Belknap Long, I can’t seem to find an audiobook of it anywhere. Is it under copyright?

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

We plan to record that one in the near future, Nicholas.

@nvfury13 3 года назад

Well...seems I’ve discovered the origin/inspiration of the D&D Cloaker.

@j74s98 3 года назад

So C.A. Smith wrote Alien?

@danbernstein4694 3 года назад

So thats where Warren is hiding!

@drewdahlen9660 3 года назад

hopefully we are getting "Colossus of Ylourgne" by Clark Ashton Smith next?!!! please! hehe..

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

In time, Drew!

@salty-walt 3 года назад

Is this a re-recording? I can't find the audio recording of this I listened to here on YT, and I *usually* listen to you Ian, but that's not the pic I stared at all night

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

It isn't! First time.

@salty-walt 3 года назад

@@HorrorBabble A Response! How Exciting!! I wish I had money to patronize you! Then we could converse about pronunciations. It'd be a hoot.

@futtynucker5278 3 года назад

More like The Vaults of Yo Momma! HA! GOT EM!!!!

@grayven123 3 года назад

Since when did Yo Yo Ma have vaults?

@miskatonicalumni5612 3 года назад

Love to hear some August Derleth.

@troymclure8330 3 года назад

Here here.. I second that!!!

@Xbalanque84 3 года назад

Only a couple of Derleth's stories were any good. His posthumous "collaborations" with Lovecraft's unfinished manuscripts were utterly wretched.

@Wombats555 3 года назад

@@Xbalanque84 yeah really. Almost any other mythos author from any time including today has better work than Derleth's best. I am really glad HorrorBabble is just picking random Weird Tales before airing out Derleth's derivative garbage. Wandrei takes a similar tack but obviously loves it enough to make it good. Derleth was filling in crossword with words he saw Lovecraft use.

@HorrorBabble 3 года назад

His works are still under copyright. And as others have said here, there are better authors out there whose works are still largely unknown.

@theberg988 3 года назад

Catacombs..canals..vaults..fumigants..fungi.. Yoh Vombis! Yoh Vombis....

@AcornElectron 3 года назад

“And this is what it said ......’YOU FOOL! WARREN IS DEAD!’”. But we all know Carter can’t be trusted 🙄 Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.

@kenjitakahashi8993 3 года назад

We we it p by be in as

@juliebarks3195 2 года назад

Who's Warren.?

@annvictor9627 3 года назад

Incubi, not succubi? Also, why the British "electric torch" and not "flashlight"? Interesting choices.

@mammon_is_god 3 года назад

Those things really suck

@paulbennett772 3 года назад

It's 'The Blötsch'!

@paulbennett772 3 года назад

He said "heavy metal bands"!

@prabhdeepsingh5642 3 года назад

Prometheus movie might have got its inspiration from this story.

@Wombats555 3 года назад

*cough* Cloakers from the D&D monster manual.

@blowitoutyourcunt7675 Год назад

Quite the opposite, D&D stole it from Clark Ashton Smith! The horror/sci-fi genre goes much further back historically than D&D (1970s), all the back to Shelley and Frankenstein in 1818. So it stands to reason a great portion of the ideas are indeed borrowed from previous sci-fi/horror writers and their respective literature. We all stand on the shoulders of giants and we should recognize that : ) Cheers

@unclesam1756 3 года назад

Face huggers?

@TeethToothman 9 месяцев назад

💊🦕💊

@chrisu7022 3 года назад

I think i fell asleep im unsure i look ll)l

@stephendowling2453 3 года назад

12 seconds

@sabrinatscha2554 3 года назад

More like.. the vaults of Yoh Mombis.. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'm leaving

@johnsedlock1340 7 месяцев назад

Much as I like Ashton-Smith, this one's got a couple of gaping holes in the plot. To wit: Hey you guides who refuse to come with; ever hear of a life-form that looks & behaves like this? Naw, leave the automatic weapons behind -at least for this first trip(?!?) To heck with the helmets we wore going in. They must have evaporated. Breathing apparatus anyone? Skip it... I guess. We're only on another planet. Etc, etc.

@AngemonOfLight Месяц назад

Yet still more competent than the crews of Prometheus and Alien Covenant. As for the helmets, they were fur. Probably not going to help against a headcrab.