What’s Great In Podcast Fiction

This blog has been littered with posts about narration gigs, and little else, for the past several months. Since I’m clearly locked on the topic of podcast fiction these days, I thought I’d take a moment to steer you towards the shining stars of the craft– shows in general, and episodes in particular, that I think are worth your time:

Drabblecast declares itself a purveyor of “strange stories by strange authors for strange listeners”… and yes, that’s about right. Seriously, some of their stuff is way out there, to the point that this show’s probably not for everybody. But the production is top-notch, the “Drabbles” (stories of exactly 100 words) and “Bardles” (songs written and produced for financial supporters) entertaining, and the stories range from thought-provoking to brilliant. Recent episodes of note: “Boiled Black Broth and Cornets” by Frank Key (very strange but compelling), “The Last Dog” by Mike Resnick (quite touching), and David D. Levine’s  “Babel Probe” (brilliant all-around episode that should win buckets of awards).

Escape Pod was, as has been previously noted, among my first experiences with podcast fiction. Steve Ely has created an honest-to-goodness paying market for authors; his is among the first and best in the field. Recent episodes of note: Merrie Haskell’s “Reparations” (time travel to post-nuke Japan) and Sara Genge’s “Family Values” (sex and politics with wildly non-human aliens).

Seventh Son “The President of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four-year-old boy…” J.C. Hutchins’ podcast novel trilogy has drawn tens of thousands of listeners over the past few years, and deservedly so: this techno-thriller can really grab and hold your attention. I picked up on it late and gobbled up the first two books over the span of a few months; I became quite distraught when I eventually caught up and had to wait a week between new episodes.

Starship Sofa is where I got my narration start. Tony Smith’s show has evolved into an ambitious audio magazine– very much like a podcast version of F&SF or Asmiov’s. In addition to flash and short fiction, Tony’s contributors provide fact articles, on topics from the history of speculative ficion to science and publishing news. Recent episodes of note: In addition to recent broadcasts of every Nebula-nominated short story, Ted Chiang’s award-winning “Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” is one of the freshest takes on time travel I’ve heard in years.
American listeners: plow through a couple of episodes before you declare Tony’s accent incomprehensible.

Honorable mentions that didn’t make the above list, largely because of my personal tastes:

Scott Siegler was another pioneer in original podcast fiction and has a rabid fanbase.

Escape Pod’s sisters Pseudopod (horror) and Podcastle (fantasy) are excellent in their respective genres.

(FLASH FICTION) The Postmaster’s Door

When it comes to correct postage, I’m somewhat obsessive. So it was that, while confirming for the third time that my bills were all properly stamped, Ethan slipped away.

Just around the corner, thank God, and not even out the door. Still, I panicked for a moment, flashes of kidnappers and police and will my wife ever forgive me numbing my brain, before I found him, staring up at the Postmaster’s door.

My panic subsided, replaced with a muted, oily unease. In Norwalk, you see, we store our monsters in the post office, behind the door labeled “Postmaster”.

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Surely you’ve noticed that the Postmaster’s door is far too large– something like eight feet tall, and half as wide. Maybe you’ve wondered why the Postmaster never seems to enter or exit the door, or why in an otherwise shiny, modern facility, this one door reeks of antiquity and disuse. Perhaps you’ve even asked yourself, who is our Postmaster? Does anybody know?In truth, an imposing slab of oak and brass such as this has only one purpose: to secure, out of sight, our local crop of unspeakable horrors.

Behind the door is a vault, and it is quite thoroughly impenetrable. Aside from two layers of stone and mortar behind a near-seamless envelope of blackened iron, the vault is wrapped in enchantment and sealed within the collective will of our Shadow Council. At each corner of the vault: the mortal remains of a fallen priest, bricked alive into the works centuries previous, long-dead souls paying an endless penance in service to the living. These eight spectres shriek and hiss at the vault’s inhabitants, and though the imprisoned monstrosities rage at their captivity, they are afraid, and huddle far from the vault door.

Once every a few years, the guardians fall silent, the enchantments falter, and there comes a terrible pounding at the door. It is then that additional measures must be taken.

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I have no immediate fear for Ethan’s life. For now, the door and the vault behind are secure, and as the Shadow Council already took both of his sisters– three and seven years ago– they will not ask for my son’s blood, even when the beasts inevitably challenge the door again.Still, I am afraid. It is clear that Ethan will come to know the vault… but from which side of the Postmaster’s door?