Gallery of Curiosities

200 years ago, four friends huddled around a fireplace and held a story telling contest to keep cabin fever at bay. Tonight we have two stories inspired by that cold summer’s night. Author Dan Micklethwaite is a freelance writer based in the north of England. His most recent short fiction has featured in Unsung Stories, Metaphorosis, and Flame Tree Publishing’s Swords and Steam anthology. His debut novel, The Less than Perfect Legend of Donna Creosote, is shortlisted for the Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ Prize 2016. Narrator Benjamin Spurduto is a history teacher in Tampa, Florida. His short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Coven (Purple Sun Press), Bad Neighborhood (Spooky Words Press), and Dystopian Express (Hydra Publications). His first novel, The Walls of Dalgorod, is available from Curiosity Quills Press. For a full list of publications and fiction updates, visit www.benjaminsperduto.com or follow him on Twitter (@bensperduto). Music: Long Note Four by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Author Liam Hogan is a London based writer, winner of Quantum Shorts 2015 and the Sci-Fest LA’s Roswell Award 2016. He’s been published at DailyScienceFiction, NoSleep Podcast, previously on Gallery of Curiosities, and a dozen anthologies besides. Find out more at: http://happyendingnotguaranteed.blogspot.co.uk/ Narrator Byron is a disembodied voice discovered living in a remote hand carved art cave in northern New Mexico. He was transported to the Gallery in a pink nalgene water bottle and currently resides in the Gallery’s attic. Music sourced from the Musopen Project.

Happy Halloween! Osgoode is having trouble with some annual visitors, and he has two spooky stories for you. John Cooper Hamilton tells of of how Hollywood coped with the Zombie Apocalypse, and Spencer Koelle takes us on an excursion to the Weird West. What does Weird West have to do with Steampunk? Just ask any steampunk you happen to meet in the American Southwest. Matt Zophiel and Nonney Constantine narrate. Explicit tag for brief f-bomb. Author John Cooper Hamilton's website: https://johncooperhamilton.com/ Author Spencer Koelle's website: http://spencerkoelle.com/ Reader Matt Zophiel's website: http://apocalypse.today/ Theme song – Ashes Ashes by Deus Ex Vapore Machina Osgoode’s Chorus – Cheap Horror by Segno Soundtrack(Pond5) Story Music: In Your Arms by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com) Il Bandito by Ivia(pond5) Western Suspense by Patrick Coen(Pond5)) Old Western Saloon Ragtime Theme by Seaport Sound(Pond5) Gathering Darkness by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

The Czar’s Army is having a bit of trouble with the local fauna while pressing eastward across Manchuria. Their only hope? A jaded, insubordinate corporal from the Caucasus. Benjamin Sperduto reads his own work. Author Benjamin Sperduto is a history teacher in Tampa, Florida. His short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Coven (Purple Sun Press), Bad Neighborhood (Spooky Words Press), and Dystopian Express (Hydra Publications). His first novel, The Walls of Dalgorod, is available from Curiosity Quills Press. For a full list of publications and fiction updates, visit www.benjaminsperduto.com or follow him on Twitter (@bensperduto). Cover art – Zmey Gorynych by Viktor Vasnetsov(wikimedia) Story music – Violin viola alt flute cello Sad duo soundtrack, Wailing Violins, by Konstantin Troika(FreeMusicArchive.org) Theme song – Ashes Ashes by Deus Ex Vapore Machina Osgoode’s Chorus – Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod Production Engineer – Kevin Frost download link

Mad Science Double Feature with two stories about strange inventions and the men who made them. Author Stephen S. Power’s novel, The Dragon Round, was just published by Simon and Schuster. His short fiction has recently appeared in Everyday Fiction, Swords and Sorcery, and the Stupifying Stories Showcase, and it will soon appear in Deep Magic. He tweets at @stephenspower, his site is stephenspower.com, and he lives in Maplewood, New Jersey. Reader John Longenbaugh is a Seattle-based writer and playwright, and the creator of the Steampunk adventure serial BRASS, which is available as an audio drama, a series of stage plays and a short film. For more on John go to johnlongenbaugh.com, and for more on BRASS go to BattleGroundProductions.org. Story music: Mesmerize, Ossuary 6 – Air, Promising Relationship by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Author Jennifer R. Povey writes all kinds of science fiction and fantasy. She also enjoys trying to get 1,000 pound hooved animals to do what she says and playing grown-up pretend with her friends and trying to do as much of the Grand Tour as she can. Reader Richard Elen is a recording engineer, writer, and designer based in Cambridge, England. He is Technical Director of internet radio station Radio Riel, and co-host/editor of Designing Worlds, a weekly online TV show about design and designers in virtual environments. He also creates marketing materials for clients in the consumer and professional audio fields. Story music: Ghost Processional – Alternate, Distant Tension by Kevin MacLeod. Humpty Dumpty Music Box by BackBeatProductions via Pond5.

A "Professor" rents out a barn to build his bombastic inventions. A delightful send up of the steampunk aesthetic. Molly Shipwreck reads. #steampunk Author Zach Bartlett has been called the New Englandest man in New Orleans, both as compliment and insult. His work has been published by Mad Scientist Journal and Wildside Press, and he’s a regular contributor to the reading series Esoterotica. You can find more of him at http://ZachBIsTall.wordpress.com. Reader Molly Shipwreck is an ex-pat Californian trying to lose the drawl she acquired while living on the East Coast. First published in Mad Scientist Journal. Story music: Monkeys Spinning Monkeys, Music to Delight, Fife and Drums by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Theme song: Ashes Ashes by Deus ex Vapore Machina Osgoode’s Chorus: Walking Around by Kevin MacLeod Production: Kevin Frost Osgoode: Kris Law Editors: Andrew McCurdy, Jed Dagger Leave us some reviews on iTunes, it helps out more than you know!

Summer is here, so let’s go up the country, all the way to to Nova Scotia for our story tonight, written and read by our own Andrew McCurdy. Andrew McCurdy has been reading and writing science fiction ever since he saw Charleton Heston kneeling in the surf, cursing the half-buried Statue of Liberty. He recently relocated from teaching college in a large city to rural Nova Scotia where he hopes to start writing in earnest. Music: Morning Mist by Brett van Donsel Fiddles McGinty and Heavy Heart by Kevin MacLeod Theme song: Ashes Ashes by DEVM Osgoode’s chorus: Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod Sound Effects and Spaceship Ambience: Freesound.org Released under a Creative Commons 4.0 International attribution noncommercial no-derivatives license. Share often, but don’t sell it, change it, or make a transcript. Stoking the Charcoal: Kevin Frost Blowing Hot Air: Kris Law Ready to drop the sandbags: Andrew McCurdy, Jed Dagger outro: Molly Shipwreck

A tale of an alternate London, where Vapourmen man giant rosewater towers to protect the populace from bad airs. Richard Elen reads. #steampunk Red lights flickered all across the board filling one wall of Dartford Vapour Monitoring Station. The tiny gas flames in the bulbs hissed, their combined sound angrier and angrier as more and more sparked into life… Simon Kewin is the author of over 100 published short stories. He lives in England with his wife and their daughters. His wife is a microbiologist, so he doesn’t really believe the stuff about bad air. He is currently working on the third volume in his Cloven Land fantasy trilogy. Find him at simonkewin.co.uk. Richard Elen is a recording engineer, writer and designer based in Cambridge, UK. He is Technical Director of internet radio station Radio Riel, and co-host/editor of Designing Worlds, a weekly online TV show about design and designers in virtual environments. He also creates marketing materials for clients in the consumer and professional audio fields. The story music is from The Cog Laments by Spiky.fr from the album Carnival Symposium. Theme song: Ashes, Ashes by Deus ex Vapore Machina Osgoode’s Chorus: Walking Around by Kevin MacLeod Released under a Creative Commons 4.0 International attribution noncommercial no-derivatives license. Share often, but don’t sell it, change it, or make a transcript. Manning the tower: Kris Law Minding the engines: Kevin FrostS Filling the vats: Andrew, Jed, Samuel, Scythian Outro: SuperSuz

Consider the red riding hood with a grim agenda of its own. Karen Bovenmyer narrates. Karen Bovenmyer earned her MFA in Creative Writing: Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program in Summer of 2013. She is lucky to train future faculty at Iowa State University, where she works primarily with inspiring Ph.D. students who enthusiastically share speculative-story-idea-generating research. http://karenbovenmyer.com/ Host: Kris “The Ghost of Orson Wells” Law Production: “Silent” Kevin Frost Theme song: Ashes Ashes by Deus ex Vapore Machina Osgoode’s chorus: Walking Around by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Story music: Road to Hell, Long Note Two, The Dread, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Outro: “Super” Suz Associate Editors: Andrew “The Contender” McCurdy, Jed “The Knife” Dagger

A rotting ship reeking of death moors at Pool of London, the crew fallen victim to a mermaid. Vic Mullin reads. Author: Born in Yorkshire, Oxford graduate Philip Brian Hall is a former diplomat and teacher. Outside work, he has stood for parliament, sung solos in amateur operettas, rowed at Henley Royal Regatta, completed a 40 mile cross-country walk in under 12 hours and ridden in over one hundred horse-races over fences. He lives on a very small farm in Scotland with his wife, a dog, a cat and some horses. Writing mainly in speculative genres, Philip has had short stories published by AE The Canadian Science Fiction Review, T Gene Davis’s Speculative Blog, The Sockdolager, Flame Tree Publishing and Third Flatiron Publishing, as well as the ‘Up and Coming’ anthology of authors eligible for the Campbell Award 2016. His novel, ‘The Prophets of Baal’ is available as an e-book and in paperback. Reader: Vic Mullins is a landlubber and a long time favorite narrator from our old format. You can follow his outspoken antics on his youTube channel, Vaping with Vic. Theme music: Ashes Ashes by DeVM Osgoode’s Chorus: Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com Released under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution noncommercial no-derivatives license. Ship’s Cook: Kris Law Bo’sun: Kevin Frost Skylarking aloft: Andrew McCurdy, Jed Dagger Outro: Super Suz

A watchmaker tells of his boyhood job at the famed American Museum of P.T. Barnum, and how a demon was acquired for the menagerie. Keith Edie reads. First published in Strange Tales V. Author Elise Forier Edie is a playwright and author based in Los Angeles. Her most recent play, “The Pink Unicorn,” has been performed all over the US and Canada. Her short fiction has appeared in Metaphorosis Magazine and The Enchanted Conversation. You can find out more about her at her website: EliseForierEdie.com. Reader Keith Edie is an actor and screenwriter in Los Angeles. He has appeared on small and big screens everywhere, usually as a likable geek, but also as a doting dad, an international spy and (most recently) as someone’s nightmare boyfriend on Lifetime television’s “My Crazy Ex.” You can find out more about him at his website: KeithEdie.com. Theme music: Ashes Ashes by DeVM Osgoode’s Chorus: Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com Additional music by Kevin MacLeod Provider of Fish Heads: Kris Law Keeper of the Hippos: Kevin Frost Sidewalk Shills: Andrew McCurdy, Jed Dagger, Scythian Outro: Molly Shipwreck

A naughty boy trades places with his scheming cat. Bookworm Hienrichs reads. #vintage #fantasy #kids

Our reboot episode, featuring two curious on stories of the strangeness Love. Osgoode welcomes you to the gallery and presents two new stories for Valentine's Day. "Love is a Masterpiece" by Chris Kelworth. Mr. Kelworth lives in Hamilton, Ontario. He has been writing science fiction and fantasy stories with increasing diligence for the past twenty-five years, and is a graduate of the Odyssey, Taos Toolbox, and Young Gunns workshops. He works in Burlington as a computer software developer under an assumed name. You can find his Author blog at http://chriskelworth.com/blog Reader: Garnet Psaltery "This Peculiar Way of Hers" by Joel Arnold. Mr. Arnold is the author of the novel Northwoods Deep, as well as dozens of short stories. He lives in Minnesota in a house with a front porch. Nothing, however – at least as far as he knows – lives beneath it. Reader: Travis I. Sivart Theme music by Deus ex Vapore Machina. Walking Along, To The Ends, There is Romance, Danse Morialta, Enchanted Journey, Frozen Star, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License “Meadow Ambience” by eric5335 (Freesound.org)

If you're going to haunt a proper English gentlemen's club after you die, you'd best be a member. Vic Mullin narrates. #ghosts #occult #vintage We return to Brunel Hall to hear Mr. Victor Mornington, the steamlands’ most famous hotelier, read The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost by H.G. Wells. Grab a drink, turn down the lights, and get comfortable, because story night is Serious Business in New Babbage. First publication: The Strand Magazine, March 1902 Reader: Mr. Victor Mornington (Vic Mullin) Intro/Outro: Miss Garnet Psaltery Music: Dark and Stormy Night written and performed by MacKnight Culdesac Tranquility, Reawakening, Clean Soul written and performed by Kevin MacLeod. Additional music sourced from MusOpen.org

What is in that powder my brother keeps taking? A classic fright from 1895, said to have been an early influence on HP Lovecraft. Junie Ginsburg narrates. Arthur Machen was born in Wales and became enamored with mysticism and the occult at an early age. The Novel of the White Powder was part of The Three Impostors, a novel composed of a number of interwoven tales, in 1895. The novel and the stories within it were eventually to be regarded as among Machen's best works. However, following the indecency scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde later that year, Machen's association with works of decadent horror made it difficult for him to find a publisher for new works until later in his career. Publisher John Lane, wary of the atmosphere, asked Machen to censor his manuscript. Barring the omission of one word, Machen refused to comply.

Good help is so hard to find, but what do you do when your family is complaining about a maid that you don't remember hiring? Junie Ginsburg reads. #VintageHorror #Ghosts Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) was an eclectic scholar and folklorist whose best known work is the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers. Oddly, he is also noted for writing The Book of Were-Wolves, the 16 volume The Lives of the Saints, and the popular Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, which was an overview of medieval superstition. Host: YoYo Underby Reader: Junie Ginsburg Music: Music for Funeral Homes Part 11, Phantasm, Gagool, Investigations, by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com) Outro: Bookworm Heinrichs Music: New Babbage Shore by MacKnight Culdesac

An early work from H. P. Lovecraft's Dream cycle stories. Sit back, relax, and have your squire bring a coal from the stove to spark the hookah. This story was first published in the November 1919 issue of The United Amateur. Host: Vic Mullin Reader: Byron Music: Valentine Wolfe

Ghosts, revenge, skeletons in the closet? Is it October yet? Tonight, our favorite lowlander, Victor Mornington (Vic Mullin), reads "A Man of Science" by Jerome K. Jerome. First published in The Idler, an illustrated monthly of literature and humor, in September of 1892. Keep the brandy carafe near, you might need just a nip before this one is over. Host: Junie Ginsburg Reader: Victor1st Mornington Outro: Byron Ad: Emerson Lighthouse Music: Kevin MacLeod(incompetech)

That new servant has the Lady of the castle all in a twist. Is he a boy? Or a brownie? Vic Mullin reads. #folklore #vintage #scotland Vic Mullin reads a grim tale from his native Scotland by poet and novelist James Hogg. Hogg wrote in both Scots and English, and it is said that his grandfather was the last man to have spoken with fairies.First published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, October 1828.Outro: Byron Music: Kevin MacLeod(incompetech)