The HorrorBabble Podcast

"The Crib of Hell" is a short story by Arthur Pendragon, first published in Fantastic Stories of Imagination, May 1965. "He could never erase from his memory the evil face of the child of horror . . . the loathsome thing that waited in . . . the Crib of Hell." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would you like to immerse yourself in the world of weird fiction? The grimy weird is speculative fiction at its finest — a realm of horror, science fiction, and dark fantasy. Coming to you from SpectreVision Radio, is The HorrorBabble Podcast. We produce recordings of stories by the pioneers of the genre — H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard — while breathing new life into forgotten classics penned by lesser-known authors. With new recordings published twice weekly — Tuesdays and Fridays — you’ll encounter Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, from the Nameless City to the Colour Out of Space; Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique, where cosmic entities linger in a dying world; Robert E. Howard’s legendary tales of Bran Mak Morn and Conan; and everything else weird fiction has to offer: baffling beasts and deadly bargains, haunted houses and polar terrors, caverns and crypts, dreams and nightmares, vampires and werewolves… the list goes on. If you have a taste for the macabre, you’re certain to find something to satisfy your ghoulish appetite. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Dispossession" is a short story by the English author, C. H. B. Kitchin, published in the 1929 anthology, SHUDDERS. "A carefree London man is shaken when sudden blackouts and missing days begin to fracture his routine life." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The People of the Pit" by A. Merritt, first appeared in All-Story Weekly in its January 1918 edition, and tells of a man's return from a terrifying voyage into the depths of the Earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Spirits of the Lake" is a short story by Alonzo Deen Cole, author and director of the 1930s radio series, The Witch's Tale. The story first appeared in the November 1941 edition of Weird Tales. "Was it at the bidding of the 'Old Ones' that slime—loathsome, hideously green—rose from the lake's dreadful depths?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Weaver in the Vault" is a Zothique Cycle story by Clark Ashton Smith, first published in the January 1934 edition of Weird Tales. "A story of the weird and ghastly-beautiful horror that came upon the searchers in the eery tombs of Chaon Gacca." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Twister" is a short story by the American writer, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, first published in the January 1940 edition of Weird Tales. "Ghostly was the village where the newly wedded couple stopped for gasoline, and weird was their experience there." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Tomb-Spawn" is a Zothique Cycle story by Clark Ashton Smith, first published in the May 1934 edition of Weird Tales. "A tale of a star-spawned monstrosity, and the eldritch magic of a powerful king and wizard." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Dr. Muncing, Exorcist" is one of two stories concerning the titular character by the American author, Gordon MacCreagh, first published in the September 1931 edition of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror. "A confident exorcist investigates a family plagued by a formless, creeping dread." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Cave of Spiders" is a short story by the little-known Weird Tales author, William R. Hickey. The story was first published in the November 1928 issue of the magazine. "An expedition into the haunted heights of the Peruvian Andes yields a tale of ominous signs, forbidden passions, and a death far stranger than the survivors first claimed." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Secret of the South Pole" is a tale of Antarctica by the little-known Irish author, Hamilton Drummond, first published in the April 1902 edition of The Windsor Magazine. "Three castaways encounter a centuries-lost ship from the polar depths, its silent cabin holding hints of a strange fate no living man can explain." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"My Father, the Cat" is a short story by American author, Henry Slesar. As described by Fantastic Universe in December 1957: Here is an off-trail story that is guaranteed to make some of you take a very searching second look at some of the young men you know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Buzzards" is a short story by Edward Lucas White, first published in the July 25th 1908 edition of The Bellman. "In the shadow of circling buzzards and mounting dread, a young woman races against fate across a sun-scorched Virginia farm." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"At the Gate", by the little-known author, Myla Jo Closser, offers an answer to the long-held question: what happens to our beloved dogs when they (and we) pass on? The tale first appeared in the March 1917 edition of CENTURY MAGAZINE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Rendezvous in Averoigne" is the second story in Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne series, first published in the April-May 1931 edition of Weird Tales. "An unusual host was the Sieur du Malinbois—a strange story of the undead." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Phantom Woman", which is generally regarded as a traditional British ghost story, first appeared in Bob Holland’s 1904 collection, Twenty-Five Ghost Stories. The tale tells of a man and his inexplicable attraction to a mysterious lady glimpsed in the window of an old house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Lead Soldiers" is a short story by Robert Barbour Johnson, first published in the December 1935 edition of Weird Tales. "A strange doom closed round the Dictator who sought to achieve his destiny through a bloody war." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Red Shadows" is a Solomon Kane story by Robert E. Howard, first published in the August 1928 edition of Weird Tales. Described as follows: "Thrilling adventures and blood-freezing perils—red shadows on black trails—savage witchcraft and the Black God." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Aquarium" is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Carl Jacobi, first published in DARK MIND, DARK HEART in 1962. "When a painter and her friend move into a spacious London house, the strange aquarium left behind by its former owner begins to exude an influence both unnatural and terrifying." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Vine Terror" is a short story by Howard Wandrei, first published in the September 1934 edition of Weird Tales. Described as follows: "An unusual weird-scientific tale, about vegetable vampires that lusted for animal and human food." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Silver Knife" is a short story by American author, Ralph Allen Lang, which first appeared in Weird Tales in January 1932 -- one of three tales the writer contributed to the magazine throughout the 1930s. The story tells of a man pursued by a wolf across the polar wastes of the far north. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Diary of a Madman" is a short story by French author, Guy de Maupassant. The tale is told through a series of diary entries, detailing the intimate thoughts of an undiscovered murderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Shining Hand" is an 1889 ghost story by Dick Donovan (James Edward Preston Muddock). "On a storm-swept night at a desolate inn near Solway Moss, a travelling merchant loses his trusted servant and a fortune in gold." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The White Villa" is a horror short story by American author, Ralph Adams Cram, first published in his book, Black Spirits and White, in 1895. The story tells of two travellers exploring southern Italy, who are forced to spend the night in a remote, haunted villa, after missing the last train to Naples. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Accursed Isle" is a short story by Mary Elizabeth Counselman, first published in the November 1933 edition of Weird Tales. "A hideous fear clutched the hearts of the seven castaways on that accursed isle as they were slain, one by one." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Whispers" is a short story by Robert S. Carr, first published in Weird Tales in April 1928. "In the festering swamps of Taggardsville, something unseen stirs in the night." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Eighth Green Man" is a weird tale by the Cornish author, Gladys Trenery, writing as G. G. Pendarves. First appearing in Weird Tales in its March 1928 edition, the story was described as follows: "An uncanny horror befell the guests of the innkeeper when the Green Men held their revels." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Sagasta's Last" is a short story by Carl Jacobi, first published in the August 1939 edition of Strange Stories. "An augmented eye pierces the mist-wall that rises skyward from the grave!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Stranger from Kurdistan" is a short story by E. Hoffmann Price, first published in the July 1925 edition of Weird Tales. "An enigmatic stranger infiltrates a secret gathering of devil-worshipers in the haunted depths of an ancient tower." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Lens-Shy" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales contributor, W. M. Clayton. The story first surfaced in the June-July edition of the magazine in 1939, and tells of the odd circumstances surrounding a photographer of the dead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Source of It" is a 1953 Weird Tale by the little-known author, Glen Malin. Appearing in the magazine's July edition, the story concerns the diary entries of a man who believes he is in possession of a very curious power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Witch in the Fog" by Alexander Faust first appeared in Weird Tales in September 1938. The magazine described the tale as: "A brief tale of thuggee—and a beautiful English girl." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Man-Trap" by Hamilton Craigie, first snapped its leaves in the November 1925 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. The tale was described as follows: “A monstrous plant makes its kill.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First published in the May 1943 edition of Astounding Science-Fiction, Henry Kuttner's "Ghost" tells of an attempted exorcism at a centre of science in Antarctica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Smith: An Episode in a Lodging-House" is a short story by Algernon Blackwood, appearing in his 1906 anthology, The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. "There was something very strange about the man who lived on the floor above the doctor." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Decay" is a short story by the British author and conservationist, John Moore. The story was first collected in The Third Omnibus of Crime in 1934. "Walking between his larches today, Mr. Cotter recognized them all as old friends." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Law of the Hills" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales author, Grace M. Campbell, first published in the August 1930 edition of the magazine. "A tragic, tender tale of the slim white shape that ran with a wolf-pack over the snow." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Thing in the Tree" is a short story by the little-known author, Harold Standish Corbin. The story first appeared in the February 1927 edition of Ghost Stories. "What influence could make a tree take on human characteristics?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Father's Vampire" is a short story by Alvin Taylor and Len J. Moffatt, first published in the May 1952 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. "Father collected things—but he wasn’t at all in a rut as to what he collected." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"In Terror of Laughing Clay" is the first of four stories concerning the fictional ghost hunter, Mark Shadow. Written by the Scottish author, Robert W. Sneddon, the story first appeared in the October 1926 edition of Ghost Stories. "No scientists experimenting ten thousand years could make a lump of potter's clay live—and yet——" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The God with Four Arms" is a work of weird fiction by the English writer, H. T. W. Bousfield, first appearing in his 1939 anthology, The God with Four Arms and Other Stories. "A shady man, owed a small fortune, takes his frustrations out on a rare bronze idol, with sinister consequences." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Vignette" is the very last short story penned by British author, M. R. James. It tells of a haunted plantation, allegedly influenced by real events experienced by James as a boy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Burned House" is a ghost story by Vincent O'Sullivan, first published in The Century Magazine in its October 1916 edition. In the story, a man recounts his eerie experience in a Lake District village where he witnessed a ghostly house fire and a hanging body, only to find no trace of them the next day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Swooping Wind" is a short story by American author Wilford Allen, which first appeared in Weird Tales in December 1927. The tale focuses upon a scientist who has a strange connection to the winds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Spectre of Rislip Abbey" is an 1899 ghost story by Dick Donovan, published in his TALES OF TERROR anthology. "Then I was still further amazed—I might almost say dumfounded—by seeing a hand, only a hand, slowly draw the panel into its place again." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Ordeal of Wooden-Face" is a rare tale by the American author, Hal K. Wells. The story first appeared in Weird Tales back in January 1932, and was described by the magazine as follows: “His dead eyes came to life when he saw the young American stagger into the bungalow like a specter out of the past.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The 19 Club" is a mystery story by the English writer, A. J. Alan, first published in Alan's 1932 anthology, A. J. Alan's Second Book. “He asked who we were and the people down below couldn’t tell him because they didn’t know—they said they had no information about us of any kind.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Grinning Ghoul" is a short story by the American author, Robert Bloch. First appearing in Weird Tales back in June of 1936, the story was described as follows: "A story of stark horror in the subterranean depths beneath the tomb." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Croatan" is a short story by Malcolm Ferguson. First published in Weird Tales in July 1948, Croatan concerns the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony. "Creatures summoned from outer eons, our masters by an eternity of time and progress." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Worm" is a short story by the American writer, David H. Keller. The story was first published in the March 1929 edition of Amazing Stories. "The floor, cut through, disappeared into the Thing's maw and with it the red hot stove." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices