Fictional

A man comes to Sherlock Holmes with a development: he's making a lot of extra money each week solely because he has fiery red hair. For the famed detective, this is terrible news. -- Check out the new site: https://fictional.fm -- Music: "Vienna Beat" by Blue Dot Sessions "Evidence" by Raphael Costa "In the Box" by Blue Dot Sessions Theme song by Breakmaster Cylinder Adapted from "The Red-Headed L...

Four men took part in the ruining of one life. Their reckoning is at hand. It all ends here. -- Sponsors: Bombas: Not only is it fun to say, but they are the most comfortable socks ever seriously if your feet could thank you they would. Go to http://www. Bombas.com/fictional and use the code FICTIONAL to get 20% off your first order. KiwiCo: KiwiCo creates super cool, hands-on projects for kids th...

The Count of Monte Cristo moves his pieces into place. His revenge is at hand. -- Sponsors: Hello Fresh: For a super-easy, super-delicious weeknight meal, check out Hello Fresh. Go to http://hellofresh/fictional60  and use the code FICTIONAL60 KiwiCo: KiwiCo creates super cool, hands-on projects for kids that make learning about science, technology, engineering, art, and math fun! To try them for...

  When we last left Edmond Dantes, he was sailing off into the sunset after rescuing one of the only friends he has left. Today's story begins 13 years later, after he's been transforming himself into the count of Monte Cristo, an enigmatic and ruthless nobleman who is heading to Paris to bring justice on the people who destroyed his life.    -- Sponsors: KiwiCo creates super cool, hands-on projec...

All the pieces are in place. Everyone responsible for Prospero's exile is on the island. His island. It's time to take back what's his. -- Sponsors: Wolverine: The Long Night. Check this fantastic scripted podcast at https://www.wolverinepodcast.com/ Bombas: Not only is it fun to say, but they are the most comfortable socks ever seriously if your feet could thank you they would. Go to http://www....

Prospero can't remember the last time he slept. He can't remember the last time he saw his daughter or even how old she is. He has been working on one singular task for decades, and now he's nearly there. He's on the precipice of the greatest discovery of all time... ...and then someone kicks in the door. They're coming for him. -- Sponsors: The Great American Read starts September 11th at 8/7 Cen...

Dracula has already claimed his first victim, and she is working on many more. Soon, the British Isles and then the rest of civilization will be one of two things: hunter or hunted. The few that Dracula chooses to turn will feed on the rest, and no one within 1000 miles of him knows it's coming. No one, that is, except for an unlikely alliance of people that will stop at nothing to put Dracula's r...

Mina is distraught. Her friend is sick, hit by a strange and sudden anemia the day a ship came into port from the other side of the world - some province in Romania known as Transylvania. Worse, Jonathan, her fiancee, hasn't returned yet. He had gone to visit a nobleman on the continent, and he was now a month overdue. Mina wasn't the only one with problems, though. At the mental institution, a he...

Jonathan Harker is on a work trip, which means new and bizzare foods, people with interesting stories, and a meeting with a count that people seriously will not stop warning him about. He doesn't see what the fuss is about. It's just an old guy with a handlebar mustache who lives in the woods in a creepy castle surrounded by wolves. What could go wrong? -- Sponsor: Green Chef is a USDA-certified o...

Irene Adler. She's in one story, but she left such a permanent, indellible mark on Sherlock Holmes that he will now and forever refer to her as THE woman. Sherlock receives two visits in one night. One is expected: royalty with a problem that could alter the history of Europe. The other is a surprise: Watson, who's well on his way to a dad bod. -- Sponsor: Check out Levar Burton reads. If you like...

In an alternate future, it's 1981 and the UN allies have been at war with the Soviet Union for six years. In that short amount of time, the world has been reduced to an irradiated husk of itself. Standing victorious over a fallen world, the Soviets unexpectedly find themselves overwhelmed by a new technology developed by the Allies. A technology that will turn the tide of the war. One that will ha...

On the season 2 finale, Victor Frankenstein's creation is responsible for two deaths, but Victor fears that the body count isn't close to being finished. The battle between creator and creation will stretch over multiple continents, destroying lives and bringing up questions of our responsibility toward our creations, arrogance, and what it means to live a good life.  !!! We're up for a Webby Peop...

A lurching green monster that's afraid of fire with bolts in his neck. A hunchback assistant named Igor. A menacing, mustache twirling doctor. None of those things are in this episode. Instead, we have an eight-foot-tall introspective giant, a thoughtful, if dangerously ambitious child who doesn't understand the enormity of the task he's undertaking, and a world that's not ready for the consequenc...

A couple in early 1800s Louisiana is headed home when they spot something unusual by a pillar, something that will change their lives, and the lives of the most powerful family in town, forever. -- Sponsor: You have to check out Masterclass. You can learn from professionally produced videos of people who are (literally) the best in the world at their craft. Try the All-Access pass at http://www.ma...

Two stories by the U.S. writer O. Henry. In the first, a young woman is dying, pinning her hopes to a leaf dangling on a branch. In the second, ol' Soapy, a homeless man in New York City, is gearing up for a trip to his summer home: prison. A warm bed, three meals a day, and safety from harassment by people on the street. The only problem? He can't seem to get himself thrown in there. -- Sponsors:...

Our humble hero just wanted to swing by a remote mental institution in the south of France on his way back home to America. He was just going to spend one night in the self-described madhouse to sate his curiosity/gawk at the mentally ill. What could be wrong with spending one night in a rural private 1800s insane asylum without a means of escape? You know, besides every word in that sentence. ---...

When we last left Edmond, he was about to hit the rock and start his escape from Chateau d'If when he heard a scream from his friend's cell. This week, we'll see how he finally manages to get out of the inescapable prison...and what happened to his world after a decade and a half of his absence. "Egregia" by Blue Dot Sessions "Halflight" by Podington Bear "Slough" by Podington Bear "Topslides" by...

Edmond is in prison and his enemies are celebrating, but something else is coming from Elba that will change their world yet again and make them fear the man they sent to Chateau d'If.   Sponsors:   Our Casper is so comfortable that I can't wait to go to bed. It's so comfortable that we bought our son one when he moved to his "big kid" bed and now we all sleep better because our three-year-old doe...

Edmond Dantes returns to France as a captain. He has just received a promotion, and soon he will be marrying the love of his life: the beautiful Mercedes. The only issue? He doesn't realize that he has enemies, and that the last request of his dying captain - simply delivering a letter - could change his life forever. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is absolutely in the top 10 for all-time favorite bo...

Watson is happily married and hasn't spoken to Sherlock in months and hasn't been on a mystery in nearly a year. The craziest his life gets now is an abnormal patient or some sensational news story. That's all about to change when the distraught wife of a friend comes to his house late one Thursday night, leading to a late night trip to an opium den and a shocking discovery. Music: "An Opus in Bb"...

In this story by acclaimed science fiction author Philip K. Dick, the author behind last season's "Therein Lies the Wub", a man in 1950s middle America emerges from working in his basement all day to find something horrifying in the center of town, but the strangest thing? No one seems to have a problem with it but him. ----- Sponsors! A massive thanks to Audible for sponsoring us this week. As yo...

Last week, Macbeth killed his king, his friend, and more. If only he could stop there. Just a note, this is the season finale of Fictional. Stay subscribed, though, because we'll be back in six weeks with season two! Sponsor: Check out http://www.zola.com/fictional for an awesome way to do your wedding registry. Seriously, I wish we used it when we got married. Go to that link to get a $50 credit...

Macbeth is a story about ambition and violence. Given a prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth finds himself both drawn to and repulsed by the desire that grows within him. On one hand, he could do so much as king: his name would live on forever. On the other, he is a loyal, kind, and just man...and for him to become king, the current king, his cousin and the man he has fought for and killed f...

A routine trip to Mars turns out to be anything but when a ship headed back to earth allows one last passenger aboard. That's...really all I can say about the story "Beyond lies the Wub" by Philip K. Dick. Few authors can boast the sci-fi pedigree of Philip K. Dick. Even if you've never read one of his books, you've heard one of his stories. Blade Runner, Total Recall, The Man in the High Castle,...

Professor Angell is dead, but the story of Cthulhu is just beginning. As it turns out, Angell had an heir, and as the young man is sifting through his late uncle's possessions, he's about to find something that will change his world forever. Meanwhile, Captain Johansen returned to Sydney. The last we saw him, he was captain of a ship with seven friends. He'll return a sole survivor, forever change...