Horror – The Drabblecast

On this week’s Drabblecast, Norm and NPR’s Chioke I’Anson bring you stories about the voices in your head, including “Go Between” by acclaimed writer China Mieville. “Go Between” tells the tale of a man who, for several years, has been receiving strange instructions to deliver seemingly random items from location to location. Agonizing over effect […]

“Just Lookin’ for Chocolate.” Norm and author Kevin Anderson discuss the horror genre, the origins of Cryptkeeper Norm, and of course, the hit story “The Box-Born Wraith” featured as Drabblecast episode 87 back in 2008 and published as our second official Halloween Special. “We all die in the dark, Benny…” Another Drabblecast Director’s Cut bringing […]

Today The Drabblecast brings you an original story commissioned by Karen Heuler: “Beauty Tips for the Apocalypse.” Karen Heuler wrote her first novel when she was eleven, and she’s been worshiping books at the altar ever since. Story Excerpt: In times such as these, with the world shaken to its core, it is all too […]

Women and Aliens Month continues with Part 2 of “We Who Stole The Dream” by James Tiptree Jr., aka Alice Bradley Sheldon. If you have not heard part one, you can find that here. Sadism, slavery, power and oppression… are we ever truly innocent? Or is there the potential of cruelty in all of us? […]

The Drabblecast launches its 8th Annual Women and Aliens Month with Part 1 of “We Who Stole the Dream” by James Tiptree Jr. This is a dark, dystopian tale about sadism and slavery, and the potential for cruelty in all of us. Published postmortem in the 1990 compilation “Her Smoke Rose Up Forever,” this story […]

This week the Drabblecast presents a Trifecta Special: “We Don’t Talk Any More.” “One in Four Adults” by Catherine Schaff-Stump Cath Schaff-Stump writes fiction for children and adults, from humor to horror. She is the author of the Klaereon Scroll series, the most recent of which is The Pawn of Isis, coming in March, 2019. […]

This week the Drabblecast brings you three stories about shipwrecks, murder, and Nazis. It’s a Losses and Sacrifices Trifecta! “Seven Losses of Na Re” by Rose Lemberg This is a brooding look back on things taken, things lost, and things always remembered. Rose Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe and Israel. Their […]

Merry Christmas strangers! The Drabblecast has something rather wicked fixed up for you this holiday season! We present to you a festive tale from fan-favorite Tim Pratt! It’s called “Dirty Santa.” It’s a story that takes us on a journey with one awkward, balding, twenty-something to a Christmas party where he meets a mysterious stranger […]

The Drabblecast brings you “Single Parent” by Sarah Gailey. Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction, and a regular contributor for Tor.com and Barnes & Noble. Single Parent follows one father’s journey to face the monsters in his son’s closet and some demons of his own. It was originally produced for […]

Today, The Drabblecast brings you “Day of the Dog” by Aliya Whiteley. We’ve still got a few bones to pick with our dog-eat-dog micro theme. So if you enjoy last week’s tail, here’s another one to sniff you nose at (and, yes, a few more incollarable puns). Aliya Whiteley is a writer of dark tales […]

Today the Drabblecast brings you “I Will Remain” by David Steffen. It’s a show for all our weird listeners out there that are dog people…maybe literally. Yes, it’s a ruff day in paradise. (Oh yeah, we’re barking up the dog pun tree.) We think you’ll thank us when you hear what we’ve unleashed. The author […]

The Drabblecast presents “Night of the Living POTUS” by Adam-Troy Castro. Every President Elect has “the briefing.” You know the one. The President opens a binder and learns the awful truths of the world. They all have to learn the same lesson. This is the story of one President who learns the horrifying truth and […]

The Drabblecast completes its triumphant return with the conclusion of this two-part Halloween special: “Skullpocket: Part 2” by Nathan Ballingrud! In this riveting finale we learn the origins of the Orchid Girl, the mystery behind Skull Pocket Fair, and the horrible truth behind the Extinction Event. A freak show awaits you indeed! Story Excerpt: But […]

The Drabblecast is finally reborn with this special two-part Halloween story: “Skullpocket” by Nathan Ballingrud! It’s been a long year and a half(ish), folks. Death just isn’t what it used to be. Frankly it’s boring. Everyone screaming and crying at each other, the incessant heat, obsessive social media addicts—it gets old, ya know? Can’t we […]

The Drabblecast Reborn! Yeah, it’s happening! There’s just 48 hours left to be a part of it, folks. That’s right, our Drabblecast Reborn Kickstarter Campaign comes to a close this Wednesday, October 17th @ 7 pm EST/4 pm PST. In our recap, Norm wraps up the final Drabblecast Relaunch Prelaunch episode with gratitude, news, and […]

Drabblecast Fan Zimmerman goes over his first Drabblecast love, remembering his trip through the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska, in this Drabblecast Relaunch Prelaunch fan pick. The smallness we feel in big places; the conversations we have with ourselves. The real lesson of life is to laugh. “Because life, no matter how dark, when read as […]

The Drabblecast Reborn Kickstarter campaign continues! Today, Fan Picks: Followed, by Will Macintosh as chosen and introduced by Drabblecast fan Boo Yeah. Hear her thoughts on an unsettling story about living with the consequences of our actions.

This week the Drabblecast presents an originally commissioned story: “Garen and the Hound” by Jeremiah Tolbert. It is a story about the dream world and the relentless pursuit of something dark and sinister. This story is part of our Lovecraft Month, a celebration of all things H.P. and Old Ones. Story Excerpt: The veils of […]

We begin our month-long celebration of H.P. Lovecraft with a dramatic reading of “The Cats of Ulthar.” Lovecraft Month is our yearly celebration of H.P. and his sprawling mythos. All this month you’ll enjoy some awesome original stories commissioned just for Drabblecast listeners. We’re excited to be featuring works by three of our favorite authors, […]

Women and Aliens Month slithers forward with this week’s story: “Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs” by Lauren Beukes. Lauren Beukes is an award-winning, best-selling novelist who also writes comics, screenplays, and TV shows. Her novels include The Shining Girls, Broken Monsters and Zoo City. Story Excerpt: Unathi was singing karaoke when the creature attacked Tokyo. Or […]

This episode of the Drabblecast presents “Water Spots,” by Rebecca Gomezrueda, a troubling tale of murk, darkness, and the complexity of the human experience. Is it something in the water? Consider yourself warned. Story Excerpt: “They found your brother…” Her mother leaves the sentence unfinished, and she wants to tell her not to go on. He […]

This episode of the Drabblecast brings you “A Last Kiss for Lazarus Winters,” another story in D.K. Thompson’s Saint Darwin’s Spirituals series. D.K. Thompson was the host and co-editor of PodCastle, a fantasy fiction podcast, for five years, and has narrated audiobooks by Tim Pratt, Greg van Eekhout, and James Maxey, among others. Story Excerpt: […]

There are two things I love, and one is the tiny grey owl outside my window. He is not afraid of me. He hoots and hops to my windowsill so I can stroke his downy head and feed him worms I’ve saved in my pocket. It is hard to get the worms from my pocket, […]

The Drabblecast presents: “The Little Mermaid of Innsmouth” by Caroline M. Yoachim. This is a new take on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fish tale, replete with all the Lovecraftian lore you should expect from The Drabblecast!   Story Excerpt: Tomiko knelt at the table, across from her father, carefully holding her back rigid and […]

The deadliest things in war are not bullets and guns, but hunger and desperation. I’m hungry. Penny gets the bed tonight, I’m on watch, Erik is out looting for food and supplies. If he were white, he tells us seriously, the press would say he was scavenging. But for him, it’s looting. Not that there’s […]