The Cryptonaturalist

There’s a wilderness inside every library. This episode visits one of the nocturnal residents after closing time. Hidden Lore poetry by Lucille Valentine. Lucille is a desert rat masquerading as a voice actor, poet, visual artist, and LGBTQ+ community advocate whose works often include themes of poverty, womanhood, queer and trans experience, along with whatever her current existential crisis is....

A strange visitor joins the CryptoNaturalist around the campfire for a pleasant, if one-sided, conversation. Special thanks to Tim Sniffin for being the voice of The Transmission. Hear more of Tim on the Hello From The Magic Tavern podcast as the Mysterious Man, and find more of Tim's work at timsniffen.com Oh, and subscribe to our new YouTube channel for upcoming bonus videos. We’re currently wor...

The Cryptonaturalist is lost and then found in the usual place, a twisted scientist’s volcano lair. Hidden lore poetry by Leslie J. Anderson. Leslie’s writing has appeared in Asimov’s, Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, and Apex, to name a few. Her collection of poetry, An Inheritance of Stone , was released from Alliteration Ink and was nominated for an Elgin award. Poems...

The CryptoNaturalist is missing, but Cassandra is on the case. Hidden lore poetry by Emily Olorin Emily is a writer from Down Under (whether the depths of hell or Australia is open to interpretation). They are interested in body horror, sci-fi, and pretty poetry - preferably in combination. Further works can be found at: olorinwrites.wordpress.com

Today we visit an elusive cryptid that hides in plain sight and borrows human voices. Hidden lore poetry by Alice Pow. Alice Pow allegedly saw Mothman in a Chicago neighborhood during the summer of 2017. She is a writer of prose, poetry, and the upcoming podcast Stone Soup for the Gut. Find her on twitter @Alicepow and if you like her work, feel free to reach out. She is always in search of the mo...

We’re all made of star stuff, some of us more literally than others. Lauren Dee was played by Julia Schifini. Julia is a podcaster, historian, and big fan of professional wrestling. She is the co-host of Spirits Podcast, a boozy tour of mythology, legends, and folklore, as well as a voice actor on several audio dramas. To find out more about her work, visit juliaschifini.com Lauren Dee was named f...

This week we visit home territory and visit a special grove of sassafras trees. Hidden lore segment poetry contributed by Suzannah Dalzell. Suzannah lives on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Wa where she divides her time more or less equally between writing and land conservation. Among the journals her work has appeared in are Flyway, Pilgrimage Magazine, About Place, Earthspeak and The Raven Chro...

What creature swims through the ocean of the sky? What could graze within the storm? I know the answer. Listen and you will too. Poetry by Priyanka Sacheti. Priyanka is a writer based in Bangalore, India. Raised in Oman and educated in United Kingdom, she has been been published in Guardian , Art Slant , The Establishment , Gulf New s, and Brownbook among others. She is presently an editor at Mash...

When you find the dirt road with the unnamed creature, obey the rules, respect the emptiness, and make peace with the fact that not everything is there for your convenience. Cara Ehlenfeldt is a writer, sound studies grad student, and co-creator of the upcoming audio drama podcast the Godshead Incidental. She originally hails from the New Jersey Pine Barrens, although she considers the forests of...

This week we explore safety, discover a very unusual snake, and receive an important update about squirrels. Saker played the voice of Jed VanDorn. Saker is a cohost of It's All Been Done: A Barenaked Ladies podcast. It's two boys talking about almost anything but Barenaked Ladies. You can find it on your favorite podcast catcher. Saker also has a nerd hip-hop group called 2d6, online at 2d6music....

If you stop to check, it turns out that not all barns are barns. The voice of Valentina Blackwood was played by Sarah Rhea Werner. Sarah Rhea Werner is a professional writer and podcaster who loves to help creators find confidence and success. She is a contributor to Forbes, and creator of the Girl In Space and Write Now podcasts. She currently lives in the Midwest with one husband, two rescue cat...

This week the show takes a half-remembered expedition to a strange forest that manipulates minds, shares secrets, and consumes memories. The voice of Cryptonaturalist Max Dean was played by Adal Rifai. Adal is the voice of Chunt on the podcast Hello from the Magic Tavern, as well as one of the hosts of Hey Riddle Riddle. Hidden Lore Segment poetry contributed by Eric Fisher Stone. Eric is original...

On this episode we visit a special amphibian perfectly adapted to life in parking lots. Special thanks to Cal Cleary for playing the Kroger employee. John Muir life and times: https://www.nps.gov/jomu/learn/historyculture/people.htm A good sample of John Muir’s essays: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/john-muir/

This episode explores the wildest parts of your home. Featuring a guest voice by podcasting icon and journalist Justin McElroy. You can hear Justin on the podcasts My Brother, My Brother and Me; The Adventure Zone; and Sawbones. For more information on Justin’s work, visit www. McElroyShows.com By Day, Evan Dicken studies old Japanese Maps and crunches data for all manner of fascinating medical re...

Today we meet a tiny spider that defies the laws of physics in a place that is, at best, semi-real. We also hear a transmission from another Cryptonaturalist in the field and read some flash fiction by Jamie Lackey. Jamie Lackey lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their cat. She has had over 130 short stories published in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex Magazine, and Escape Pod. Her...

We pass the long miles with a story of a rare and dangerous cryptid that lurks in the dark, lonely wilds. Not all visitors are friendly and a light in the darkness isn’t always a sign of hope. My old friend Russell Van Atta learned these hard lessons in the dark woods not far from Parkersburg, West Virginia.

A visit to Oregon’s Sky Lake Wilderness brings us a glimpse of a rare bird that fishes from its perch in the vast abyss of outer space. Hidden Lore segment contribution by Leslie J. Anderson. Leslie J. Anderson’s writing has appeared in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Apex, Pseudopod, and Daily Science Fiction to name a few. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart and a Rhysling Award. Her collecti...

A fateful trip to the hidden island of Lower Nantucket brings us face-to-face with the legendary Teacup Whale (and other assorted wonders of the deep). Hidden Lore segment contribution by Judith Skillman. Judith Skillman’s recent book is  Kafka’s Shadow , Deerbrook Editions, 2017. She is the recipient of a Eric Mathieu King Fund Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Washington Tr...

The confluence of Waffle House and blue spruce set the stage for new breakthroughs in the field of cryptonaturalism. A new cryptid is discovered beneath the blue spruce.