It was so popular last year that we decided to do it again! Join us this holiday season as we introduce you to twelve of our favourite podcasts in the 12 Days of Podmas.
Although H.P. Lovecraft is a notorious figure in the world of literature, there is no denying that his works have had a deep impact on a number of authors who followed. Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Robert Bloch are just a few who have stated that he was an influence for them. If it were not for Lovecraft we would not have Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep and all manner of horrors that dwell on the borders of mans’ comprehension.
Given the popularity of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos there have been a lot of productions of his works in a variety of forms, from films to comic books, to reimagining his stories in different settings. One stand out version of these has been The Lovecraft Investigations, a podcast created by Julian Simpson and released by Sweet Talk Productions for BBC Radio Four. There have been four seasons of the show so far, with the latest released back in October of this year.
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Each season is a modernisation of one of Lovecraft’s works. The stories covered – and each season shares the same titles – are: ‘The Case of Charles Dexter Ward’, ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’, ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’, and ‘The Haunter of the Dark’. You cannot, however, just jump into the latest season as there is an overriding plot arc that links them all together. You would also be missing out on some fantastic world and character building.
You get caught up completely in the lives of the two hosts of the Mystery Machine (a podcast-within-a-podcast), Matt Heawood (Barnaby Kay) and Kennedy Fisher (Jana Carpenter). A bit of a Mulder and Scully like duo, without the backing of the FBI, they are the heads of a large voice cast, and bring us into their world of true crime, the occult and conspiracy theories. The production of the show is of the highest quality and incredibly atmospheric.
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The podcast is also set within Julian Simpson’s Pleasant Green universe, which came about from his series of radio plays that started back in 2007. The Lovecraft Investigations is definitely worth looking into if you are a fan of the original works, or even if you are new to the world that Lovecraft created and Simpson has expanded upon.
The Lovecraft Investigations is available from wherever you get your podcasts.