I've always been a big admirer of The Simpsons and had been looking for an excuse to shamelessly steal their format for my Podcast. The opportunity finally came along in August of last year. I'd been looking for other writers to contribute items such as the "Thought For The Day" section or other parts of the show, and mentioned this to Peter Gardiner - a prolific writer that I'd worked with in the Brighton Theatre of the Air group. His style is very Black Mirror / Tales of the Unexpected and he likes to dabble in dark sci-fi and off-beat humour - as can be heard in his own series of podcasts - Whisper Through The Static - for 2Bit Productions. If you would like to hear my voice on his productions then check out Unmoored and Late To The Party - see if you can spot me.
Anyway, he seemed a perfect fit for a contribution and I was excited to receive a whole story to feature on the show. Reading through it soon became clear that it fell more towards the Horror genre than my usual adventure Steampunk style, but that got me thinking. It was time for a The Simpsons style "Halloween Special"!
These shows are amongst my favourites as then tend to be a collection of short sketches where all the usual rules (such as they are) are thrown out the window. Absolutely anything is possible as long as it has a scary payoff and this let my mind run free and come up with something a little more frightening than usual.
So have a listen and see what you think. You don't really need to know anything else about the podcast or Tales Of New Albion as this episode is very much a stand alone episode. However, you might want to listen to the start of the previous few episodes to see what the "Listeners Telephone In" section is usually all about, or not.
Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy Peter's story, which will also feature in one of his podcasts soon. And don't go having nightmares...
...although you can if want:
Hear the Tales Of New Albion Halloween Special
