Necessary Shadows

Brian Lillie

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SCIENCE FICTION
WEEKLY SERIES

Necessary Shadows is a serialized cosmic horror told through short stories, field reports, oral histories, and institutional archives. Since the early 1900s, a hidden human/nonhuman partnership has quietly managed disturbances across the American Midwest. When a localized anomaly at Nest Lake triggers the reopening of dormant files, the limits of containment begin to show... Season one drops every Tuesday, starting March 17th.

EPISODE 1

File 01: The Nest Lake Incident

When a violent storm forms without warning over Nest Lake—despite atmospheric conditions that make such a system impossible—local residents return to find their shoreline neighborhood in shambles. Drawing from weather memoranda, sheriff’s logs, and recovered oral histories, this first case file examines an anomaly with no terrestrial precedent—and its aftermath. Written and narrated by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

27 min
EPISODE 2

File 02: The Marrow Falls Dossier

Every year on the Saturday nearest the summer solstice, the residents of Marrow Falls gather for a parade no one claims to organize and no one admits to marching in. Attendance is absolute. Drawing from ethnographic notes, local clippings, and decades of collected accounts, this dossier examines a civic ritual whose origin remains undocumented—and whose repetition appears compulsory. Written and narrated by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

22 min
EPISODE 3

File 03: The Guest

When an independent podcaster investigating a long-abandoned lakeside resort begins uncovering inconsistencies in official records, she unknowingly brushes against a structure far older than the mystery she set out to explore. Meanwhile, a group of new college friends accepts an invitation to a fancy Thanksgiving soiree. Written by Brian Lillie. Narrated by Crissy Zamarron and Merrill Hodnefield. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

25 min
EPISODE 4

File 04: The Mirror Census/If You Hear Something

A double feature from the strange Midwest... The Mirror Census In certain regions, the census requires specialized procedures. Division 17 of the Bureau of Household Enumeration conducts what it calls the Mirror Census—an audit not of residents, but of reflections. Through training materials and field documentation, this file follows a rookie enumerator’s first assignment, where symmetry proves unreliable and the line between occupant and image begins to blur. Narrated by Otis Lillie and Brian Lillie. If You Hear Something When a small-town print shop owner begins experiencing unexplained alarm failures and a building-wide vibration no breaker can silence, she calls in an electrician. Is something trying to communicate with them? Narrated by Kristine Yun. Both stories written by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

28 min
EPISODE 5

File 05: The Fifth Service, pt. 1

Official records occasionally reference a presence known only as the Fifth Service—invoked in moments of disruption, then quietly excised from public explanation. We listen to a brief talk from a perplexed field researcher, followed by a day in the life of Inter-County Special Projects Liaison, Sondra Kellerman. Written by Brian Lillie. Narrated by Merrill Hodnefield. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

28 min
EPISODE 6

File 06: The Shape of the Chase

A botched robbery releases a dangerous predator. The Fifth Service sends their most experienced operative to intervene. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

28 min
EPISODE 7

File 07: the draculars

A new word appears in a child’s dream and begins circulating through the hallways, recess rhythms, and ventilation ducts of a rural consolidated school campus. At first dismissed as playground nonsense, the phenomenon spreads with unsettling coordination. Written and narrated by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

19 min
EPISODE 8

File 08: A Visit to Plum Island

A travel vlogger’s visit to a quiet Midwestern island uncovers a history that refuses to settle. Through archival newspapers, internal Fifth Service memoranda, and recovered firsthand testimony, this file traces the legacy of a long-abandoned medical colony, a ballroom fire linked to later incidents, and a celebration that closes the bridge at sundown. Some sites hum long after they burn. Written and narrated by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

30 min
EPISODE 9

File 09: The Fifth Service, pt. 2

Sondra Kellerman meets the mysterious 'field researcher' at last. What follows is a practical demonstration of the Fifth Service in action, featuring one of the most polite 911 calls on record. And cookies. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

24 min
EPISODE 10

File 10: The Ambassador Program

Restricted orientation materials describe The Ambassador not as a leader or savior, but as a constraint—a necessary interface between human mediators and...others. When a hospital chaplain attempts to leverage suffering for personal revelation, intervention arrives in a form both ordinary and not. Written and narrated by Brian Lillie. @necessaryshadows necessaryshadows.com Peace! This episode includes AI-generated content.

30 min

10 Episodes

Necessary Shadows is a serialized cosmic horror told through short stories, field reports, oral histories, and institutional archives. Since the early 1900s, a hidden human/nonhuman partnership has quietly managed disturbances across the American Midwest. When a localized anomaly at Nest Lake triggers the reopening of dormant files, the limits of containment begin to show... Season one drops every Tuesday, starting March 17th.

Creator

Brian Lillie
Episodes

10
Seasons

1
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Copyright Brian Lillie
Show Website

Necessary Shadows