Podsothoth: A Lovecraft Book Club

Huge Success, LLC
  • 4.7 (18)
  • BOOKS

Podsothoth is a horror and comedy podcast dedicated to the works (and foibles) of H.P. Lovecraft, hosted by recovering goth and internet D-lister celebrity, Tod Beardsley. Every Lovecraft story will be covered over two episodes each. First, Tod will read the story with minimal production, and ideal for people who just want to hear Lovecraft's words. This is the horror part. Following each story is a discussion of, about, and around that story, and have plenty of jokes and giggles. This is the comedy part. Follow the show at https://defcon.social/@podsothoth, or email the show at hideous@podsothoth.club. Other media may crawl out from the chaos iN ThE ineffAbLE fUTUrE, beyOnD tHe KEn OF MAN OR BEAST ALIKE AND IN A TIME OF THE GREAT RETURN OF THE OLD ONES, WHO WILL F'THAGN R'YL'EHHHHH IA IA!!!!!

  1. FEB 8

    74: The Last Test (Discussion)

    Join Tod and Congressional Candidate Claire as they discuss "The Last Test," by H.P. Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro. It was first published in the November 1928 issue of Weird Tales, under de Castro's name. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story touches on sensitive subjects such as suicide, the unethical treatment of animals, the unethical treatment of humans, the lost city of Atlantis, hypodermic needles, California politics, prison administration, unkind characterizations of Tibetans and Mexican-Americans, Nyarlathotep (also known as the Crawling Chaos), wildly unethical journalism, and the vilification of medical science. If this subject matter is likely to disturb or offend you, you may wish to skip this episode. Specifically, in this episode, there's a very short story that's worth an extra warning. If you don't want to hear that, skip from 57m23s to 59m37. You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com. Other Links Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein coverage of the storyLearn about Roko's Basilisk, sucker!Man of science Lister did not "invent" Listerine, but it's named after him. Neat!We have two new podcasts, War in Pieces and War in Pages. They're both kind of dumb but also kind of not?Finally, you can listen to Claire not talk about Lovecraft nonsense, but actual things that matter, on the Wait WHAT?! podcast. She comes in at right about the half hour mark. Then she leaves and the guys talk about football. Check it out on Spotify and elsewhere.You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    1h 4m

  2. JAN 25

    73: The Last Test

    A reading of "The Last Test" by H.P. Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro. It was first published in the  November 1928 issue of Weird Tales, under de Castro's name, and first read aloud here, by me, in January of 2026. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story touches on sensitive subjects such as suicide, the unethical treatment of animals, the unethical treatment of humans, the lost city of Atlantis, hypodermic needles, California politics, prison administration, unkind characterizations of Tibetans and Mexican-Americans, Nyarlathotep (also known as the Crawling Chaos), wildly unethical journalism, and the vilification of medical science. If this subject matter is likely to disturb or offend you, you may wish to skip this episode. You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com, or enjoy the ambient "Chambers of Torture" by Michael Ghelfi Studios at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzYZQySL8Ac. You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    1h 51m

  3. 12/06/2025

    72: The Tomb (Discussion)

    A reading of  "The Tomb," by H.P. Lovecraft. It was first published in the March, 1922 issue of The Vagrant, and first read aloud here, by me, in November of 2025. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story is concerned with loneliness, the idle rich, monomania, desiccated corpses, some lightly implied necrophilia, some ribald poetry, drunkenness, and an involuntary commitment.  If this subject matter is likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode. If you're a French sort, check out Lovecraft L’intégrale des histoires, it sounds pretty great! Alternatively, if you want to see Tod and friends talk about cybersecurity and horror movies in English, see CVE's emerging threats and horror movies over on ThreatCon1. You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    46 min

  4. 11/08/2025

    71: The Tomb

    A reading of  "The Tomb," by H.P. Lovecraft. It was first published in the March, 1922 issue of The Vagrant, and first read aloud here, by me, in November of 2025. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story is concerned with loneliness, the idle rich, monomania, desiccated corpses, some lightly implied necrophilia, some ribald poetry, drunkenness, and an involuntary commitment.  If this subject matter is likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode. You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com, or enjoy the ambient Haunted Cemetery Ambience soundscape by Sound Illusion. You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    27 min

  5. 09/29/2025

    70: The Loved Dead (Discussion)

    Tod and Claire discuss "The Loved Dead" by C.M. Eddy, Jr. and H.P. Lovecraft, which was first published in the May/June 1924 issue of Weird Tales. As this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone.  In particular, this story is about necrophilia, or as we refer to it, "corpse snuggling." There's also brief mention of suicide as a viable out for the main character. Finally, there's a fairly long conversation about the nature of evil and how parricide (the killing of one's parents) figures in the balance of evil. We kinda go back to that over and over in this one. Claire mentioned Jonica's Island, which was published in 1945. Claire says, "check it out!" We never solved the mystery of "what was Tod thinking of" when he suggested a) Wuthering Heights has a plot element of indenturing, and b) that it takes place in Nova Scotia. Tod was thinking of Anne of Green Gables, which is, indeed, set in NS, Canada. But we're still unclear if any of the characters were indentured because we still haven't looked it up. Finally, give @GreatOldBot a follow on Mastodon. Do it! And also Kevin -- find him in my mentions! You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    53 min

  6. 08/01/2025

    69: The Loved Dead

    A reading of “The Loved Dead” by C.M. Eddy, Jr. and H.P. Lovecraft, which was first published in the May/June 1924 issue of Weird Tales, and first read aloud here, by me, in July of 2025. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story is about necrophilia -- though it is heavily suggested, the dead are not loved in a graphic or overtly sexual way. But, that's pretty much this story's whole thing. If this subject matter is likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode. You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com, or enjoy the ambient "Haunted Cemetery Ambience" soundscape by Sound Illusion at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu_mMqKt_lU. You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    26 min

  7. 06/28/2025

    68: He (Discussion)

    Tod and Claire discuss HP Lovecraft's "He," which was first published in the September 1926 issue of Weird Tales. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story contains some unkind depictions of New York immigrants and Native Americans, a fancyboy-turned-necromancer, rum poisoning, a use of the Wither spell, and an inexplicable, multi-eyed ooze-ghost monster. If any of these elements are likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode. Check out our friend Kai's story in the Spring 2025 issue of 34 Orchard, "Change in the House of Flies," which is very horror-noir. Also: 99 Percent Invisible's deep dive into The Power Broker starts here -- strong recommend! Also check out sketches and history of the wizard's manor at this BlogSpot site! Oh and of course find us in the Best 90 Lovecraftian Podcasts! (I'm pretty sure we're going to clinch this year's America's Top Lovecraft Following Man.) You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    39 min

  8. 05/04/2025

    67: He

    A reading of H.P. Lovecraft’s “He,” which was first published in the September 1926 issue of Weird Tales, and first read aloud here, by me, in May of 2025. Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story contains some unkind depictions of New York immigrants and Native Americans, an unexpected amount of architectural detail, a fancyboy-turned-necromancer, rum drinking, tobacco smoking, poorly inflected Georgian-era English, a particularly damaging bout of madness, and an inexplicable, multi-eyed ooze monster. If any of these elements are likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode. You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com, or enjoy the ambient "Victorian London" soundscape by The Vault of Ambience. You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God. Support the show Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

    28 min
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4.7
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About

Podsothoth is a horror and comedy podcast dedicated to the works (and foibles) of H.P. Lovecraft, hosted by recovering goth and internet D-lister celebrity, Tod Beardsley. Every Lovecraft story will be covered over two episodes each. First, Tod will read the story with minimal production, and ideal for people who just want to hear Lovecraft's words. This is the horror part. Following each story is a discussion of, about, and around that story, and have plenty of jokes and giggles. This is the comedy part. Follow the show at https://defcon.social/@podsothoth, or email the show at hideous@podsothoth.club. Other media may crawl out from the chaos iN ThE ineffAbLE fUTUrE, beyOnD tHe KEn OF MAN OR BEAST ALIKE AND IN A TIME OF THE GREAT RETURN OF THE OLD ONES, WHO WILL F'THAGN R'YL'EHHHHH IA IA!!!!!

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