Tales of Melaina Blanc: Classic Horror and Stories Mysterious

Melaina Blanc

**Production is on hiatus to devote more time to Keen's Turn (https://melainablanc.com/).** Tales of horror, peculiarity, and the supernatural, read and sometimes written by Melaina Blanc. From Edgar Allan Poe to Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, to H. P. Lovecraft and beyond, join me for a celebration of strange and spooky stories. What's that music, you ask, rising from the crypt? The tomb's tones.

Episodes

  1. Trailer | Keen's Turn: A High-Stakes Vampire Horror Comedy

    07/24/2021

    Trailer | Keen's Turn: A High-Stakes Vampire Horror Comedy

    Lend me your ears, lend me your eyes, lend me any organs you can spare, and prepare yourself for a vampire story like no other.  Keen's Turn is a horror comedy audio drama packed with thrills, chills, and more puns than you can shake a stake at.  The trailer video that accompanies this episode is parked on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UHPyOtYF19I  When righteous daydreamer Jared Stern becomes the chance witness to a vampire's murderous meal, he decides to take it upon himself to rid his city of the threat. But the vampire Keen, not so easily defeated, takes an interest of his own in his would-be slayer.  It's neck and neck in ensuing bloody battles, a bout of about turns of turns of mind, and an obsession with wordplay set upon a deadpan penchant for puns.  And that's only the beginning. So join me for an action-packed horror show—a tale of tricks and traps traversing New York City, either to repair the world…or to stain it.  Welcome to Star–Cross, book one: Keen's Turn.  New episodes moonly at https://melainablanc.com/. Sign up for the mailing list for updates.    Find me on Twitter and Instagram, @MelainaBlanc  https://twitter.com/MelainaBlanc  https://www.instagram.com/melainablanc/  Star–Cross: Keen's Turn is written and produced solely by Melaina Blanc, your friendly basement podcaster. Music and sound effects are owned or produced by me, or public domain, except as noted. © 2021 Melaina Blanc. All rights reserved.

    3 min

  2. 01/28/2021

    Rashōmon, by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

    A lowly servant stands beneath Rashōmon Gate, waiting for a break in the rain.    Notes:  A raccoon dog, or tanuki, is neither a racoon nor a dog, and like the fox it is regarded in Japan as a trickster animal.  "Kimono" literally translates as "thing for wearing" and as such refers to an ungendered garment.  The Heian Period was from 794 to 1185, when Kyōto ("Capital City") was the capital of Japan, which it remained for over a thousand years, before the royals moved east to Tōkyō ("Eastern Capital").  This story was first published in 1915. I've tried to keep the translation as close to the original text (his newest version) as possible. I could go on about it, but I won't.    Sound:  Astounded Christopher J Astbury Switzerland

    24 min

  3. 12/30/2020

    The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe

    On the surface superficial joy in rhyming interstitial,  There is nothing artificial in the poem here in store—  Not a stanza injudicial in the poem here in store.                                                     Quoted here for evermore.    Notes (words are defined in the sense they are used in the poem):  surcease: an end  obeisance: gesture of respect  mien: appearance; attitude  Pallas: Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom  Plutonian: of Pluto, the god of the underworld in classical mythology  nepenthe: potion of forgetfulness  is there balm in Gilead?: echoes a Biblical verse, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" where this is a rhetorical question (Gilead being a place that was known for its healing balm), so to the effect of, "isn't there healing to be found where there's given to be?" modified here to, "is there healing to be found where there's given to be?"  Aidenn: Eden; paradise    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    11 min
  4. The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe

    11/30/2020

    The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe

    This tale of vengeance begins in Italy, amidst the madness of the carnival season... "Nemo me impune lacessit." No one impugns me with impunity.    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com "Immuration"

    20 min

  5. 10/31/2020

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving (Part 3/3)

    As the merry-making extends towards the very witching hour of night, a ride homewards promises our hero a journey through the haunts of that infamous spectre, the HEADLESS HORSEMAN of Sleepy Hollow.    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com "Creepy Hollow"

    31 min

  6. 10/01/2020

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving (Part 2/3)

    With his heart set on the attractive Katrina Van Tassel and her even more attractive inheritance, Ichabod Crane finds a formidable rival in the person of BROM BONES, the town rowdy.    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com "Creepy Hollow"

    37 min

  7. 09/02/2020

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving (Part 1/3)

    If you are familiar with the lands just north of the largest port city in the great State of New-York, you may have heard of the region known as SLEEPY HOLLOW, and of the strange tales and superstitions which seem to float in its very air, and infect any who tarry there overlong.    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com "Creepy Hollow"

    25 min

  8. 08/04/2020

    From Beyond, by H. P. Lovecraft

    You may have heard something of the accursed affair already, with the rumors in the papers of imprudent scientific pryings, and it is these not unsubstantiated rumors that lead me to break my silence on the matter of my best friend, Crawford Tillinghast. Although it is not a tale which I recount with any eagerness...    Ending music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    27 min
  9. The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

    07/06/2020

    The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

    Now I comprehend you think me mad, but harken well to my tale, and I am assured it will convince you of my perfect sanity, as it would any sane person...    The music is by Setuniman on Freesound (https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/). Copyright Setuniman, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode). Used with permission. Modifications: volume reduced, faded out. Source: https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/sounds/166473

    16 min
  • 9 Episodes

About

**Production is on hiatus to devote more time to Keen's Turn (https://melainablanc.com/).** Tales of horror, peculiarity, and the supernatural, read and sometimes written by Melaina Blanc. From Edgar Allan Poe to Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, to H. P. Lovecraft and beyond, join me for a celebration of strange and spooky stories. What's that music, you ask, rising from the crypt? The tomb's tones.

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