Alucard's Fantasy Podcast

Alucard

Join me as I interview rising authors, journeying through epic, unique, and sometimes eerie adventures. If you're a fantasy buff who loves The Witcher, Discworld, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Good Omens, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, Jack Vance, Alexandre Dumas, and more... If you want raw, personal, and wild life stories from emerging authors—and how fantasy shaped their paths... If you're eager for deep dives into modern and classic fantasy topics... This is your new home. alucardjdelauney.substack.com

Episodes

  1. 07/10/2025

    Alucard's Fantasy Podcast S1 E4: Hilarious Life Stories & Live Worldbuilding Jam – Feat. Finn & Alucard's Dads!

    The moment you’ve been waiting for! The Double Dad Date Worldbuilding Session! Wow—this was such a blast. A true classic: fathers and sons gathered together, sharing life-changing stories that were hilarious, heartfelt, and sometimes a bit incriminating. Some tales came out that neither father nor son had ever heard before—one of which might just get Finn-the-Huck in trouble. There were deep moments too: Finn and Alucard’s dads opened up about how Dungeons & Dragons shaped—and even uplifted—some of the dullest, toughest stretches of their lives. A game that’s lasted generations, passed from father to son, and still feels just as epic and relevant today. * Hear real-life stories of sneaking past the sleeping ogre (aka “the girlfriend’s dad”) to reach the fair maiden’s chamber. * Listen to tales of actual injuries sustained while roleplaying. * And sit in on our live worldbuilding jam session, using Alucard’s homebrew improv game now officially titled: WORLD JAM: The Round Robin Fantasy Forge In just 30 minutes, we jointly birthed the chaotic cyberpunk moonworld known as Planet Sump—a low-gravity gas-sickened orb filled with bizarre scientific phenomena and even stranger creatures. Our anti-hero and his trusty sidekick—a Rockbiter named Bronzo—scavenge salvage (mostly from other people) during the lunar low-G cycles. Rockbiter: A strange, minuscule slug-like creature with four heads and terrible eating habits. Want more? Tune in and experience the madness. A lot of work goes into the content creation and Alucard is currently doing all of this for free. So, if you enjoy the podcast, consider buying Alucard a coffee to support the content creation mission ☕ And if you’d like to check out the writing of the host and guests—or support their work—you can find them here: Finn The Huck: Alucard: Books: On Amazon: https://a.co/d/34SeTzC Peace! Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror By Alucard is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alucardjdelauney.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 22m
  2. 06/29/2025

    Alucard's Fantasy Podcast S1 E3—How Anime Saved my Life, Redemption Stories, Japan & Jirai-Kei Girls...

    Join Alucard, recording live from Tokyo, and Finn the Huck as they dive into how Alucard turned to anime in early life instead of drugs. Hear wild stories from his youth—like trying to channel chakra into his feet to run up trees, wearing weighted bracelets and anklets to school every day to be like Rock Lee from Naruto, and ambushing his “combat trainee buddies” as thy tried to escape the school grounds. Follow his current day-to-day adventures in Japan, from run-ins with Yakuza in the bathhouse to being solicited in the streets by Jirai-kei girls. Get a raw look at both the bright and darker sides of Japan—and how these are reflected in anime culture. Expect favorite anime takes, hilarious moments, emotional highs and lows, and the ultimate question: which anime world would you live in? Alucard—nonprofit strategist, one-on-one recovery counselor, and the mind behind The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes—left behind a 15-year career raising millions for causes like literacy and drug education after a rare condition (POTS) forced him into unexpected medical leave. Now, with a debut novel on the way—soon to be an audiobook from Ender’s Game narrator Stefan Rudnicki via Skyboat Media and Blackstone Publishing—he’s going all in on story, madness, and meaning. Hit play. It’s raw, real, and a little ridiculous—just like the best fantasy. If you enjoy the podcast, consider donating to help Alucard get a new laptop—so he can finally run Riverside.fm without lag and keep bringing you even better content, minus the technical glitches. Every bit helps! Buy me a coffee (or in this case… a new laptop ☕💻) If you want to checkout the writing of the guests and host you can find their work here: Finn The Huck: Alucard: Books: On Amazon: https://a.co/d/34SeTzC Peace! Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror By Alucard is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror By Alucard is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alucardjdelauney.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 43m
  3. 06/19/2025

    Alucard's Fantasy Podcast S1 E2 - Dropouts, Personal Demons & Fantasy Crushes Feat. Lisa Kuznak

    What makes a great writer—talent, trauma, or just sheer obsession? In this episode, Alucard sits down with author Lisa Kuznak to talk about the myth of formal education, how many legendary writers dropped out, and whether suffering really shapes better storytellers—or just scars you up for the sequel. They dive into Lisa’s journey, the power of broken beginnings, and then get wonderfully weird: building unforgettable characters, designing rich fantasy worlds, and revealing their most bizarre fictional crushes. (Yes, really.) Alucard—former nonprofit strategist, one-on-one recovery counselor, and the mind behind The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes—left behind a 15-year career raising millions for causes like literacy and drug education after a rare condition (POTS) forced him into unexpected exile. Now, with a debut novel on the way—soon to be an audiobook from Ender’s Game narrator Stefan Rudnicki via Skyboat Media and Blackstone Publishing—he’s going all in on story, madness, and meaning. Hit play. It’s raw, real, and a little ridiculous—just like the best fantasy. If you want to checkout the writing of the guests and host you can find their work here: Lisa Kuznak: Books: Finn The Huck: Alucard: Books: On Amazon: https://a.co/d/34SeTzC Peace! The Brothers Krynn Nocturnal Narrator Lisa Kuznak Obsidian Blackbird. Matt Dent The Black Knight Mister Shock Theo Priestley Grayson D Sullivan Novaheart Danny Maldonado EverEngine An American Writer & Essayist Arian Cook Luke Warfield L. E. Mullin Kat Muller Sami O'Neal Nia Quinn🌿 Dave Weasel Tommy D. Rushing Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror By Alucard is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alucardjdelauney.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 27m
  4. Alucard's Fantasy Podcast S1 E1 - High Lit or Hot Takes? Writing Between Worlds...

    06/14/2025

    Alucard's Fantasy Podcast S1 E1 - High Lit or Hot Takes? Writing Between Worlds...

    Join me and Finn-the-Huck as we kick off the greatest fantasy podcast series of all time. (It is! I swear! I said it, so you know it’s true!) We’re diving into the big fantasy questions, the awkward ones, the questions every fan asks themselves, the ones writers wrestle with — and all the fun little moments in between. Let’s bring back that magic you felt when you picked up that first book and thought, I’m a fantasy lover.Here, it’s still okay to feel that way — no matter how old you are. This is Season 1, Episode 1, so check it out — and keep an eye out for the next episode of Alucard’s Fantasy Podcast. You can listen right here on Substack on my channel, on YouTube, YouTube Muisc, Apple Podcast and Spotify. If you’re interested in the work of the author featured in this podcast, you can check out his writing here on Substack: Finn-the-Huck or click here for his channel. Or if you’re interested in my writing — including my debut novel, which is currently being produced and narrated as an unabridged audiobook by Grammy Award-winning producer Stefan Rudnicki and Skyboat Media — you can check me out at Alucard’s Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror. Peace! The Brothers Krynn Nocturnal Narrator Lisa Kuznak Obsidian Blackbird. Matt Dent The Black Knight Mister Shock Theo Priestley Grayson D Sullivan Novaheart Danny Maldonado EverEngine An American Writer & Essayist Arian Cook Luke Warfield L. E. Mullin Kat Muller Sami O'Neal Nia Quinn🌿 Dave Weasel Tommy D. Rushing Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror By Alucard is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alucardjdelauney.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 28m
  5. Turning your book into an Audiobook

    04/07/2025

    Turning your book into an Audiobook

    I messed around for about 20 minutes and made this clip using Eleven Labs AI app to turn a short section of my story “The Living Light” into audio book format. It was super simple. I downloaded the free app on my iphone, this should link you to it: https://help.elevenlabs.io/hc/en-us/articles/19833992491793-Does-ElevenLabs-have-an-official-app * I created a free account. * Clicked Audiobook from the main menu. * Selected a voice I liked from the list there. * Clicked Create. * Copy pasted a section of my book. * Clicked generate. * I tweaked the settings at the bottom to create more style varience and less monotony and clicked generate again. This helped me also see how my writing is read by someone other than myself and you get a feel for the cadence etc. This allowed me to make a few more adjustments to make improve my flow. However, I didn’t get to generate these adjustments yet as I ran out of free credits haha. When my book editing is done I’ll use this to make an audiobook and will keep ya’ll updated on the journey. I think it will be easy to do it chapter by chapter with a paid account, and then use another program or app to compile the tracks into chapters and index them etc. Peace! If you’d like to read my full story then: If you found this useful, feel free to share! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alucardjdelauney.substack.com/subscribe

    3 min

About

Join me as I interview rising authors, journeying through epic, unique, and sometimes eerie adventures. If you're a fantasy buff who loves The Witcher, Discworld, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Good Omens, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, Jack Vance, Alexandre Dumas, and more... If you want raw, personal, and wild life stories from emerging authors—and how fantasy shaped their paths... If you're eager for deep dives into modern and classic fantasy topics... This is your new home. alucardjdelauney.substack.com