49 episodes

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!!!!!

Podsothoth: A Lovecraft Book Club Huge Success, LLC

    • Arts
    • 4.9 • 13 Ratings

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!!!!!

    49: Polaris

    49: Polaris

    In which Tod reads HP Lovecraft's Polaris, first published by HP Lovecraft in the December, 1920 issue of The Philosopher and first read by Tod on May 12, 2024.

    Please be forewarned that this is a horror podcast, and so it might not be for everyone. As a warning, this short story includes descriptions of siderophobia, (the fear of stars), a swampy cemetery, a mention of cannibalism, a confusion between waking and dreaming life, and many poorly pronounced fantastical place and race names. If these things are likely to bother you unduly, you are urged to skip this episode.

    The ambiance for this episode is provided by Horror Wind Ambience. Scary Wind Sounds and Swamp Sounds at Night. Check their YouTube links for much longer versions!
    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!

    • 10 min
    48: The Music of Erich Zann (Discussion)

    48: The Music of Erich Zann (Discussion)

    In which Claire and Tod talk about HP Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann," first published in the March, 1922 issue of The National Amateur, and available at hplovecraft.com. As this is a horror podcast, please know that this episode may not be for everyone. This story, in particular, features some poorly pronounced French, a number of awkward social encounters, some disturbing and dangerous architecture, descriptions of fantastic otherworldly musical elements and the implied posthumous playing of the same.

    The video for Sparks's Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me) looks like the  Rue d'Auseil, to me.

    Read up on Pittsburgh's crazy city steps situation. 15 miles of steps!

    One drop in the episode comes from this amazing compilation of every time the word "cook" is spoken in Breaking Bad.

    Tod and Claire totally forgot to talk about, at length, the whole spectral music movement in contemporary classical. Go listen to to some,  and then read up on Kaija Saariaho. She was a genius.

    Also, the abyss, in this story, is really just the horror of neighborhood gentrification.
    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!

    • 40 min
    47: The Music of Erich Zann

    47: The Music of Erich Zann

    In which Tod reads HP Lovecraft's The Music of Erich Zann, first published in the March, 1922 issue of The National Amateur, and first read by Tod on April 13, 2024.

    As this is a horror podcast, please know that this episode may not be for everyone. This story, in particular, features some poorly pronounced French, a number of awkward social encounters, some disturbing and dangerous architecture, descriptions of fantastic otherworldly musical elements, the implied, posthumous playing of the same, and the real otherworldly compositions of Kaija Saariaho, performed here by Jakob Koranyi on the ambiance track. Definitely check out her life and work, as it gets much, much weirder than what was used in this episode.


    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!

    • 20 min
    46: The Descendant (Discussion)

    46: The Descendant (Discussion)

    In which Tod and Claire discuss The Descendant, by HP Lovecraft, first published in the winter 1938 issue of Leaves. We also talk about Charles Fort and the Fortean Times, kind of a lot.

    Links to things mentioned in the show include Angela Collier's "physics crackpots: a theory" and https://hplovecraft.com. We also talked about NecronomiCON Providence, which I hope you go to in mid-August.

    Please be aware, this is a horror podcast, so it might not be for everyone. Notably, this story fragment touches on the troubling topics of the ravages of age and dementia, the Roman empire and medieval England, the dreaded Necronomicon, 90's-era Satanism, and a nihilistic longing to escape the natural world. If these topics are likely to trouble you, you are urged to skip this episode.

    Editor's note: At about 12m30s, Tod states that Rats in the Walls was written in 1929. That is incorrect. Rats in the Walls was published in 1924, two years before this was written, which implies that maybe this actually was intended as a sequel (but with different names and not really a sequel). In other words, Claire was right and Tod was wrong. That's fine.
    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!

    • 54 min
    45: The Descendant

    45: The Descendant

    In which Tod reads HP Lovecraft's The Descendant, first published in the winter 1938 issue of "Leaves," and first read by Tod on February 25, 2024.

    Please be aware, this is a horror podcast, so it might not be for everyone. Notably, this story fragment touches on the troubling topics of the ravages of age and dementia, the Roman empire and medieval England, the dreaded Necronomicon, 90's-era Satanism, and a nihilistic longing to escape the natural world. If these topics are likely to trouble you, you are urged to skip this episode.

    Background ambience in the episode is Hidden Used Book Store ASMR, on YouTube.


    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!

    • 9 min
    44: The Rats in the Walls (Discussion)

    44: The Rats in the Walls (Discussion)

    In which Claire and Tod discuss the Rats in the Walls. Note we spend the first quarter talking about racism in literature sooooooooo there's that.

    Here's the Javascript to change the cats name, do with it what thou wilt: https://gist.github.com/todb/35aa059ef2a94cb86a2db63e5121ddeb

    And here's Jason Buck's Linktree, if you get a chance to see him, he's real good, even though we make just a little bit of fun: https://linktr.ee/jasonbuckstoryteller/

    Okay I gotta pick Claire up from the airport like, right now.

    In the meantime, feel free to drop us a line!

    Email: hideous@podsothoth.club
    Mastodon: @podsothoth@defcon.social
    Twitter: nah
    Facebook: idk, Claire runs that, but if you search "Podsothoth" I'm sure you'll find it.



    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!

    • 1 hr 2 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
13 Ratings

13 Ratings

Nyerrehhtrjsyr ,

Such a great Lovecraft show

I mean, I should know, I made it. And after four years of barely keeping up with publishing, I still love it.

Superlegend666 ,

From an ageing nerd

Love the dynamic of Tod and Claire on the discussion eps. Love that I don’t have to read the stories myself. This is the way I want to consume Lovecraft. This and board games with miniatures.

DaHeiKat ,

Great Podcast

I heard about you from Greatest Gen. I’m a Lovecraft fan and have read about half of his stories. I love the banter and the read alouds. I’m hooked already.

Top Podcasts In Arts

Fresh Air
NPR
The Moth
The Moth
99% Invisible
Roman Mars
Glad We Had This Chat with Caroline Hirons
Wall to Wall Media
The Magnus Archives
Rusty Quill
Art Sense
Canvia

You Might Also Like

The HorrorBabble Podcast
HorrorBabble
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward
Elder Sign: A Weird Fiction Podcast
Claytemple Media
Greatest Trek: New Star Trek Reviewed
Uxbridge-Shimoda LLC
The Greatest Generation
Adam Pranica and Benjamin Harrison review Star Trek
The Flop House
MaximumFun, Dan McCoy, Stuart Wellington, Elliott Kalan