The Strange Recital

Tom Newton and Brent Robison
  • 4.9 (13)
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  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY
The Strange Recital

The Strange Recital is an audio forum for short fiction. We delight in perceptions of reality that twist and fold in unexpected ways. Each podcast episode runs about 30 minutes and includes a story reading (the Recital), a musical interlude, and an author interview (the Post-Recital)... with a twist. Subscribe to get a new episode once a month.

  1. The House of Wisdom

    MAR 9

    The House of Wisdom

    "Ibn Zakarya was born in the western mountains of Persia, when silk merchants from the east still plied their trade. Even as a half-naked child playing in a dust, he proved himself a prodigy, scratching the shape of the moon in the yellow earth."   A tale of ancient deserts where the boundary between science and magic is blurred. A young man's genius is not always valued. What exactly is "wisdom"?

    29 min
  2. Fabian

    FEB 2

    Fabian

    "When he was fifteen Fabian saw the film The 39 Steps, which had just come out. He liked to say that this film was a turning-point in his life. It was an epiphany for him. As he left the cinema he knew that he wanted to make films."   An excerpt from a new novel in which characters invent other characters, and events are both magical and real. What is authorship? Who's in charge here, anyway?

    30 min
  3. Etidorhpa

    JAN 5

    Etidorhpa

    "More than thirty years ago occurred the first of the series of remarkable events I am about to relate. The exact date I can not recall; but it was in November, and, to those familiar with November weather in the Ohio Valley, it is hardly necessary to state that the month is one of possibilities."   The gloomy beginning of a strange Victorian novel...a man alone in a lamp lit room on a stormy night. But is he really alone? Where will this night lead?

    31 min
  4. Shadow

    12/08/2024

    Shadow

    "Last night I took the riverside walk for the first time in longer than I care to remember. Nothing much had changed. Homeless men and women were still spending the night on municipal benches. Some were asleep; they breathed noisily, or moaned."   Who is this person who walks in the dark hours? Is his city the same as yours? In all temporal planes, humans carry on with lives both harsh and gentle.

    33 min
  5. When I Saw the Animal

    11/03/2024

    When I Saw the Animal

    "The first time I saw the animal, I’ll admit I was tired. It was late at night and I had been drinking at a moderate pace for several hours. The animal could have been anything, the way it flashed across the room, and I was too slow to get a good look at it." Something has invaded your home. Yes, it's real. Surely you can trust your own perceptions, right? But...is the thing changing?

    29 min
  6. My Past is Mine

    10/06/2024

    My Past is Mine

    "The voice asked at Eddie Tomlinson's elbow, 'Is this seat free?' Eddie nodded, and hardly looking around, picked up his hat which he had carelessly put on the seat at his side. Then he went back to his contemplation of the wooded hills through which the train was threading its way." In the 1950's, two men meet on a train...are they strangers or friends? One day, each of their worlds had drastically changed. So much was lost. Are their memories wrong?

    28 min
  7. Richard and Klokko

    09/08/2024

    Richard and Klokko

    "Everyone just wants to be loved a bit more than everyone else. See me and not my brothers, my sisters, my bandmates. Love me and not my kid. Feel my sadness."   A dead rock star faces his life on a journey home. A lonely fan from the mountains does the same. Paul Smart reads from his novel OVERLOOK, and talks about its origins.

    40 min
  8. The Tunnel Diner

    08/04/2024

    The Tunnel Diner

    "Lightning flashed, thunder cracked, and the diner was instantly in utter blackness. There was a palpable sensation of absence in the air, a sort of death as all electrical vibration in the city ceased in one instant."   A nighttime commuter encounters a hitchhiker in a New Jersey diner, but it's no ordinary meeting. Who is this odd traveler, and what changes will be wrought by his hypnotic powers?

    24 min
See All (100)

4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

The Strange Recital is an audio forum for short fiction. We delight in perceptions of reality that twist and fold in unexpected ways. Each podcast episode runs about 30 minutes and includes a story reading (the Recital), a musical interlude, and an author interview (the Post-Recital)... with a twist. Subscribe to get a new episode once a month.

Information

  • Creator
    Tom Newton and Brent Robison
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2016, Tom Newton, Brent Robison, and respective authors
  • Show Website
    The Strange Recital

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