Listen Now

"Welcome to Aloisville, rainiest town in the rainiest state. Population: we don’t recall."   Don your rain gear and don't forget your umbrella for NOTHING BUT THE RAIN (2023) by Naomi Salman, a short tale of a drowning town and the people left (or kept) inside. Would you rather forget, or do what you can to survive? What does it mean to survive?    No spoilers in this one!    Episode references: THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN by Michael Crichton: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3f86584b-518f-4923-a39e-14cc282f71f   58 RULES TO ENSURE YOUR HUSBAND LOVES YOU FOREVER by Rafeeat Aliyu: https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/58-rules-to-ensure-your-husband-loves-you-forever/   THE LONG RAIN and ALL SUMMER IN A DAY by Ray Bradbury   Interesting word of the book:  vivarium noun, plural vi·var·i·ums, vi·var·i·a  [vahy-vair-ee-uh, vi-] a place, such as a laboratory, where live animals or plants are kept under conditions simulating their natural environment, as for research.\   ----   Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com If you'd like to support the podcast or commission an episode, https://ko-fi.com/spookyaurelien

"Sometimes I feel dead," I told her, "and I hate everybody."     Let's get lethargic, and philosophical, with MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION (2018) by Otessa Moshfegh. A rare pick from the world of literary fiction, this book feels like eating alone in a dingy restaurant at 3am. It's not horror, but you may be unnerved in a different way. (Stick around for some Gatsby rambling near the end!)   No spoilers in this one!    Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com If you'd like to support the podcast, https://ko-fi.com/spookyaurelien

Why are some of us so attracted to being totally repulsed?    Aurelien and horror writer Ruth Anna Evans explore this question in a discussion of body horror and short fiction; the inherent horror of bodies; and why we poke at our bruises.   Plus, we share a non-spoilery preview of the collection OOZE: Little Bursts of Body Horror (2023), which is, across 21 stories, bizarre, strange, heartwarming, weird, surprising, and gross.    Keep up with Ruth Anna Evans at https://twitter.com/ruthannaevans   Grab OOZE in paperback form https://godless.com/products/ooze-little-bursts-of-body-horror-edited-by-ruth-anna-evans -- Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod   Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"There's only one reality."   Take a stroll down a dark alley in Midtown to hear a modern horror cautionary tale, THE POSTMORTAL by Drew Magary (2011).   Read it at your own risk, this dark dark tale of humanity and vanity, and consider your answer to the question we are still asking today: would you want to live forever? No spoilers in this one!    Read more from Drew Magary: https://twitter.com/drewmagary     Interesting word of the episode: collectivism noun the political principle of centralized social and economic control, especially of all means of production.   -- Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"The news calls it a curse, but deep down, it's a mystery."   Meet Aurelien in the skies tonight to talk about THE TURNING by Hailey Piper. Spoilers ahead for this surprisingly optimistic story of transformation and change.    Read more from Hailey Piper: https://haileypiper.com/ Read more stories from OTHER TERRORS: AN INCLUSIVE ANTHOLOGY (2022): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60527041-other-terrors --- Interesting word of the episode: pterosaur   noun any flying reptile of the extinct order Pterosauria, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, having the outside digit of the forelimb greatly elongated and supporting a wing membrane. --- Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

It’s time for another flash fiction roundup! Join Aurelien for a quick tour of the latest strange, spectacular, scary, sweet, surprising short fiction she's loved lately. No spoilers!   "Horror Story" by Carmen Maria Machado: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/horror-story/   "Bashee Lullaby" by Chazley Dotson:  https://www.flashfictiononline.com/article/banshee-lullaby/   "Gotta See the Candy" by KC Ball: https://everydayfiction.com/gotta-see-the-candy-by-kc-ball/   "The Ransom of Miss Coraline Connelly" by Alix E. Harrow: https://firesidefiction.com/the-ransom-of-miss-coraline-connelly   "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1064/1064-h/1064-h.htm   Interesting word of the episode:  habiliment  noun Usually habiliments. clothes or clothing. clothes as worn in a particular profession, way of life, etc. habiliments, accouterments or trappings.   -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"All alone, holding a hundred naked eyes in her hands."     Feel that autumn chill in the air? You may be ready for coziness inside, but prepare to be unsettled about home and hearth with "The Hungry House" by Robert Bloch (1951). Spoilers ahead!     Episode references: The work of Charles Addams: https://charlesaddams.com/ Psycho, the book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156427.Psycho   -- Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"... I saw the tiny naked woman cross the living room in full war cry."    Aurelien gets weird with short "Tiny Women" (2018) by Solange Rodriguez Pappe, translated by James D. Jenkins. It's part of The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, vol 1, and a fun way to kick off ~*~*spooky season*~*~ (well, that and the dance break!)  Episode references: Get the collection: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-valancourt-book-of-world-horror-stories-vol-1.html Exploring the genre of "magical realism": https://twitter.com/bookishminna/status/1508599858399219721 -- Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

“One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.” ― Kurt Vonnegut   Join Aurelien for a short reading break to talk about some hotly anticipated horror tv shows and movies coming this fall. (Yes, even in alternate dimensions like endless libraries, though release dates will vary.)   Watch the trailer for Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di310WS8zLk Watch the trailer for Vampire Academy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_xrllOGu0 Watch the trailer for Interview with the Vampire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P0loX83H6A Watch the Cabinet of Curiosities First Look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYotKcx8rw8 Watch the trailer for Wedding Season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSUBbIpfc0o  Watch the trailer for The Resort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DmeT1GLQn8 Watch the trailer for Raven's Hollow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgU0epVYA4  -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

Hey spooky friends! Did you know there was a TV show based on the movie "Scream"?  Aurelien and Dustin are going back to 2015 and watching season 1 of the MTV original series SCREAM!  Did you watch it? Trick question - no matter your answer, jump in and join us for The Rewatch Recap.  See you there~ Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rewatch-recap/id1636230425 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5t7akUU8Mu4m52lWkY4u1I?si=55c48a1a303c4d9e Listen (and connect) on Goodpods: https://goodpods.app.link/7rCtAogWXrb 

Whether you finished reading "Galax-Arena" or you're just here for a good story, proceed with caution: there's spoilers ahead!    Aurelien spills this story's secrets, and screams alongside the characters, through the rest of this wild, YA mind-f$ck adventure. Plus, what's up with Bro Rabbit? And how about that ending?  -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"What does the future matter, if until the past is told I’m living in limbo, neither alive nor dead?"   Keep your instincts sharp and jump into cross-genre YA weird "Galax-Arena"(1992) by Gillian Rubinstein. Don't get stuck on the sci-fi-y title -- this story is not what it appears to be.    No spoilers in this one!   Episode references:  Learn more about patois languages like Jamaican Patwah/Patois: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patois and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_Patois  -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

“A shudder, a plunge, a second of darkness, and I'm back in the in-between.”   Aurelien is back to talk about "Tunnel of Bones" (2019) by Victoria Schwab, a positively paranormal tale of Parisian peregrination. The second book in the City of Ghosts series, it's another spooky adventure with Cassidy Blake.  No spoilers in this one!   Listen to Aurelien talking City of Ghosts #1:  https://pca.st/q4c3x3r6 Keep up with the author at https://www.victoriaschwab.com/  Check out the movie "As Above, So Below" (2014) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870612/ 

"The starsong is louder now, swelling in a way that says something's coming."   Pop into the endless library for a sweet treat: "Starsong" (2018) by Tehlor Kay Mejia. Published in the excellent witchy collection Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft, edited by the fabulous Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe, it's a story of growing up and finding your magic. (And flirting with cute girls on Instagram!)     Read more from Tehlor Kay Mejia: https://www.tehlorkaymejia.com/books   Buy the collection: http://jessicaspotswood.com/books/toil-trouble/    Special music shout out to Leonell Cassio's "A Magical Journey Through Space" -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis, it meant something far different - a thing to appreciate and enjoy."   Gather round for a story, spooky friends! Aurelien reads aloud "Time Enough At Last" (1953) by Lynn Venable, the source material for your favorite original Twilight Zone episode. It's a subtle horror story, that draws you in and knifes you in the back.    Read the story for free at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32633/32633-h/32633-h.htms/32633/3 --   * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

We start books with the best of intentions, but sometimes the timing isn't right.   Aurelien introduces five strange, mysterious, intriguing, and eerie recently started books. No spoilers!   Secretive Scottish boarding schools, cosmic crime scenes, ghosts (of course), seances, and more questions than a crossword.    Madam by Phoebe Wynne (2021)   Department Zero by Paul Crilley (2017)   Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach (2021)   Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson (2018)   The 39 Steps by John Buchan (1915) --   * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"It was as if all the pain in the world had found a voice."   Aurelien took a short trip to "The Island of Doctor Moreau" (1896) by H.G. Wells. It's an unfortunately readable classic about brutality, ego, torture, and humanity.  To paraphrase Hobbes: it was nasty, brutal, and not short enough.    Add "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?" by Frans de Waal to your tbr: https://wwnorton.com/books/Are-We-Smart-Enough-to-Know-How-Smart-Animals-Are/ -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"A little special. A little strange. Not quite alive but definitely not …"   It's that time of year, spooky friends! The spookiest season of all. Let's tell ghost stories!   Gather round the fire for "City of Ghosts" (2018) by Victoria Schwab, the story of a strange girl with a dead best friend, the ability to see ghosts, and, ironically, ghost-hunting parents! Part Lydia Deetz, part Lyra Belacqua, and all her excellent spooky self, Cassidy Blake is your next weird best friend.  No spoilers in this one!   Find more from Victoria Schwab at https://www.veschwab.com/books/   -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"It's impossible. But it’s here. Can we keep it?”   Grab your canoe and meet Aurelien at the secret lake for "A House At the Bottom of A Lake" (2016) by Josh Malerman.   Let yourself be swept away in this weird dreamy story of first dates, summer love, and the thrill, and horror, of discovery.    Listen for the spoiler warning around 19:50!   -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

"I can't decide if the effect is beautiful or creepy or something in between."    Throw on a deerstalker hat and join Aurelien in the library for "The Stitchers" (2020) by Lorien Lawrence. It's a spooky middle grade mystery where amateur detectives Quinn and Mike try to find out just what is up with their strange  neighbors who don't seem to age, and the eerie pond at the end of the lane. Are they ghosts, immortals, vampires? Is it all connected? And what is in the pond, just under the water?  No major spoilers in this one! Episode covers up to chapter 9.    -- * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com