AMBIENT ARCANA: Recent Episodes
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A lonely man has a chance romantic encounter with a rich, beautiful, and mysterious woman during a hot night in Rome.
Is she too good to be true? Probably...this is Ambient Arcana after all.
It's William Sansom's weird tale of the preternatural consequences of a casual hookup -
"A Woman Seldom Found."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
In this episode a friendly family of Badgers helps out a starving Bear, only to have their kindness repaid with cruel betrayal. Also, Blood Magic!
"The Badger and The Bear." from "Old Indian Legends" Retold by Zitkala-Sa
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Jim Billbrough as The Badgers, The Baby Bear, and The Narrator
Bob Familiar as The Bear
Joey Pesce as The Dakota Avenger
This episode is dedicated to our good friend Tim Halle. Lead singer of 'The Archbishop's Enema Fetish,' founder of a religion worshiping a certain Mrs. Zinman of Newton, Massachusetts, and affectionately called Satan by many who loved him, Tim deserves an episode all his own, but it would need to be a very, very long episode. So instead we present a story about one of Tim's favorite obsessions: Badgers. He was mad about the Badgers. He was also very fond of birds, but that's a story for another day. Maybe. We'll see. It's sort of besides the point allegorically speaking, but anyway...Badgers!
In this episode we spend a delightful day in the New England hill country discussing the vagaries of cosmic dualism with a fiendishly pleasant host in Jerome Bixby's "Trace."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
In this episode an interstellar trip to a distant nebula brings on a crisis of faith for the spaceship's astrophysicist in Arthur C. Clarke's Hugo Award winning story "The Star."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
We'd like to dedicate this episode to our good friend, band-mate, landlord, and poker buddy Tristram Lozaw.
Tris was an excellent bass player, film composer, magazine publisher, and writer. He was a major force in the Boston Music scene for decades, but, more importantly, our friend. A simple Google search for 'Tristram Lozaw' will give you some idea of all that was left behind in the mighty wake of his life. We will miss him.
In this episode we present a 6-pack of strange and unusual stories by "Mr. Kafkaesque" himself - Franz Kafka.
"At Night," "Poseidon," and "The Vulture" translated by Tania and James Stern
"The New Advocate," "A Fratricide," and "A Dream" translated by Willa and Edwin Muir
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
Story Order: "A Fratricide," "Poseidon," "A Dream," "The New Advocate," "At Night," and "The Vulture."
What would you do if you suddenly found your worst enemy completely at your mercy? Would you take revenge? Would you forgive?" Here are two stories that explore what happens when, out of the blue, the opportunity for vengeance arrives.
"One Of These Days" by Gabriel García Márquez
"Razor" by Vladimir Nabokov
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
A man finds himself struggling against an invasive intelligence taking over his mind and trying to eradicate everything the man had previously revered and admired in Stefan Grabiński’s “Strabismus.”
Translated by Miroslaw Lipinski
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
Once again we spend the Yuletide season high up in the Himalayas with three stories from Albert Leroy Shelton's 1925 book Tibetan Folk Tales:
"The Wiley Poor Man," "The Story Of The Two Devils," and "The Story Of The Violinist."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
In this episode we explore what happens when a mild-mannered man is not only addicted to train travel but is actually transformed into a bold and charismatic person each time he rides the rails...and the consequences he must face when the ride comes to an end.
"In the Compartment' by Stefan Grabiński
Translated by Miroslaw Lipinski
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
Train sound effects by Pond5
Please note: this story deals with some adult themes so parents might want to give it a listen first before letting young kids hear it. No obscene language or explicit descriptions are used and the adult themed passages are portrayed in a rather outdated, quaint, and metaphorical way. At least we hope Grabiński is using metaphors...
This Halloween, in the grand tradition of horror duo team-ups such as “Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman,” “Billy The Kid vs Dracula,” and “Sharktopus X Whalewolf,” we bring you David Mulholland and Robert Billbrough performing Edgar Allan Poe’s OG dungeon crawl - “The Cask Of Amontillado.”
Robert Billbrough as Montresor
David Mulholland as Fortunato
Music by Man Tray: Kelvin Weston, John Gunther, and Paul Billbrough
Music Production by Paul Billbrough
Post Production by Bob Familiar
Sound Effects by Pond5
In this episode a selfless Nightingale sings her heart out to create a Red Rose for a lovelorn Student, but is he truly worthy of such a precious gift?
It's Oscar Wilde's poignant tale of blood thirsty horticulture - "The Nightingale and the Rose."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Joey Pesce
Nightingale recordings by Pro Sound Effects
In this episode we present a twisted tale of twin brothers. The younger brother -a murderous, narcissistic hedonist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants; the older brother -a man who enjoys wearing silk kimonos, taking early morning walks in the garden, and neatly folding his towels after every use. Physically identical except for a small mole on the younger brother's thigh - a mole with a suspiciously sinister looking goatee!
"The Twins" by Edogawa Rampo.
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
It's Family Values Gone Wild in Ambrose Bierce's Dark Comedy
"A Bottomless Grave."
Narration by David Mulholland
Music by Man Tray
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar.
Have you ever felt like a helpless pawn being manipulated by mysterious and hidden higher-dimensional beings?
If so then this is the episode for you!
It's Nebula Award Winning Author Bob Leman's trans-dimensional, mind and body altering trip through an almost endless game of bizarre, sanity shattering, yet seemingly mundane tasks:
"Instructions."
All Music, Audio Production, and Narration by Bob Familiar
This is a special episode of Ambient Arcana marking the 80th Anniversary of V.E. Day - Victory in Europe Day - May 8th, 1945 when Germany officially surrendered to the Allied Forces ending World War II in Europe.
A reading from “Jeep Show” by Robert B. O’Connor.
Jeep Show is the story of entertainment specialist Jim Tanzer who finds himself trapped in the front lines during the Battle Of The Bulge. The unexpected German assault catches the American forces off guard, yet determined not to give way, even at the cost of their own lives.
"Jeep Show" by Robert B. O’Connor is out now and available at most booksellers.
https://jeepshowbook.com/
All music and audio production by Bob Familiar.
Narration by Rick Weidner
Bob Familiar as Henry “Allie” Allison and Sergeant Kowalski
Jim Billbrough as Jim Tanzer
Matt Gruenberg as the 2nd Lieutenant and Captain Rose
Additional sound effects by Pro Sound Effects
Ambient Arcana will be back to our usual schedule at the end of June.
We finish our current coverage of the works of British author Robert Aickman with a story that explores what happens when the face looking back at you in the mirror is not your own.
"Le Miroir" by Robert Aickman
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
In this episode two young British women, serving in the 'Woman's Land Army' during WWII, decide to skip a dour farmer's Christmas party only to discover there are worse ways to spend the Holiday in Robert Aickman's
"The Coffin House."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
Mod dress? Thigh-boots? Impossibly long worm-infested hallways?
It's Robert Aickman's strange tale of a mysterious, ageless woman orbiting the life of a hapless man:
"Laura."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Alex Fitzsimmons
In this episode we explore the heavy price of turning back the hands of time with Philip K. Dick's "The Cookie Lady."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar.
Narration by Jim Billbrough
Once again we spend our Holiday Season at the Top Of The World with yet more stories from
Albert Leroy Shelton's 1925 book "Tibetan Folk Tales"
All music and audio production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
In this episode we take the ultimate trip as we follow Ernie Valdemar on his final journey.
Edgar Allan Poe’s story of Mesmeric Malpractice -
“The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar”
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
We’ve based our narration on Basil Rathbone’s abridged version of this story from his 1960 recording of Poe’s stories for Caedmon Records.
That narration can be found on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/QlgUNHJDWtk?feature=shared
That record was a childhood favorite and using the abridged narration we heard as kids let’s us scratch that nostalgia itch, but for anyone who prefers the unabridged version, here’s a link to an excellent full text narration read by Bill Wallis:
https://youtu.be/0E_9GwyoSzs?feature=shared
Just when we thought we were done with Bradbury he pulls us back in! “The October Game” a disturbing Halloween horror story where the terrors are real…or are they?
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar.
Narration by Jim Billbrough.
Additional Voices by Izzy Q. and The Artist Known As Φ.
We say goodbye to Summer with a late season tale of first love, tragic loss, and grim reunion.
It’s Ray Bradbury’s classic macabre tearjerker - “The Lake.”
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Clark Goodpaster
Lake wave audio recording provided by Pro Sound Effects
In this episode we explore two stories of Retrofuturism by science fiction/fantasy icon Ray Bradbury:
“The One Who Waits” - A lonely old soul gets closer to the new neighbors in the worst possible way.
“The Pedestrian” - A solitary man walks the empty streets of a TV dominated dystopia.
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
In this episode we tell a tragic story of forbidden love and dire consequences- “The Legend of U Raitong” as described by Mrs. K.U. Rafy in her 1920 collection “Folk-Tales Of The Khasis.”
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
While researching this story we found two more recent translations of “U Manik Raitong” by contemporary Khasi authors, both of which are worth checking out:
“Khasi Myths, Legends & Folk Tales” by Bijoya Sawian
(No direct link to the story on Google Books, but open the Table of Contents and follow the link to “U Manik Raitong”)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Khasi_Myths_Legends_Folk_Tales/Unr2BEAEezoC?hl=en
…and
“U Manik Raitong” by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih from his book “Around the Hearth: Khasi Legends”
U Manik Raitong - Monash Indigenous Studies Centre
Apologies to the Khasi people for any mispronunciation of Khasi names or places in this episode. To balance things out we mispronounced some English words as well.
Two stories about the elusive dream of freedom- A secret dream suddenly dashed and a dream unlooked for fulfilled.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story Of An Hour” and “A Pair Of Silk Stockings.”
Narrated by Arline Billbrough
Music by Paul Billbrough
Produced by Bob Familiar
In 1950 Akira Kurosawa merged two of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s short stories together to make his classic film “Rashomon.”Last episode we covered the story that gave the film it’s name and in this episode we explore the story of the murder at the heart of that film, told by seven characters with seven different, often conflicting accounts:
“In A Grove” by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Mandy Familiar, Bob Familiar, Joey Pesce, Shannon Wilson, Jace Wilson, Danielle Barry, Matt Gruenberg, and Jim Billbrough
In this episode we contemplate whether it is better to accept death with your morals intact or to survive by any means necessary.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s “Rashōmon”.
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
Some sound effects in this episode were licensed from
Pro Sound Effects
240 Kent Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11249
licensing@prosoundeffects.com
A trio of strange and beautiful fever dreams by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges-
“The Rejected Sorcerer,” “The Circular Ruins,” and “The Two Kings and The Two Labyrinths.”
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
We’d like to express our thanks to Jon Fredette of “The Oddcast” podcast for his advice and encouragement on this episode. If you like Ambient Arcana there’s a good chance you’ll like ”The Oddcast.”
Here’s a link to Jon’s homepage featuring his podcasts, music, and more: https://www.jonfredette.com/
Some other useful links:
https://bobfamiliar.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ambientarcana
ambientarcana@gmail.com
In this episode we chase away the winter blues with a bloody sword in Robert E. Howard’s coldest Conan story - “Gods of The North” (aka. “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter”).
All Music and Music & Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Rick Weidner, Danielle Barry, Matt Gruenberg, Mandy Familiar, Bob Familiar, and Jim Billbrough
Some useful links:
https://bobfamiliar.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ambientarcana
ambientarcana@gmail.com
Bonne année! Joyeux 2024!
We start our Third Season with a fiery French tale of one woman’s burning need to find balance in a hostile universe. It’s Guy de Maupassant’s torrid tale of red hot revenge! -
“Mother Sauvage.”
All Music and Music & Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Veronica and Joey Pesce, Bob Familiar, and Jim Billbrough
Recorded by Joey Pesce and Bob Familiar
If you think we judged Robert W. Chambers a bit harshly on his anti-German attitudes here’s a link to his WWI novel “In Secret” at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5748
Not to be confused with a recommendation.
Some useful links:
https://youtube.com/@bobfamiliarmusic
https://bobfamiliar.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ambientarcana
Once again we travel to the magical land of Tibet for the Holiday Season.
In this year’s Yuletide offerings a painter and a carpenter commit supernatural postal fraud, a donkey and a rock get arrested for assaulting a jar of oil, a pair of crippled birds dispense great wealth and harsh justice, a sociopathic rabbit distributes stolen goods with murderous intent, and a goiter at a ghost party is about as welcome as a fruitcake.
It’s Albert Leroy Shelton’s posthumously publish page turner - “Tibetan Folk Tales”
All Music and Music&Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
In this episode of Ambient Arcana we explore the mysteries of ‘Siberian Magic’ and the unexpected social challenges that having one’s hostess turned into a wolf can put upon a party guest - It’s “The She-Wolf” by Saki (H.H. Munro)
Music and Music&Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by: Jace Wilson, Shannon Wilson, Mandy Familiar, Bob Familiar, and Jim Billbrough
“The She-Wolf” was published in the short story collection “Beasts and Super-Beasts” by Saki back in 1914. While searching for this month’s story we came across an excellent audio version of this book on LibriVox narrated by Justin Brett.
Here’s a link to that book on LibriVox:
https://librivox.org/beasts-and-super-beasts-by-saki/
And here’s a link to the Project Gutenberg version of the book:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/269/pg269-images.html
Nothing says Halloween quite like Trick or Treating in an ancient swampy cemetery in shadow haunted Florida!
It’s H.P.Lovecraft’s grim tale of grave robbing gone wrong - “The Statement of Randolph Carter.”
All Music and Music & Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
Recorded Almost Live at Sounds Familiar Studios
In this episode we dust off our vestigial sense organs and fire up our Pineal Glands to take a mind bending peak beneath the thin veil of our reality in H.P. Lovecraft’s psychedelic mad scientist revenge romp - “From Beyond!”
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
This month we take a trio of trips into the Infinite Unknown with weird fiction icon Howard Phillips Lovecraft-
“Ex Oblivione,” “Nyarlathotep,” and “The Book.”
All Music & Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
For further exploration of Lovecraft and his works we suggest checking out these websites:
The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
https://www.hplhs.org/
And
Strange Studies of Strange Stories
(Formally The HP Podcraft Literary Podcast)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strange-studies-of-strange-stories/id1638947147
Or the older, more Lovecraft-centric version of the podcast, which is still active at this time:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-h-p-lovecraft-literary-podcast/id369757090
And there’s even a YouTube Channel:
https://youtube.com/@witchhousemedia?feature=shared
A small sampling of Inuit, Yup’ik, and Unangax folktales collected by American and European Scholar-Explorers in the late 19th and early 20th century. Even in this muted form, sometimes translated through two or three languages, these stories still retain the power, beauty, and humor of the original folktales.
The word Eskimo has long been known to be a misnomer, even as far back as the mid 19th century. Since most of the material used here came from Ethnological surveys that sought to be as specific as possible the term occurs rarely in the collected stories and is mainly used in the titles of the works.
All Music & Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
Biercemania!
Three dark and evocative tales by surprise ending aficionado Ambrose Bierce:
"The Boarded Window," "John Mortonson's Funeral," and "The Applicant."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Music by Man Tray and Bob Familiar
All stories read by Bob Billbrough
We finish our coverage of Lafcadio Hearn’s tales from ghostly Japan with three more stories: “The Corpse-Rider” from the book Shadowings and “Jiu-Roku-Zakura” and “A Dead Secret” from Kwaidan.
Music and Audio production by Bob Familiar.
Read by Bob Familiar, Jim Billbrough, and Special Guest Narrator Rick Weidner.
We return to the works of Lafcadio Hearn with the first of two full length episodes of strange and unusual stories from his adopted country of Japan.
“Diplomacy” and “Riki Baka” from the book “Kwaidan” and “Fragment” from “In Ghostly Japan”
We also introduce a new reader, Rick Weidner, who provides some much-needed low end to the narrations.
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Read by Bob Familiar, Jim Billbrough, and Rick Weidner
We start our second season with a short story about love, loss, and the potential supernatural repercussions to procrastination. “The Reconciliation” by Lafcadio Hearn from his book “Shadowings.”
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Read by Jim Billbrough
Ambient Arcana would like to dedicate this episode to our good friend Gabrielle Agachiko who passed away last month. Gabrielle was a wonderful singer with a powerful voice and an irrepressible personality. We had been planning to have her read for the podcast, particularly the parts that called for goddess level intensity, but unfortunately fate stepped in. She was deeply loved by many and will be dearly missed. Hopefully we will meet her again in the next incarnation, if such things are possible.
Gifts? Check!
Visits from distant relatives? Check!
A Christmas ghost story? Check!
Our last episode of season one features two stories from A.L. Shelton’s 1925 collection of “Tibetan Folktales” :
“The Man And The Ghost” & “Story Of A Juggler’s Tricks”
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar.
Narration by Jim Billbrough & Bob Familiar.
Recorded Live (more or less) at Sounds Familiar Studios
A Demonic Organist! Random Time Displacement! Interdimensional Church Services! A full on Carcosa Mythos story - “In the Court of the Dragon”, from “The King in Yellow”by Robert W. Chambers.
Reading by Jim Billbrough
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
All Music used in this episode was by Man Tray
Please consider supporting Ambient Arcana on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/ambientarcana?fan_landing=true&view_as=public
We take a look at the world of R.W. Chambers with a somewhat beige story from "The King in Yellow" called "The Street of The Four Winds". A story about love, loss, and the vagaries of cat ownership. An extra long episode with a pretty beefy bio and a bonus story snippet at the end.
Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar, Narration and Bio by Jim Billbrough. The poem introducing the story was read by Mandy Familiar.
Please consider supporting Ambient Arcana on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/ambientarcana?fan_landing=true&view_as=public
This is a bonus episode of Ambient Arcana featuring a very short story about young love, lonely churchyards, and the unspeakable horror of 18th century miniature portrait art - "Uncle Abraham's Romance" by Edith Nesbit. Read by Jim Billbrough, Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar.
A terrifying tale of animal abuse, axe murder, and impromptu basement renovations! "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. Read and recorded by Bob Billbrough. Original soundtrack produced by Bob Familiar featuring music by Man Tray (aka Kel Weston and Paul Billbrough), and Bob Familiar.
Poe and Nepotism abound! Two stories by Edgar Allan Poe read by Bob Billbrough. Additional music provided by Man Tray featuring Kel Weston and Paul Billbrough. All other music and audio production by Bob Familiar. Snacks and Poe Bio provided by Jim Billbrough.
Titles and Time Markers:
The Oval Portrait/ 00:32
The Masque of The Red Death/ 9:59
Poe Bio and Credits/ 27:57
Jim Billbrough and Bob Familiar, the production team behind Ambient Arcana, talk about the Pu Songling episodes and try to define what the hell they’re trying to do with this podcasting thing. Is it music with storytelling, or story telling with music? Is it unintentional ASMR? A weak attempt at scary bedtime stories? A sad grasp towards artistic relevance before the fading of the light? Probably. Anyway, tune in and find out!
Four more stories by Pu Songling featuring a fox wedding, a trip through hell, a dishonest fortune teller (shocking!), and zombies!!!
Titles and time markers are:
The Golden Goblet/ 00:32
A Most Exemplary Monk/ 11:50
Magical Arts/ 14:34
The Living Dead/ 23:04
Ambient Arcana's first full length episode featuring seven stories from Pu Songling's "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."
Story and Time Markers are:
The Giant Turtle/00:32
Biting a Ghost/04:00
Wild Dog/08:09
The Dead Priest/11:10
The Lingering Death/13:50
Wailing Ghosts/15:56
The Girl in Green/19:19
Biography and Credits/25:53
Our trailer episode is a cautionary tale about drinking something even when you know it’s probably not good for you called “In a Cup of Tea”, from Lafcadio Hearn’s book-
“Kottō, Being Japanese Curios, With Sundry Cobwebs”.
Music by Bob Familiar.
Read by Jim Billbrough.