Dark Adventure Radio Theatre

[bendk]

For those of you who like radio plays, the people over at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society have produced a fine one. They have adapted "At The Mountains of Madness". It is about 75 minutes long and comes in a nicely illustrated case. It also has some fun extras like a vintage newspaper clipping about the M.U. expedition, a couple of photos of the Elder City, and a page from Danforth's sketchbook. It was not hard to immerse myself in the story at this time of year. Brrrr....

http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html

Hopefully, the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre troupe will produce some other Lovecraft stories in the future.

[nomis]

The adaption is quite good, and I heartily recommended it. The only flaw to the piece is within the first fifteen minutes, where a terrible flaw in judgement has caused the adapters to tell part of the story in hard-to-hear dialogue purporting to be recordings over a radio.

The flaw in their thinking is this: what they are attempting to create is a radio-play from Lovecraft's era, not a documentary from the same. As a result, that part of the story that is supposedly audio from the Arctic radios should be much clearer, as any radio-play at the time would no doubt have made it. The decision to try and stay true to what that recording would actually have sounded like forces us, as listener, to deal with a large portion of the story's adaption that we cannot properly hear. The marring is inexcusable, but thankfully doesn't last too long, and once the gimmick is over the tale can proceed properly and show the ingenuity the same company showed with their "Call of Cthulhu" adaption from a couple of years ago.

I'm looking forward to their next production, "The Whisperer in Darkness, the trailer for which is already on the same site linked above.

[bendk]

Check out these great commercials for Dark Adventure Radio Theatre.
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre

[hopfrog]

I got the box set about a month ago -- and it stunned me! Everything HPLHS does has such quality and authenticity -- they know Lovecraft, they love his work, and they bring it to life. I listened to everything first here at my laptop, real loud on headphones, and the production just floored me, it's so good. The bit in "Mountains" where the radio message is difficult to hear was a mistake, I agree -- although I understand they were trying to make it sound authentic. This is the magick of this series -- they bring to life the tales of Lovecraft through sound, wonderful acting and that awesome music. As I listened to the climax of "The Shadow out of Time," when the narrator returns to the place he inhabited in alien form, and hears the eldritch whistling of the Dark Things -- GREAT YUGGOTH!!! It terrify'd me! I felt that delicious frisson of fear that I felt when initially reading the story. I love the wee bonus additions -- the cuttings from newspapers, the matchbox from Gilman House hotel with one match and the scratch 'n' sniff map of Innsmouth that, when you scratch the wee stain'd spot, reeks of Innsmouth fish! Listening to these made me feel that joy that comes from being a Lovecraftian, an almost intimate happiness that only Lovecraft can bless me with; and it is that sense of wonder and happiness that keeps me writing the damn stuff. I really want to hear more adventures, especially "The Haunter of the Dark," "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "Charles Dexter Ward"!

But even more -- I hope they soon have ye finances to finish filming THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS!!! That is gonna be one magnificent film!!!! Ia! Yog-Sothoth!

[nomis]

Quote Originally Posted by hopfrog

The bit in "Mountains" where the radio message is difficult to hear was a mistake, I agree -- although I understand they were trying to make it sound authentic.

Yes, but as I say they were actually unwittingly doing the complete opposite. A real radio-play from that time period would not have done it that way.

From what I gather, there was some discord behind the scenes about how it should sound, and those that wanted clarity were outvoted.

[hopfrog]

Perhaps the director was trying to capture what he imagined was the sound of an authentic badly-received radio transmission, to give us the "experience" of those at the other end of the line; but certainly an actual radio drama would never do such a thing, so it was a huge mistake. Even on headphones one cannot clearly understand the dialogue, which should have had priority so as to move the plot. I like the wonderful concept, though, of the old-time radio plays. It amuses me that, before I knew about these, when I posted by opening portion of my sequel to "The Hound" at the "Who Killed St. John" thread I decided to present it as an old-time radio play, complete with an ad for Ligottian fags; & then when I got this box set of all four DARK ADVENTURE RADIO THEATRE discs, they had as sponsor "Fleurs De Lys cigarettes" -- I believe they are now selling fag packs.

I've listened to THE DUNWICH HORROR since last logging off, and it is impressive. Inside ye sleeve it tells us, "Music and Whippoorwill Cachinnations by Troy Sterling Nies." They have such a wonderful sense of humour. The dialogue is often quite brilliant, such as when Wilbur visits the library at Miskatonic to study their Latin text of ye Necronomicon, and Armitage says that he will read the Latin text as Wilbur follows in the corrupt English translation in his copy of Dee. "You can read Latin?" Wilbut queries. "Certo," Henry Armitage replies. The reading is so well done, and listening to it reminds me how beautifully poetic Lovecraft's prose can be. As the doctor begins to read, the eerie music begins to weave its spell, and one can feel the tangible terror, the Lovecraftian magick! The sturdy cardboard sleeves are beautifully design'd, with great artwork (I so admired the "Dunwich" cover that I bought the t-shirt -- which is very nice, but I find that the material with which the shirts are made is too thin). Sean Branney, the genius behind HPLHS, writes really great liner notes inside each sleeve, discussing the original story, its date of composition and sources that may have inspir'd Grandpa to write the tale. The bonus documents inside the case are:
A crucial page ripped from Wilbur Whateley's copy of the NECRONOMICON!;
a 1917 clipping from the ARKHAM ADVERTISER about the Whateley family!;
a page of Wilbur Whateley's secret encrypted diary!;
a vintage map of Dunwich and Sentinel Hill!
These documents look like the real thing, which is part of the fun they have, making fake documents that look utterly authentic. I cannot praise these cds enough. The box in which to place them is a handsome wee wooden container with a movable panel that has a radio decal pasted onto it. Excellence all around! I cannot say too many good things about these dramatic gems. I shall listen to "Innsmouth" again to-night, and probably return with more ecstatic foaming at ye mouth to-morrow when I've return'd from church.

"Never go anywhere alone!
If it looks bad, don't look!
And always save the last bullet for yourself!"