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 [email protected]

 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   [email protected]    

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   [email protected]  

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 discussion about Poe, music, and podcast collaboration.

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!