C.J. Carter-Stephenson's Blog: ~ Crystal Clear ~, page 2
March 24, 2023
Performed Reading Breaking News...
I'm delighted to announce that I'm going back on the road with more performed readings of my fiction. First stop is Chichester Fringe with two horror stories in a show called Tales in the Key of Terror. The show will incorporate sound effects and slide shows in an effort to recreate the immersive experience of watching one of my
Back of the Bookshelf
podcast episodes in a live setting.
The first story on the programme is And Justice for One, a supernatural horror about a gambler in the old West who finds himself being haunted when he accidentally shoots a child. It is in the vein of writers like M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe, focusing on atmosphere and tension, rather than gore. It was published in Volume 4 of Seasons in the Night back in 2005. The second story is Destination Earth, a sci-fi horror in the vein of movies like Alien and Event Horizon, about an astro-investigator hired to find out why a mining ship hasn’t reached its destination. This one was originally published in Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Literary Bone in 2007 and appeared again in my Bloodlust Variations collection.
The Chichester Fringe performance of Tales in the Key of Terror is taking place at Chichester City Arts Centre at 9pm on 3rd June 2023. Tickets are available here
More performed reading dates to be announced. Watch this space.
The first story on the programme is And Justice for One, a supernatural horror about a gambler in the old West who finds himself being haunted when he accidentally shoots a child. It is in the vein of writers like M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe, focusing on atmosphere and tension, rather than gore. It was published in Volume 4 of Seasons in the Night back in 2005. The second story is Destination Earth, a sci-fi horror in the vein of movies like Alien and Event Horizon, about an astro-investigator hired to find out why a mining ship hasn’t reached its destination. This one was originally published in Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Literary Bone in 2007 and appeared again in my Bloodlust Variations collection.
The Chichester Fringe performance of Tales in the Key of Terror is taking place at Chichester City Arts Centre at 9pm on 3rd June 2023. Tickets are available here
More performed reading dates to be announced. Watch this space.
December 14, 2022
New Podcast Release - 'Beyond Lies the Wub' - Philip K. Dick
I'm a little late posting about this, but a new episode of the
Back of the Bookshelf
podcast launched at the beginning of the month. Over the years, we've carried our listeners to countries far and wide, to dizzying heights in the sky and deep underground, but we've never taken them beyond the bounds of the planet… until now. That’s right, in the seventh episode of our second season, we journey to the stars courtesy of illustrious science fiction writer Philip K. Dick and his story,
Beyond Lies the Wub
🚀🪐. Here are the details...
TITLE – Beyond Lies the Wub
AUTHOR - Philip K. Dick
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1952 in Planet Stories
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:21:04
It’s an engaging tale about a spaceship crew who purchase a strange creature on a trading trip to Mars. The creature looks like a pig, but looks can be deceiving. On the surface, the story seems simple, but there are hidden depths to it and the twist at the end is second to none. It was Dick’s first published story, but foreshadows his work to come with its biting satirical wit and exploration of important ethical issues. Not surprisingly, it has been reprinted many times since it made its first appearance in Volume 5, Issue 7 of Planet Stories in July 1952. Dick might arguably be more famous for the many movie adaptations of his work (e.g. Blade Runner and Total Recall) than the work itself, but as this story shows, he was a master of his craft.
As always, the Back of the Bookshelf performance features an immersive soundscape to help bring the story to life. It is narrated by C.J. Carter-Stephenson with music by Kevin MacLeod. If you fancy joining us, strap yourselves in, click on the link below and prepare to blast off into the great beyond for another thrilling adventure...
⭐ SEASON 2, EPISODE 7 - BEYOND LIES THE WUB ⭐
It's audio only for now, but a video is under preparation and will hopefully follow in the not too distant future.
TITLE – Beyond Lies the Wub
AUTHOR - Philip K. Dick
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1952 in Planet Stories
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:21:04
It’s an engaging tale about a spaceship crew who purchase a strange creature on a trading trip to Mars. The creature looks like a pig, but looks can be deceiving. On the surface, the story seems simple, but there are hidden depths to it and the twist at the end is second to none. It was Dick’s first published story, but foreshadows his work to come with its biting satirical wit and exploration of important ethical issues. Not surprisingly, it has been reprinted many times since it made its first appearance in Volume 5, Issue 7 of Planet Stories in July 1952. Dick might arguably be more famous for the many movie adaptations of his work (e.g. Blade Runner and Total Recall) than the work itself, but as this story shows, he was a master of his craft.
As always, the Back of the Bookshelf performance features an immersive soundscape to help bring the story to life. It is narrated by C.J. Carter-Stephenson with music by Kevin MacLeod. If you fancy joining us, strap yourselves in, click on the link below and prepare to blast off into the great beyond for another thrilling adventure...
⭐ SEASON 2, EPISODE 7 - BEYOND LIES THE WUB ⭐
It's audio only for now, but a video is under preparation and will hopefully follow in the not too distant future.
October 31, 2022
New Podcast Release - 'The Torture by Hope' - Villiers de L’Isle Adam
It’s becoming a
Back of the Bookshelf
tradition that we release a horror themed episode on 🎃Halloween🎃 and 2022 is no exception. This time we’ve gone with a little known French story called
La Torture Par L’Espérance/The Torture by Hope
by Villiers de L’Isle Adam. The story was originally published in issue 3191 of the newspaper Gil Blas on 13th August 1888 and was printed again later in the year in the author’s short fiction collection,
Nouveaux Contes Cruels/New Cruel Tales
. An English language version followed in June 1891 in Issue 6 of The Strand.
From its first appearance, it was compared to the work of Edgar Allan Poe and it’s easy to see why. It has an ambiguous ending and shares many of the same themes, such as cruelty, torture, religion and death. Set in a prison belonging to the Spanish Inquisition, it is particularly reminiscent of The Pit and the Pendulum , and the two stories were actually combined into a single narrative in Jan Švankmajer’s short animated film The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope. The portrayal of the main character, a Jewish Rabbi named Aser Abarbanel, is stereotypical, but the writing is of such a high standard in other ways, that it’s worth overlooking this flaw.
As for the author, he was born to a distinguished aristocratic family in 1838. He wrote in a romantic style, usually in the horror and mystery genres, and became fairly well-known in his day, but struggled financially in his later years. He died of stomach cancer in 1889. The Torture by Hope is an excellent example of his writing prowess, and our adaptation features music by Kevin MacLeod and our usual immersive soundscape. Only the audio version is available as of yet, but the video should follow very soon. These are the details...
TITLE – The Torture by Hope
AUTHOR - Villiers de L’Isle Adam
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1888 in 'Gil Blas'
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:15:41
If you wish to join me for this spine-chilling tale of torture, terror and religious intolerance, click on the following link or look up Back of the Bookshelf at the usual places (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, etc.)...
SEASON 2, EPISODE 6 - THE TORTURE BY HOPE
From its first appearance, it was compared to the work of Edgar Allan Poe and it’s easy to see why. It has an ambiguous ending and shares many of the same themes, such as cruelty, torture, religion and death. Set in a prison belonging to the Spanish Inquisition, it is particularly reminiscent of The Pit and the Pendulum , and the two stories were actually combined into a single narrative in Jan Švankmajer’s short animated film The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope. The portrayal of the main character, a Jewish Rabbi named Aser Abarbanel, is stereotypical, but the writing is of such a high standard in other ways, that it’s worth overlooking this flaw.
As for the author, he was born to a distinguished aristocratic family in 1838. He wrote in a romantic style, usually in the horror and mystery genres, and became fairly well-known in his day, but struggled financially in his later years. He died of stomach cancer in 1889. The Torture by Hope is an excellent example of his writing prowess, and our adaptation features music by Kevin MacLeod and our usual immersive soundscape. Only the audio version is available as of yet, but the video should follow very soon. These are the details...
TITLE – The Torture by Hope
AUTHOR - Villiers de L’Isle Adam
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1888 in 'Gil Blas'
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:15:41
If you wish to join me for this spine-chilling tale of torture, terror and religious intolerance, click on the following link or look up Back of the Bookshelf at the usual places (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, etc.)...
SEASON 2, EPISODE 6 - THE TORTURE BY HOPE
August 7, 2022
New Podcast Release - 'A Drama in the Air' - Jules Verne
It's been a long time coming, for which I most humbly apologise, but the audio version of episode 5 of the second season of
Back of the Bookshelf
is finally ready. It's another aeronautical adventure, this time from the pen of the great Jules Verne. It was first published in August 1851 under the title La Science en Famille. Un Voyage en Balloon, but is better known as
A Drama in the Air
.
The author needs no introduction, of course. A prolific novelist, poet and playwright, he is one the true pioneers of the science fiction genre. He is the second most translated author in the world, beaten only by Agatha Christie, and his work has been adapted countless times for film, television and pretty much anything else you can think of. In this particular story, he interweaves a gripping narrative with fascinating snippets of ballooning history, vividly conveying how captivated people at the time were by the exploration of the previously out of reach sky. It was the first piece of his writing to be translated into English, and although it's not as famous as some of his other works, it still clearly exhibits his skill as a storyteller.
Our version uses the original English translation with our usual immersive soundscape and music by Kevin MacLeod. The details are as follows...
TITLE – A Drama in the Air
AUTHOR - Jules Verne
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1851 in Musée des Familles
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:53:00
You can find the video at BACK OF THE BOOKSHELF SEASON 2, EPISODE 5
The audio version is available at all of the below...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
If you are a fan of vintage SF, why not join me as we leave the present behind and soar up into the clouds in the month of September 1850...
The author needs no introduction, of course. A prolific novelist, poet and playwright, he is one the true pioneers of the science fiction genre. He is the second most translated author in the world, beaten only by Agatha Christie, and his work has been adapted countless times for film, television and pretty much anything else you can think of. In this particular story, he interweaves a gripping narrative with fascinating snippets of ballooning history, vividly conveying how captivated people at the time were by the exploration of the previously out of reach sky. It was the first piece of his writing to be translated into English, and although it's not as famous as some of his other works, it still clearly exhibits his skill as a storyteller.
Our version uses the original English translation with our usual immersive soundscape and music by Kevin MacLeod. The details are as follows...
TITLE – A Drama in the Air
AUTHOR - Jules Verne
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1851 in Musée des Familles
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:53:00
You can find the video at BACK OF THE BOOKSHELF SEASON 2, EPISODE 5
The audio version is available at all of the below...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
If you are a fan of vintage SF, why not join me as we leave the present behind and soar up into the clouds in the month of September 1850...
May 17, 2022
👻ChillerCon UK Story Performance - 27th May 2022👻
📅 It's just over a week until the Horror Writers Association's 👻ChillerCon UK👻 event in Scarborough. If you're attending and are a fan of my
Back of the Bookshelf
podcast, you might be interested to know that I'll be giving a reading of one of my short stories at 2:30 pm on Friday 27th May. I'm planning on incorporating sounds and images, so it will be very much in the spirit of the show. The reading was originally scheduled to take place in the Quiet Room at the Grand Hotel, but I believe this is being changed due to a ceiling collapse in the Cabaret Ballroom and the discovery of some asbestos. As soon as the new details are confirmed, I'll announce it here. For further details about the convention, visit the official website here. There's lots going on over the weekend and I'm just one of hundreds of horror writers who will be there, so it should be a lot of fun.
☠️
☠️
March 24, 2022
A few more COMING SOON announcements...
I haven't posted anything for a while, so thought I would just make a few publication announcements. My poem She Talks of the Past, He Thinks of the Future will be appearing in the June 2022 issue of The Fifth Di... (the second poem I have had published in this illustrious, long-running magazine) and my poem The Rise of the Machines will be appearing in the May 2022 issue of Radon Journal . Both are speculative poems. The first is dystopian, while the second is simply about the growing influence of machines in people's lives.
Meanwhile in the world of prose, my short story Stranded has found a home in a forthcoming anthology called Year Four from Black Hare Press. This isn't actually scheduled for publication until January 2023, but is available for pre-order at this link if anyone is interested. There's a lot of content still to be finalised, but it looks to be shaping up nicely. My story falls under the broad umbrella of horror, but has a fairy-tale sensibility and was inspired by writers like Isak Dinesen and Tanith Lee.
I almost certainly have one other upcoming story publication as well, which is a reprint of a work that was originally published way back in 2007, but I'm not going to announce that one just yet in case it falls through.
More details will follow about all of the above as and when I have them. I'll also be posing some news about a couple of film projects I am appearing in and a possible public reading at the Horror Writers Association's ChillerCon event in May 2022, so watch this space. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
December 25, 2021
🎅🎄Christmas 2021🎄🎅 Podcast Episode - 'The Fir Tree' - Hans Christian Andersen
Festive Greetings, You are cordially invited on a sleigh ride back into the past courtesy of a special Christmas episode of
Back of the Bookshelf
. It’s an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale
The Fir Tree
, which was originally published in 1844 in New Fairy Tales, Volume One, Collection Two (or to give it its Danish Title, Nye Eventyr. Første Bind, Anden Samling).
Hans Christian Andersen only had a basic education in a school for poor children, but became a true giant in the world of children’s literature, writing his name indelibly into the history books with his vivid imagination. The Fir Tree isn’t as well-known as some of his other stories, but has a bittersweet quality which makes it hard to forget. It tells of a fir tree who yearns to leave his forest home, only to find that life in the outside world does not live up to his expectations. It is allegorical of the experience of growing old, and as such has a strong resonance with readers of all ages.
The Back of the Bookshelf version uses an early English translation with music by Kevin McLeod and the usual immersive soundscape. Here are the details...
TITLE – The Fir Tree
AUTHOR - Hans Christian Andersen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1844 in 'New Fairy Tales, Volume One, Collection Two'
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:23:36
Find it at...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
I can't share a picture of myself with Andersen on account of him being long since dead, but this is a picture of me with a sculpture of him and one of his most famous characters in Central Park, NYC, which is surely the next best thing...
Hans Christian Andersen only had a basic education in a school for poor children, but became a true giant in the world of children’s literature, writing his name indelibly into the history books with his vivid imagination. The Fir Tree isn’t as well-known as some of his other stories, but has a bittersweet quality which makes it hard to forget. It tells of a fir tree who yearns to leave his forest home, only to find that life in the outside world does not live up to his expectations. It is allegorical of the experience of growing old, and as such has a strong resonance with readers of all ages.
The Back of the Bookshelf version uses an early English translation with music by Kevin McLeod and the usual immersive soundscape. Here are the details...
TITLE – The Fir Tree
AUTHOR - Hans Christian Andersen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1844 in 'New Fairy Tales, Volume One, Collection Two'
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:23:36
Find it at...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
I can't share a picture of myself with Andersen on account of him being long since dead, but this is a picture of me with a sculpture of him and one of his most famous characters in Central Park, NYC, which is surely the next best thing...
🎃Halloween🎃 Podcast Release - 'In the Court of the Dragon' - Robert W. Chambers
Halloween is here – that wonderful time of year when trick-or-treaters in colourful costumes roam the streets… along with other less wholesome things, and as I mentioned before,
Back of the Bookshelf
is honouring the occasion with a dramatization of Robert W. Chambers’ horror story,
In the Court of the Dragon
.
The story is one a group of four, which all involve a fictional play called The King in Yellow. It takes place in 19th century Paris and tells of a man being stalked by a sinister being after daring to read some of the play, which is infamous for its tendency to drive people insane.
Chambers moved away from horror in his later years with varying degrees of success, but his King in Yellow tales were enough to secure his place among the genre’s greatest luminaries. H.P. Lovecraft was an admirer of them, citing them in his Supernatural Horror in Literature essay and even incorporating parts of them in his own Cthulhu mythos, and they continue to inspire writers to this day.
It’s just the audio version of the podcast which has been released so far (featuring the usual immersive soundscape to bring the story to life), but the video should follow very soon.
Here are the episode details…
TITLE – In the Court of the Dragon
AUTHOR - Robert W. Chambers
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1895 in The King in Yellow collection
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:23:59
Find it at any of the follow...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
AUDIBLE
🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN🎃
The story is one a group of four, which all involve a fictional play called The King in Yellow. It takes place in 19th century Paris and tells of a man being stalked by a sinister being after daring to read some of the play, which is infamous for its tendency to drive people insane.
Chambers moved away from horror in his later years with varying degrees of success, but his King in Yellow tales were enough to secure his place among the genre’s greatest luminaries. H.P. Lovecraft was an admirer of them, citing them in his Supernatural Horror in Literature essay and even incorporating parts of them in his own Cthulhu mythos, and they continue to inspire writers to this day.
It’s just the audio version of the podcast which has been released so far (featuring the usual immersive soundscape to bring the story to life), but the video should follow very soon.
Here are the episode details…
TITLE – In the Court of the Dragon
AUTHOR - Robert W. Chambers
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED - 1895 in The King in Yellow collection
NARRATOR - C.J. Carter-Stephenson
MUSIC - Kevin MacLeod
DURATION - 00:23:59
Find it at any of the follow...
LIBSYN
SPOTIFY
APPLE PODCASTS
AUDIBLE
🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN🎃
December 10, 2021
Conanesque fun in the frozen wastes of Nordheim...
Back in August, when the
Gods of the North
episode of my
Back of the Bookshelf
podcast was released in audio format, I hoped the video would follow soon. Now, it finally has. The episode is a tale of savage warriors and mystical beings by fantasy pioneer, Robert E. Howard, in whose fertile imagination the iconic character of Conan the Cimmerian was famously forged.
Interestingly, Conan was the main protagonist when the story was originally written, but Howard decided to replace him with the character of Amra of Akbitana after it was rejected for publication by the editor of Weird Tales. Few people familiar with Conan would be fooled by the change, however, and he was reinserted in a later version of the piece by L. Sprague de Camp. Since then, the Amra version of the story has been largely forgotten, so in true Back of the Bookshelf spirit, it is this one that I have chosen to present. It was originally published in The Fantasy Fan in March 1934 and was heavily inspired by Viking culture and two stories from Greek mythology.
If you fancy joining me for this Conanesque funfest, then make like the barbarian below and get your ass to YouTube.
Here's the link...
BACK OF THE BOOKSHELF SEASON 2, EPISODE 2
Interestingly, Conan was the main protagonist when the story was originally written, but Howard decided to replace him with the character of Amra of Akbitana after it was rejected for publication by the editor of Weird Tales. Few people familiar with Conan would be fooled by the change, however, and he was reinserted in a later version of the piece by L. Sprague de Camp. Since then, the Amra version of the story has been largely forgotten, so in true Back of the Bookshelf spirit, it is this one that I have chosen to present. It was originally published in The Fantasy Fan in March 1934 and was heavily inspired by Viking culture and two stories from Greek mythology.
If you fancy joining me for this Conanesque funfest, then make like the barbarian below and get your ass to YouTube.
Here's the link...
BACK OF THE BOOKSHELF SEASON 2, EPISODE 2
November 17, 2021
Creepy Visuals...
Another Back of the Bookshelf announcement... the video for episode 3 of season 2, featuring Robert W. Chambers' horror story In the Court of the Dragon , launched today on YouTube.
Click here to view it..
I think the visuals really add to the creepy atmosphere, so it's worth checking out even if you've already listened to the audio version. Likes, subscriptions, etc. are always greatly appreciated. Next up is the long overdue video for episode 2. Coming soon (I hope).
