315: Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re mulling over bas-reliefs again. Once you start looking into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, the damn things are everywhere. We would say that there’s no relief from them, but that would be beneath us. Main Topic: Lovecraft and Art This episode is the first of a two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, and how this shaped the Cthulhu Mythos and Call of Cthulhu. Next episode, we’ll be flipping things around and looking for inspiration from the world of art, but here we’re examining the influence it had on Lovecraft’s life...
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314: Analogue Horror, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re twiddling the tracking knob. It’s supposed to help clear up the image on this old videocassette, but maybe that’s just missing the point. The static can be the most interesting part, filled with whispers, ghosts, and ancient secrets. Compared to such wonders, the film itself is a bit disappointing. Then again, analogue horror seems to be more of a vibe than a form of storytelling, so maybe we should just let the white noise wash over us. Main Topic: Analogue Horror This episode sees us explore analogue horror, trying to work out what exactly it is and how to bring...
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313: Horror in Space, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re answering the call of the void. Really, it’s about the scariest call you can receive, regardless of what Cthulhu may tell you. The yawning darkness of infinity shouldn’t be as tempting as it is. For all our talk about horror in space, maybe the real horror was inside us the whole time. Main Topic: Horror in Space This episode heads into the cold and the dark, exploring just what it is that makes space so scary. We talk about some of the real challenges and dangers posed by space travel and how they can amplify horror, then move on to inspirational...
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312: Comedy Horror, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our ponchos. They look a bit silly, but that works for us here. The important thing is that they’ll keep some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you bring gardening equipment into play. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream. Main Topic: Comedy Horror This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform...
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311: RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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310: Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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309: Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re learning about protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be more scatological than any of us would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are well hidden behind twee language and cute costumes. Happily, once we strip them away, we can find some good horror inspiration. Although we do wish it all smelled a bit better. Main Topic: Theme Parks and Horror This episode, we visit the topic of theme parks, amusement parks, funfairs and the like, looking for Call of Cthulhu inspiration. As with so many things rooted...
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308: The Appeal of Vampires, With Josephine McAdam
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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307: Horror For the Nervous, with Josephine McAdam
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re hiding behind the sofa. Sure, the monsters, masked killers, and mutants can probably find us back here, but it still feels safer for some reason. Fear is rarely a rational thing, so why should our response to it be? Main Topic: Horror For the Nervous This episode came about when Scott was playing The Between with Josephine McAdam over on and she mentioned that she rarely watches or reads horror media because she finds it upsetting. Given how many horror projects Josephine has been involved with, this seemed like something worth exploring, so we...
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306: Quatermass and the Pit
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re digging up the past. Some of this excavation is purely physical, burrowing into the clay under London in search of the usual skulls and spaceships. The rest, however, is more atavistic in nature, uncovering the strange, alien memories buried within our minds. On reflection, we probably shouldn’t have used pickaxes for both jobs. Main Topic: Quatermass and the Pit This episode is our long-overdue exploration of the strange world of Professor Bernard Quatermass, and especially the 1967 film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit. While we’ve mentioned Nigel...
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Our 2024 Christmas ghost story double-bill concludes with the second part of William Hope Hodgson’s “The Horse of the Invisible”, from the casebooks of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. This is our second Carnacki tale this year, and you can find “The Searcher of the End House” on your podcast feed of choice or on this very server.
This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories), taking place on our Discord server. Mike is joined by guest readers John Casey, Scott Dorward, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, Nic Rosenberg, and Sue Savage.
So load your shotguns, fire up the electric pentacle, and prepare to make the First and Last signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual.
“Silent Night”, performed by The St. Joseph’s Convent Choir, is in the public domain.
If you would like to read along at home, you can find “The Searcher of the End House” in William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, available on Project Gutenberg.
And if all this has put you in the mood for Christmas ghost stories, please check out our previous readings:
- “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
- “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde
- “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol
- “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome
