The unnameable reruns
The Eldritch Episodes review
Rating – 
One of the first horror stories I ever read was The Music Of Erich Zann. I will always remember the illustration of a crazed viol player with sheets of music whipping around him like a tornado. It wasn’t until many years later I became aware of the rest of H. P. Lovecraft’s work. I devoured all his stories, played the Call Of Cthulhu RPG, and even one of my bands was a play on his name (and also why I am called Sludgieboy).
Yes, I am aware the old man of Providence is problematic. Yes, his cat did have a ridiculously offensive name. And no, he wasn’t a product of his time, he was pretty extreme even back then. He is also one of the names at the top of the list when it comes to “separate the art from the artist” discussions.
Having addressed that particular non-euclidian behemoth in the room, you might have guessed that I love his stories (I go to sleep every night to the HPLHS readings of his work) and that any adaptation of his work will get an instant subscription from me. So is this podcast any good? Well, you’ll have to read on and find out won’t you?
So what’s it about?
The Eldritch Episodes is a podcast that dramatises H. P. Lovecraft’s short stories, and also releases stories that wear their inspiration proudly on their sleeve. The stories are not the usual fodder that gets picked for adaptations. So no Dreams In The Witch House, The Dulwich Horror, or The Shadow Over Innsmouth (yet).
What you get instead are full cast radio style plays of stories like The Terrible Old Man, Beyond The Wall Of Sleep, and The Rats In The Walls. The sound design is extremely immersive, so much so that more than once, I have actually jumped at some noise or shout that caught me unawares.
I suspect that there is some unspoken need to reproduce Lovecraft’s work as vintage 1940s style radio plays, but these stories don’t really tread that path. They are more like the TV work of Nigel Kneale or Brian Clemens. They certainly have that taut energy that is reminiscent of these great writers.
Is it any good?
The problem with a lot of Lovecraft’s work is that the stories are so short. He was, after all, published in pulp magazines, and so his actual novella length works are very few indeed. As such, any dramatic adaptation of his fiction needs to be padded out quite considerably.
Take for example The Eldritch Episodes version of “Very Old Folk”. Their adaptation clocks in at just shy of two hours. The HPLHS reading is a mere 16 minutes by comparison. Plus, the next story is an original tale that acts as a sequel. Which also clocks in at 2 hours. I can only imagine they used the same rolling pin that Peter Jackson had when he adapted The Hobbit.
This is all well and good, providing it is actually, you know, good. Thankfully it is. The acting turned out to be very good as the episodes went on. The Horror At Red Hook sounded like an old time radio drama, which was nice enough, but the acting was hammy and I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not. I’m waiting with bated breath to see what they do to my favourite Lovecraft short story The Strange High House In The Mist.
The sound design is excellent. When the indescribable, unnameable, timeless, non euclidian, cyclopean, eldritch horrors do make an appearance, they sound genuinely alien. I’m glad that they took this approach, rather than just pitch shifting a human voice.
Final thoughts
If you have a particular cosmic horror itch to scratch, then you could do a lot worse than this show. Unfortunately,you can also do better. I have flip-flopped with scoring this show, perhaps more than any other I’ve reviewed.
I’ve had to try to keep my personal feelings out of this (after actually hearing their version of The Strange High House In The Mist). This particular adaptation only highlighted the tough choice I face with this podcast. I have given it the benefit of the doubt, but I suspect there are many fans out there that won’t like it. Unfortunately any adaptation of anyone’s work runs that risk.
Give it a go. You’ll probably love it.
You can get Eldritch Episodes here:
https://www.greatpods.co/podcasts/the-eldritch-episodes-7776883
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