I spent a couple days listening to this entire anthology series. The style and quality were so different between the 26 episodes, I took notes to be sure I didn’t broad brush.
In the best episodes, I really saw this (erm, heard this) as an audio Tales from the Darkside sort of show. Surreal, dreamlike, filled with cult appeal. The not-so-best episodes were the story monologue character performances with music and ambient sound effects, which weren’t actually bad but, I enjoyed the full cast episodes more. That’s probably personal taste. I think it’s safe to assume that this show was produced on practically no budget (it aired on a college radio station) and that probably explains why half or so of the episodes weren’t full cast affairs.
But nearly all of it was certainly worth listening to – there were a (very) few duds. Sure, the stories were kinda “easy mode” most of the time but still intelligent and well written – playful, often with rhyme, cadence, and tempo. This is a great show for people who love creative writing. And a great use of the audio theater medium with surprisingly good sound design – again, considering the budget.
I enjoyed it thoroughly but once was enough – I’m only keeping three… Appetite, Epic Times, and Necropolis. And, when Halloween comes around, I’ll maybe revisit the whole series again. I don’t need them all handy on demand in my personal collection but most of them would surely hold up to another listen, especially in a darker season.
So, I give this series a C+ in that it has more good than bad so surely doesn’t deserve a D but the quality isn’t consistent enough to merit a full B. And out of 26, I’m keeping the 3 listed above because I know I’ll want to hear those more than a few times more.
Evening Shadows
The sun cut by your presence at its setting, the black ghost that expands before you.