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PODCAST

Nightshade Diary

Podcasts of classic ghost and adventure stories, set in lonely churchyards or empty mansions, all in the tradition of classic authors such as M. R. James, H.P. Lovecraft and the most popular sci-fi pulp fiction writers. Narrated by M.P. PellicerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nightshade-diary--2765110/support.

fiction science fiction

All Episodes

35:15

Between Two Worlds | Dorothy Dunn | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/10/04

After twenty years of it, Eloise got tired of her coffin and returned, unannounced, to get her garnet ring. When she took her departure, she had a strange farewell party, and two new companions for the long, lonely journey home.Dorothy Dunn (1913-1952) was a St. Louis schoolteacher who published over sixty short stories in such hardboiled pulps as Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Tales, and Thrilling Detective in the forties and fifties, with such juicy titles as “Senora Satan,” “Dead-End

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40:26

Undertaker's Delight and Another Story of a Final...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/09/24

Like many short pieces from Shock and similar "weird menace" pulp fiction magazines of the late 1940s, "Undertaker's Delight" is a suspenseful crime thriller by John Bender designed to shock the reader with a swift, dark narrative. he story centers around a classic noir/hardboiled premise involving crime, a morbid angle involving death or the mortuary business, and a fast-paced conflict that culminates in a sudden twist ending—a signature style of the magazine. John Bender was a classic mid-century

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44:58

You Know What I did? And Another Story of Unexpected...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/09/14

You Know What I Did? by Charles Beckman appeared in Manhunt May 1954. This is a gritty story that plays out in only two hours. Your kid's missing, and at first it's nothing to worry about. Then time passes, and your kid doesn't come home.Charles Boeckman Jr. (1920 - 2015), who wrote under the pen name Charles Beckman Jr., was a prolific American pulp magazine author known for his work in suspense, mystery, and western genres. He broke into the pulps in 1945 with a story published in Detective

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42:09

The Mummy's Soul | Curse Story | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/09/08

The Mummy's Soul is an anonymous short story first published in The Knickerbocker, or New York Monthly Magazine in May 1862. Scholarly analysis identifies it as one of the earliest American curse fiction tales, predating Louisa May Alcott’s Lost in a Pyramid (1869) and Jane G. Austin’s After Three Thousand Years (1868). The plot follows a narrator who desecrates an Egyptian tomb and removes a stone scarabaeus inscribed with the prophecy, "three thousand years hence a new life." Upon returning to

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49:36

Betelgeuse Bridge and Another Story of an Unexpected...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/08/26

Date in the City Room is a punchy, short story published in Weird Tales, January, 1938 by Talbot Johns. It blends a classic supernatural twist with a gritty, fast-paced journalism setting. The story takes place late at night in a frantic metropolitan newspaper office— the "city room." Two reporters meet up in the press room, waiting to see a massive headline hit the morning papers. As they talk and watch the printing presses roll, it is revealed that the breaking news story they are waiting on

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96:16

Medusa's Coil | Z.B. Bishop & H.P. Lovecraft |...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/08/21

A powerful and compelling tale of brooding horror that deepens and broadens to the final catastrophe—an unusual and engrossing novellete by the author of "The Curse of Yig".Medusa's Coil" by Zealia B. Bishop and H. P. Lovecraft is a short story first published in January 1939. A traveler seeking shelter at a decaying plantation hears a tale of forbidden love and supernatural horror. When Denis de Russy brings his mysterious Parisian bride, Marceline, home, dark secrets emerge through a painter's

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30:59

The Horror in the Hold and Two Other Stories of...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/08/14

A mutinous Spaniard slithers into the shadow-soaked hold of an English ship with powder, vengeance, and heresy on his tongue. But in the stinking dark beneath the deck, blades whisper, loyalties bend, and something far worse than steel seems to be waiting.Originally published in Weird Tales in February 1932, The Horror in the Hold captures everything readers love about early pulp horror: salt-stung realism, eerie supernatural undertones, and the creeping dread that Frank Belknap Long perfected.The

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44:32

The Real Road to Church | Robert Aickman | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/08/08

Discover the haunting depth of Robert Aickman’s "The Real Road to the Church." Explore how a lonely woman's isolation transforms into a profound supernatural awakening in this unique, emotionally resonant masterwork of weird fiction.Host - M.P. Pellicerwww.MPPellicer.comSUPPORT VIA DONATIONBuy Me A Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Marlene11LISTEN TO ALL MY PODCASTS www.EeriePodcast.comNarration by a human, never AIBecome a supporter of this podcast:

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38:59

Black Iron and Another Tale of Unearthly Encounters |...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/07/27

"Black Iron" is a dark fantasy/heroic fantasy short story by David Drake. The story is part of a loosely connected sequence featuring the character Vettius and his friends —veterans and citizens of the classical Greco-Roman world who encounter supernatural, mythological, and demonic horrors. In this story, Vettius and his companions gather to hear a chilling tale concerning a magical, malevolent sword."The Shortest Way" is an atmospheric short story also by David Drake. The tale features his

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73:13

Mrs. Lorriquer | Henry S. Whitehead | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/06/17

Mrs. Lorriquer is a short story by Henry S. Whitehead, published in Weird Tales in April 1932. The narrative centers on a kind, courteous woman named Mrs. Lorriquer who is possessed by the spirit of a vicious gambler. This possession makes her hostile and unpleasant, particularly when she plays cards, serving as a supernatural exploration of identity and moral corruption. Gerald Canevin is a fictional character created by Henry S. Whitehead for a series of supernatural stories. Most of the Canevin

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86:27

The Black Beast | Henry S. Whitehead | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/06/13

A supernatural tale set in the West Indies featuring occult detective and reporter Gerald Canevin. A shuttered house with many secrets, is finally let to an unsuspecting family, that soon learn why it has remained unoccupied for decades.Gerald Canevin is a fictional character created by Henry S. Whitehead for a series of supernatural stories, first appearing in the 1926 tale "The Projection of Armand Dubois". Most of the Canevin stories were published in fantasy-themed magazines such as Weird Tales

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67:31

The Thing on the Doorstep | H.P. Lovecraft | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/05/29

The Thing on the Doorstep is a horror short story by H. P. Lovecraft, first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales. It is a key work in the Cthulhu Mythos universe, inspired by a 1928 dream Lovecraft recorded in his commonplace book. Edward Derby, a reclusive poet with a fascination for the occult, marries Asenath Waite, who is sprung from a strange family living in Innsmouth. The story explores the fragility of identity, the dangers of forbidden knowledge, and the terror of losing

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101:16

The False Prophet | Ancient World Mystery Story |...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/05/13

The False Prophet by David Drake is a short story by David Drake set in the waning days of the Roman Empire. It features his recurring classical Roman-era characters, Vettius (a ruthless soldier) and Dama (a witty merchant). The narrative follows the duo as they encounter a charlatan who is not quite what his loyal followers believe him to be, blending adventure and mystery with supernatural or science-fictional elements. The story is a centerpiece of Drake's Vettius and Dama mini-trilogy, which

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52:51

The Cloak and Another Dark Tale | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/05/10

Dragon the Book is a short story by David Drake. A wizard pursues a book held in the arms of a rival, long dead. But everything has its price; greed for power acts as a blindfold to the actual cost.The Cloak is a short story by Robert Bloch, first published in the magazine Unknown in May 1939. The narrative follows a man named Henderson who purchases an authentic-looking cloak for a Halloween party, only to find that it transforms him into a vampire-like creature with an irresistible urge to drink

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60:16

Winged Death | H.P. Lovecraft | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/05/01

"Winged Death" is a 1934 horror short story by H.P. Lovecraft (he was a ghost writer for Hazel Heald, who received partial credit for this story), featuring a scientist's revenge plot using poisonous African flies, which ties into the Cthulhu Mythos through ancient ruins and malevolent entities, blending colonial-era horror with supernatural elements. The story begins with the discovery of a corpse in a South African hotel, with clues pointing to a journal detailing a doctor's plan to kill a rival

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29:23

Fishhead and Another Dark Story | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/04/21

Fishhead is a 1913 horror short story by American author Irvin S. Cobb, set in the bayous of Reelfoot Lake, about a monstrous, outcast man-fish hybrid and his violent conflict with two local men, noted for its gruesome atmosphere and influence on H.P. Lovecraft. It's considered a classic of weird fiction, praised by Lovecraft himself for its "banefully effective" portrayal of "unnatural affinities" between the creature and the lake's fish. X Marks the Pedwalk" by Fritz Leiber is a futuristic science

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32:29

Air Raid | Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/04/15

Air Raid is a short story by John Varley that won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity is decimated by disease and deformity, the plot follows a team of reanimated "undead" time travelers who travel back to the past to rescue victims of impending air crashes. These "Snatch teams" extract healthy passengers from doomed flights (such as a 1979 plane crash) before they die, bringing them forward to Centauri-3 (or "New Earth")

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33:02

Denkirch | Horror Fiction | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/04/09

Denkirch is the first published short story by David Drake, originally appearing in the 1967 horror anthology Travellers by Night edited by August Derleth. It is described as a Lovecraft pastiche and established Drake's early career in horror and weird fiction before he became famous for military science fiction. Excerpt: "Now I sleep only by day or when the sky is cloudy, and when the stars gleam bright in the heavens I walk little back streets, avoiding other people, for I do not care to be

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53:33

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale | Philip K. Dick...

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/03/28

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale is a compact but deeply unsettling slice of classic sci-fi—one that bends memory, identity, and reality until none of them feel reliable.Published in 1966 by Philip K. Dick, the story follows Douglas Quail, an ordinary man with an extraordinary obsession: Mars. He dreams of going there, but his life—and his bank account—keep him grounded on Earth. That’s when he turns to a company called Rekal, Inc., which offers something almost too perfect: implanted

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38:26

Murder in Old Manhattan | Frank Bonham | Podcast

Nightshade Diary ·

2026/03/17

A detective of 1857 didn’t know about fingerprints, and he had to learn a lot about human nature. | Narrated by M.P. PellicerFrank Bonham was born into a family of writers. His grandfather, a gold camp judge, and his mother were poets. He wrote his first two stories at the age of ten. He suffered from asthma, and while convalescing from an attack, he started to write short stories and submit them to pulp magazines. Phantom Detective Magazine accepted his fourteenth submission. In his first two

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341 results

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