Dark Tome

Realm

What if there was a book that literally opened up doorways to other worlds? Where would it lead, and could you handle what you found on the other side? Cassie, a teen that's having trouble fitting in at school, is about to find out. One day, after she wraps up community service at a local hospital, she stumbles out of the basement of a spooky bookshop and into a story set on a devil's staircase in a remote Italian village. For more shows like this, visit Realm.fm. read less

Our Editor's Take

Dark Tome is an eerie, fictional podcast. Listeners may laud the voice acting, music direction, and storytelling.

The podcast's story begins with a teenage girl named Cassie. Pulling another girl's hair at school garnered her a suspension. She reads to a sick older man named Mr. Gussy at a local hospital as penance. Mr. Gussy doesn't seem interested in Edgar Allan Poe or anything else Cassie reads to him. He asks for a different book, the Dark Tome. Mr. Gussy owned the strange, abandoned local bookshop. Cassie goes to the bookshop to escape her unstable home situation. When she goes down to the shop's basement, she can read in peace. When she opens the Dark Tome, the words glow on the page as she reads. Cassie closes the book. She puts it away out of fear. Then, one day, she is ready.

The Dark Tome brings Cassie to the worlds of the stories it contains. In each podcast episode, she finds herself in a different book. These are real books by authors such as Morgan Sylvia, Marguerite Croft, and Nova Ren Suma. Cassie doesn't choose these stories. She learns about them with the listeners by observing her surroundings and talking to the characters. In one episode, Cassie visits Natural Skin, a dystopian story by Alyssa Wong. The protagonist, Liin Jie, understands Cassie to be a ghost. No one else seems able to hear Cassie, but she can read Liin Jie's thoughts.

Another podcast episode brings Cassie into Roshani Chokshi's The Vishakanya's Choice. She learns a valuable lesson about self-determination from the main character, an assassin. At the end of each episode, Cassie returns to her world. Her story progresses as the Dark Tome changes her and her surroundings.

Fans of literature and fantasy may enjoy the Dark Tome podcast. All episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour in length.

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FictionFiction

Season 4

Season 3

Janine, by Emma J Gibbon
Jul 7 2021
Janine, by Emma J Gibbon
This week a reading of the short story JANINE, a haunting tale of youth gone awry thanks to devils in the Maine woods. Story by Emma J Gibbon - Emma J. Gibbon is originally from Yorkshire in the U.K. and now lives in Midcoast Maine. She is a Rhysling-nominated speculative poet, horror writer and librarian. Her debut fiction collection, Dark Blood Comes from the Feet, is out now from Trepidatio Publishing and was one of NPR’s best books of 2020. Her stories have appeared in the Toasted Cake podcast, The Muse & The Flame and the New England Horror Writers anthologies, Wicked Haunted and Wicked Weird. Her poetry has been published in Strange Horizons, Liminality, Pedestal Magazine, Kaleidotrope and Eye to the Telescope. Emma lives with her husband, Steve, and three exceptional animals: Odin, Mothra, and M. Bison (also known as Grim) in a spooky little house in the woods. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the New England Horror Writers, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association and the Tuesday Mayhem Society. Read by Lisa Stathoplos - Lisa Stathoplos is an actor, voice artist and special education teacher/behavior specialist. She's been acting on stage, film and video for forty years; teaching for twenty. Moving north from her beloved theatrical home, Portland, Maine, Lisa lives in Searsport with Michael and a motley collection of adopted furry creatures. Sound design and music editing by Carter Wogahn. Thanks to the Fable and Folly network for ad support and Brooklinen for underwriting this episode. Enjoy $20 off your $100 order by going to Brooklinen.com and using Promo Code TOME. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Agony Chamber, by Morgan Sylvia
Sep 8 2021
The Agony Chamber, by Morgan Sylvia
A group of buddies goes hunting in the Maine woods and find an evil beyond imagination. This haunting story is penned by Morgan Sylvia -- a metalhead, an Aquarius, a beer snob, coffee addict, and a work in progress. A former obituarist, she is now a full-time freelance writer. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Pseudopod, Forgotten Realms, Wicked Witches, Wicked Haunted, Northern Frights, Haunted House Short Stories, Endless Apocalypse, Twice Upon An Apocalypse, and The Final Summons, among others. Her first poetry collection, Whispers From The Apocalypse, was released in 2014. Her debut horror novel, Abode, was released by Bloodshot Books in 2017. Her second novel, Dawn, the first book of a fantasy trilogy, was released in 2018. Her most recent book, As The Seas Turn Red, an ocean-themed poetry collection, was nominated for an Elgin Award. She lives in Maine with her boyfriend, two cats, and a chubby goldfish. Nathan Dana Aldritch is a native Mainer currently calling Los Angeles home where he’s a professional actor and also slinger of a mean drink. He has over a dozen television appearances to his name as well and numerous stage credits with such awesome roles depicted as “Psychotic Redneck” “Paranoid Husband” “The Devil” and .. The Elephant Man. If you’ve checked out our standalone mini-series The Dark Tome: Undertow, he plays the small town bureaucrat Marty Ducharme. Sound Design/Editing - Fred Greenhalgh. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Additional sound and music by Mind’s Eye Productions. CONTENT WARNING: This story has strong language and really messes with your mind. Not recommended for listening while on psychedelics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 2