Author Topic: PseudoPod 608 – A Visit to the Catacombs of Via Altamonvecchi  (Read 1931 times)

Bdoomed

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PseudoPod 608 – A Visit to the Catacombs of Via Altamonvecchi

by Joe Weintraub
Narrated by Halloween Bloodfrost
Hosted by Alasdair Stuart

“A Visit to the Catacombs of Via Altamonvecchi” was originally published in Karamu (vol. xx, no. 2, Spring 2007), a literary review out of Eastern Illinois University. In addition, I have featured a shortened version in readings around the Chicago area, including at the Twilight Tales reading series at the Red Lion Pub (then the only haunted bar in the Chicago metropolitan area).


Show Notes
This soundbed utilizes the following sources from Freesound.org (https://freesound.org/):
Long Low Thunder 02
quiet autumn downtown street 03
Low Rumble
pasture ambience LONG
INT Cave Room tone
Mystical Cavern
Water Dripping in Cave
Ewater_drip-echo
stream running under rocks, glamorgan coast, wales
Water Through Drain (With Reverb)


Welcome to the catacombs of via Altamontivecchi, the grandest and one of the most ancient in the world. I will be your guide for this special pilgrim’s tour in the English language. If you have booked in advance, you will find the number 34 stamped on your ticket. If you have not booked in advance, you have no business being here. Please return tomorrow in the morning when there will be more tours for you in several languages.

For those of you who have booked in advance, please step inside.





Listen to this week's PseudoPod.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Metrophor

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For the love of God, Montresor!

But in all seriousness, I quite enjoyed this one. It was a little difficult at times to understand what the narrator was saying, but that may have been because I was on the road and had background noise. I've worked as a tour guide myself (not.... that kind. probably) and appreciated how much it really did sound like he was genuinely engaging his audience.

I'll have to give it another listen, when I'm in a place where I can really settle in and appreciate the sound mixing. Good job on this one.



Moritz

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As someone who travels a lot and has been a private tour guide, I just loved this story. I'm usually not a fan of effects in a reading, but it worked here.

To be honest, I wasn't spooked by the story but rather had to giggle the whole time. Good stuff.



Scuba Man

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I loved the looooong silence at the end of the story. Um, I don't think the guide's coming back.  ;D ;D ;D ;D
It captured the claustrophobic nature of caves. The closest I'm able to tolerate is a dark swim-though at the grotto at Five Fathoms Marine Park (in Georgian Bay [Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada]). The cave itself collapsed and filled with water. Unwary swimmers paddle around on the surface, while the SCUBA divers lurk at the bottom.  8)
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/on/bruce/activ/experiences/grotto

I'm a stand-up philosopher until 2024. Then, I move onto my next gig. I'm a gentleman forester and farmer. I also enjoy jumping into Lake Huron and panicking the fish.