CoW Ep. 202: Henkie's Fiddle

[danooli]

Episode 202: Henkie’s Fiddle by Vonnie Winslow Crist

• Narrated by Andrew Reid
• Audio production by Jeremy Carter
• Originally published in Potter’s Field 4

Vonnie Winslow Crist is an author and illustrator living in a rural Maryland. She is editor of The Gunpowder Review and senior editor at Pole to Pole Publishing, a speculative fiction small press. Vonnie’s books include The Enchanted Skean (a Compton Crook Award Finalist), Owl Light, The Greener Forest, and Leprechaun Cake & Other Tales. Her short fiction has been published in Chilling Ghost Short Stories, Tales of the Talisman, Dia de los Muertos, Faerie Magazine, and elsewhere. Vonnie’s paintings have been featured on the covers of Bards and Sages, FrostFire Worlds, Outposts of Beyond, Illumen, and Scifikuest. A cloverhand who has found so many four-leafed clovers she keeps them in jars, Vonnie strives to celebrate the power of myth in her writing and art. You can find her work and portfolio online[lurl], or follow her on [url=https://twitter.com/VonnieWCrist]Twitter.

Born in Scotland, Andrew Reid is a teacher and author currently living in Sweden. He writes fantasy and alt-history, and harbours an unhealthy obsession with coffee. Not to mention being a damn fine Destiny team mate, if you’re looking for one. His first fantasy novel, Kingdom’s Fall, is currently available on Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter and online.

Stirred by a bone-chilling wind, the lone tree in the unsanctified section of the cemetery rattled its bare branches. Duffy had the eerie feeling that Witchman's Oak sensed what was to happen today. He chewed on the hard skin left by a burst blister on his right thumb and studied the tree.
By order of the Edgewater town council and with the mayor's approval, Duffy was to remove Witchman's Oak before Christmas despite local lore proclaiming the tree haunted. Personally, he thought it was a terrible mistake to cut down the oak if for no other reason than the shade it provided in the summer. Rousted by another cold gust, the huge iron bell hanging from a rusted hook embedded in the tree's trunk clanked its agreement.

Click here to listen to Episode 202
Click here to read the text of the story

Tags: adventure, Andrew Reid, Cast of Wonders, dark bargain, fairies, fairy tale, Horror, Jeremy Carter, music, soldiers, Vonnie Winslow Crist, wondertale, Young Adult fiction
 

[Unblinking]

I thought the idea of the unmarked grave and the creature pinned under it for so long a time was interesting, though I thought the narrator was saying "troll".  And I thought he was saying "bone fiddle" but then I think he might've been saying "bow and fiddle".  My mind started to wander partway through, but I enjoyed it well enough.

[Devoted135]

I also heard both "troll" and "bone fiddle."

I like that this one seemed to jump off from the idea of what happens when the characters in a fairy tale manage to trap but not kill the scary antagonist? Prisons of any kind can only last so long, after all. And of course all of the same families are still present, holding basically their same positions in society. That makes it rounded out and gives it that feeling of completion.

Whatever sort of beasty he is, he's very just. He only went after those who wronged him and even rewarded those who were helpful to him.

[FeloniusMonk]

I loved this story - I thought the use of fey "fair play" was fantastic. It's always nice to see some less common mythologies getting used as inspiration and backdrop as well.

[Fenrix]

Fun story and amazing narration. Loved the creepy crows.