Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Stuff: Lit horror classics! Cheap as free!

Audio Literature Odyssey is a boss little site where all-pro voice actor Nikolle Doolin presents free podcasts of literary classics. For the horror-minded Screamer or Screamette, Doolin's got a couple of classics for you. Swing by ALO and listen to the following (listed below with ALO's summary):

Turn of the Screw, by Henry James.
An inexperienced governess takes charge of two orphaned children living on a rural estate. She falls in love with them instantly. Yet, she soon detects that supernatural forces are at play in this idyllic scene. These forces seem to prey directly upon the little ones themselves; and only the governess appears to see and hear them. Real or imagined, can the governess fight these forces, or will she be overwhelmed to the point of destruction?

The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe
The old man is kind, but he has a vulture eye and his heart beats like a watch enveloped in cotton. It is too much for the narrator to bear, whose senses are acute. No, the old man must die. Yet, will death stop the beating heart, or will it never cease?

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was published in the New England Magazine in 1892. The story is told through the protagonist’s journal, which she writes secretly over the course of several months, while staying in a rented mansion. As she narrates the story, she reveals that she has been suffering from a nervous condition and has been prescribed rest with strict orders not to work or socialize. Unfortunately, her husband is a physician who doesn’t think anything is wrong with her that a little rest and fresh air won’t cure. As time passes and the narrator is alienated from the activities and people that enliven her spirit, she sinks deeper and deeper into a depression that preys upon her mind. She becomes obsessed with the hideous yellow wallpaper in her room and succumbs to a delusion, which drives her across the line separating reality from fantasy.

Classy, smart, entertaining, and inexpensive - if this was a date, you'd already be in love with ALO. Now quit reading this silly old blog and download yourself something nice.

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