Protecting Project Pulp: That Spot by Jack London

SFFaudio Online Audio

That Spot by Jack London is a 4,000 word story. Not generally considered to be either Fantasy or Science Fiction, it nevertheless borders both. I also think, depending on your mood, it can also be seen either as horror story or a comedy.

Any way you classify it, That Spot is absolutely wonderful.

Jack London had the intellect, experience, disposition, hunger, and temperament of ten men (or at least one very queer dog).

That Spot by Jack London

Protecting Project PulpProtecting Project Pulp No. 39 – That Spot
By Jack London; Read by Steven Howell
1 |MP3| – Approx. 28 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Protecting Project Pulp
Podcast: April 8, 2013
Two Americans in the Yukon purchase a strange dog for a song, and it haunts them for the rest of their days. First published in Sunset Magazine, February 1908.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Ghosts by Lord Dunsany

SFFaudio Online Audio

I quite like this one. It makes a fit companion to The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and The Red Room by H.G. Wells.

The Ghosts begins as straightforward haunted house story, one coming out of the Gothic tradition. Our hero, a skeptic, is staying with his brother at an ancient baronial estate. There, he argues with his brother about the existence of ghosts, and what sorts of evidence for their existence would be acceptable. Then, in order to make his point, he proceeds to induce in himself a ghostly experience by means darkness, drugs, and deprivation.

Are the ghosts he sees real and if so, is his point proved?

The Ghosts by Lord Dunsany - illustrated by Sidney Sime - "Oneleigh"

The Ghosts by Lord Dunsany - illustrated by Sidney Sime - "A Herd Of Black Creatures"

Miette’s Bedtime Story PodcastThe Ghosts
By Lord Dunsany; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast
Podcast: March 21, 2006
First published in 1908.

LibriVoxThe Ghosts
By Lord Dunsany; Read by William Coon
1 |MP3| – Approx. 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: 2006
First published in 1908.

Here’s an illustrated |PDF| made from the publication in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Hoard Of The Gibbelins by Lord Dunsany

SFFaudio Online Audio

Lord Dunsany’s take on the sword and sorcery sub-genre is high on the Dunsany and low on the Lord (which is itself a very Dunsanian trait).

The Hoard Of The Gibbelins illustration by Sidney Sime

LibriVoxThe Hoard Of The Gibbelins
By Lord Dunsany; Read by Greg Elmensdorp
1 |MP3| – Approx. 10 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 24, 2007
The bold knight Alderic seeks the fabled hoard of the Gibbelins. First published in the Jan 25, 1911 issue of The Sketch.

Here’s a |PDF|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The People Of The Black Circle by Robert E. Howard

SFFaudio Online Audio

The People Of The Black Circle by Robert E. Howard - illustration by Hugh Rankin

In this well-regarded CONAN novella our hero, now a chieftain in the Hyborian equivalent of Pakistan, tangles with a beautiful young queen bent on revenge. Her plot will have Conan fighting an evil sorcerer who, by will alone, can rip a man’s heart out of his chest!

And giant snakes.

Weird Tales, September 1934

LibriVoxThe People Of The Black Circle
By Robert E. Howard; Read by Mark Nelson
1 |M4B|, 10 Zipped MP3 Files, or podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox
Published: April 1, 2013
“A stupendous story of Conan the barbarian soldier of fortune, and a tremendous adventure in the castle of the Black Seers.” First published in Weird Tales, September, October, and November 1934.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/7692

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

And here’s an illustrated |PDF| made from the republication in Fantastic, January 1967 (the illustrations, by Hugh Rankin, are from the original serialization in Weird Tales).

The People Of The Black Circle - illustration by John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala
The People Of The Black Circle - illustration by John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala
The People Of The Black Circle - illustration by John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala

[Thanks also to: DaveC, Ann Boulais, and Jack!]

Posted by Jesse Willis