Radio Drama Revival

Showcasing the diversity and vitality of modern audio drama

I Am in Eskew – ‘Correspondence’

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[Download audio here]

Let’s kick off Spooky Month with I Am In Eskew, a completed story filled with body horror and other creeping terrors.

Like what you hear? Us too. You can support the podcast on their website.

Moment of Wil recommendations:

About Radio Drama Revival:

  • Learn more about how to support Radio Drama Revival on our website
  • Support Elena Fernández Collins on Patreon
  • Support Wil Williams and Anne Baird on Patreon
  • Support Eli McIlveen and Sean Howard on Patreon
  • Find Fred Greenhalgh on his website
  • Find David Rheinstrom on Twitter
  • Find Rashika Rao on Twitter
  • You shall not find the elusive Heather Cohen

This episode of Radio Drama Revival was recorded in the unceded territory of the Kalapuya people, the Clatskanie Indian Tribe, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, and the Atfalati tribe. Colonizers named this place Beaverton, Oregon.

If you are seeking ways in which to donate to Native communities, the Aniwa Gathering of Elders and the Boa Foundation are raising community relief funds for six reservations: Oglala Lakota, Hopi, Lenape-Ramapough, Apache, Diné (Navajo) and Tohono O’odham communities.

You can donate to their GoFundMe.

TRANSCRIPT

INTRO

Ely: The city around you wavers in the rain; between every drop, something else glimmers and shifts, like you’re having a bad dream. Hopefully it is a bad dream, and not that the city is changing around you — changing you. Are you also trapped in Eskew?

Ely: Come and see if you can free yourself from the living city of horrors, right here, on Radio Drama Revival.

[theme music]

Ely: Welcome to Radio Drama Revival, the podcast that showcases the diversity and vitality of modern audio fiction. I’m your host, Elena Fernandez Collins.

Ely: It’s October, which means it’s time for a haunting — in this case, the whole warped and fascinating city of Eskew, which changes to suit its hunger for its inhabitants. It’s not a city so much as a living being trying to be a city, and David Ward is trapped inside.

Ely: I Am In Eskew starts off as David Ward broadcasting the tales of what he’s trying to survive within the confines of his new location, desperately seeking help from outside the city. This is a story about fear and what we do when faced with our fears. I am in Eskew is inspired by the works of Junji Ito and Thomas Ligotti in terms of style and the approach to a horror that crushes hope.

Ely: But in the time of a pandemic, Eskew becomes especially disturbing, as these are terrors delivered on the backbone of architectural horror and urban isolation. What does it mean to feel and to be alone in a city full of people? How do you deal with living somewhere that shifts and changes constantly, physically, rendering you incapable of even planning a trip to the coffeeshop?

Ely: Sound familiar?

Ely: This is a horror story I love; it creeps me out in all the right ways and many of its episodes have lingered with me in the dark. But also, it’s a kind of long exhalation. It’s a relief to find a place where my darkest thoughts are expressed and followed through to their conclusion.

Ely: Invariably, it makes me feel less alone in my own personal Eskew.

Ely: What follows is David’s first transmission, “Correspondence”. Content warning for body horror throughout the episode. And please, stay tuned for the outro where we announce a very exciting bonus episode.

 

[https://www.iamineskew.com/transcript-episode-1 ]

 

OUTRO

Ely: I Am in Eskew is a completed story that runs to thirty episodes. You can listen to more of Eskew and learn about their next project over at iamineskew.com or follow them at eskew_podcast on Twitter.

Ely: One of the support actions they ask you to take is a donation to a missing persons charity, like Missing People in the UK or LostNMissing in the USA. We’ll provide links in the episode description.

Ely: If you follow us on Twitter, you may have already heard about the Writer’s Guild of America Audio Alliance. This organizing effort within the WGA is for scripted podcast writers, fiction and nonfiction, and Radio Drama Revival was able to host an interview about it. We’ll be speaking with Lowell Peterson, the executive director of the WGA-East, Matt Klinman and Lisette Alvarez, who are two of the organizers. That episode is coming out Sunday, October 18th..

Ely: If you haven’t already, give the WGA a follow on Twitter, over at WGAAudio. You can learn more about them, and about the event they’re hosting on October 26th: a panel talk on the Art of Audio Fiction with greats like Dania Ramos, Lauren Shippen, and Meghan Fitzmartin, moderated by Gabriel Urbina.

Ely: Radio Drama Revival runs on your goodwill and pictures of Fred’s goats.  If you’d like to help keep us afloat and featuring new, diverse, unique fiction podcasts and their creators, you can support us on Patreon, at patreon.com/radiodramarevival.

Ely: Other than Patreon, you can also support Radio Drama Revival by buying merch at our shop at radiodramarevival.com/shop. If you put one of our stickers on a telephone pole, hopefully it will still be there the next day. The telephone pole, I mean.

Ely: And now we bring you our Moment of Wil.

[Moment of Wil]

Ely: That means it’s time for the credits.

Ely: This episode of Radio Drama Revival was recorded on the unceded territories of the Akimel O’odham and Hohokam peoples.

Ely: This episode was recorded in the unceded territory of the Kalapuya people, the Clatskanie Indian Tribe, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, and the Atfalati tribe. Colonizers named this place Beaverton, Oregon.

Ely: If you are seeking ways in which to donate to Native communities, the Aniwa Gathering of Elders and the Boa Foundation are raising community relief funds for six reservations: Oglala Lakota, Hopi, Lenape-Ramapough, Apache, Diné (Navajo) and Tohono O’odham communities. You can donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-indigenous-communities-in-usa. The link will be in our episode description.

Ely: Our theme music is Reunion of the Spaceducks by the band KieLoKaz. You can find their music on Free Music Archive.
Our line producer and associate interviews producer is Wil Williams.
Our senior interviews producer is Eli Hamada McIlveen.
Our associate producer is Sean Howard.
Our researcher is Heather Cohen.
Our social media manager is Anne Baird.
Our submissions editor is Rashika Rao.
Our executive producers are Fred Greenhalgh and David Rheinstrom.
Our mascot is Tickertape, the goat.

Ely: I’m your host, Elena Fernandez Collins. This has been Radio Drama Revival: all storytellers welcome.