I recently caught up with the first season of the BBC Podcast “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.”
It’s a radio play adaptation of one of Lovecraft’s stories done as fictional 10 episode investigative “true-crime” journalism podcast. It’s written and directed by Julian Simpson (whose blog and newsletter I am a fan of).
This is easily the best modern adaptation of a Lovecraft story I’ve ever experienced. The acting, sound design and direction are all great-to-excellent and the writing is outstanding. There is a second season based on THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS that I plan to dive into this week and I understand this summer a third season is coming (based on SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH) which supposedly will wrap up the trilogy.
The first season really does a great job of mixing the source material with a ton of research and information on secret societies and historical occultist characters from throughout history not referenced in the original story. They serve to really flesh out the world of the story and make it feel so believable. These references (and the mentions of several of the reference materials Simpson used in writing) have led me to some interviews on YouTube with historian Gary Lachman and then to the many books he’s written on the history of the occult and esotericism as well as several biographies on famous occultists and other counter-cultural figures.
Get this, turns out he’s also the bass-player from Blondie. How’s that for a cool second act in a career? Dude played the bass on Parallel Lines AND wrote a biography of Aleister Crowley. Neat.
A lot of the things I’ve been reading about or interested in lately all seem to keep connecting to occult characters and histories (OMG MAYBE IT’S MAGICK!!). Much of what I know on the subject has been absorbed via osmosis from reading the likes of Alan Moore, H.P. Lovecraft and various and sundry writers of that ilk. I suppose now is as good a time as any to get way into this shit. Maybe I’ll dabble now and then in a few years when I turn 40 I’ll go full-blown like Alan Moore and declare myself a magician and start worshipping a snake god or something… or, maybe I’ll just read a bunch of books and actually know what David Bowie was on about when he was in the grips of full-blown cocaine psychosis in the mid 70s. Either way, seems like a good use of my spare time!
Currently Playing: David Bowie – “Station to Station”
Currently (fucking still) Reading: HEAVY WEATHER, Bruce Sterling
joezone 