Update 31st October: The week’s offerings from Seanchai Library (SL) have been added to! At 19:00 SLT on the 31st October, Caledonia Skytower will presetna reading from Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and perhaps even an original tale based upon one of the five Irish Haunts within the Library’s grounds. See the Seanchai Library (SL) blog for more!
I’m a day behind myself, news-and-events-wise due to reasons I’ll not go into here. Instead, let me get straight into an overdue update on SL storytelling from the Seanchai Library SL. This week rounds-out the haunted month with a few more ghostly tales and haunting happenings.
Tuesday 30th October, 19:00
Bear Silvershade brings to life The Whistling Room by English author William Hope Hodgson, who wrote in a number of overlapping genres, including science-fiction, fantastic fiction and horror. Perhaps most widely known for the novel-length The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, Hodgson also wrote numerous short stories, often revolving around a recurring central character. The Whistling Room is one of the latter, and the supernatural detective, Thomas Carnacki.
In all, Carnacki originally appeared in print in six tales by Hodgson, all published between 1910 and 1912, with The Whistling Room being the third in the series. Following their initial publication, all six stories were brought together to form the anthology Carnacki The Ghost-Finder, to which three further stories were added in 1948, one of which had never previously been published, and two had been published posthumously following Hodgson’s death in 1918 at the Battle of Ypres.
Carnacki himself is inspired by two other fictional characters, the Great Detective himself, Sherlock Holmes, and the supernaturally inclined scientists, Dr. Hesselius, created by fantasy writer Sheridan Le Fanu.
As with all the Carnacki tales, The Whistling Room is narrated by a friend of Carnacki – one Dodgson who is, like three other close friends, is often invited to Carnacki’s batchelor home to share dinner and hear of the detective’s latest case. As such, and unlike Holmes’ Watson, while Dodgson narrates, he generally plays a minimal role in Carnacki’s own tale.
On this occasion, Carnecki tells of a case wherein he is asked it investigate a room in a mansion which emits a loud,eerie whistling. After carrying out a very thorough search of the room and finding nothing, he is not altogether convinced of the supernatural nature of the sound. Not convinced, that is, until he takes a ladder to the side of the house, climbs it, and peers into the room from the outside…
Wednesday 31st October, 19:00
A Night in the Lonesome October reaches its long-awaited climax. Originally intended to be a tale in four parts, Seanchai Library has extended its adaptation of Roger Zelazy’s satirical novel so that reaches its thrilling climax on night in which all things come to a head in the novel itself.
Featuring the voice artistry of Shandon Loring, Gyro Muggins, Caledonia Skytower and special guests, the story once again focuses on the deadly Game and its mix of archetypal characters from Victorian Era gothic fiction, all with occult knowledge, seeking either to throw open the very doors of reality itself and allow the Great Old Ones into this world and bring about the destruction or enslavement of the human race – or to hold to doors closed in the face of calamity and protect life and civilisation here on Earth.
Through the eyes of the participant’s familiars, led by Jack the Ripper’s faithful dog Snuff, we’ve seen alliances formed and betrayals played out as the game moves inexorably towards its climax. And now the night itself is here. Who will prevail? Is the world to be saved for at least another few decades before the Players once more to resume their deadly Game, or is all to be forever lost?
Thursday November 1st, 19:00
Dark, daring, utterly haunting tales of lost lovers, predatory demons, and vengeful ghosts from the pen of John Connolly, as told by Shandon Loring.
All stories in voice and take place at Seanchai Libray on Imagination Island, unless otherwise noted.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 