Old Gods of Appalachia- where folklore and cosmic horror shake hands

Old Gods of Appalachia was recommended to me after I expressed my enjoyment of The Magnus Archives. It is another horror podcast that also has some cosmic horror elements.

Old Gods of Appalachia blends the traditional folklore of the Appalachians with some Lovecraftian horror. If you like Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John stories, Old Gods will be right up your alley.

And given that the creators of Old Gods are very familiar with Appalachian folklore, they have to be familiar with Wellman’s work. With that said, Old Gods has its own darker, distinct flavor.

The core concept of the setting, which is pretty introduced at the start, is that the Appalachians are a cage for the Inner Dark, eldritch abominations. Humanity was never meant for the Appalachians but humanity came. And that isn’t good for humanity.

Old Gods of Appalachia is a patchwork quilt, moving from time periods and from different people and phenomena, often circling back around. The fact that this approach actually works really speaks to how well done the podcast is.

It can be argued how ‘Lovecraftian’ the podcast is. You don’t have to namecheck Cthulhu to be Lovecraftian and the Inner Dark definitely check off many Great Old One elements, being alien to humanity as well as beyond humanity. Old Gods of Appalachia’s rural Appalachia has some similar notes to Lovecraft’s rural New England. Well, they do depict Appalachians as human beings, unlike Lovecraft.

And, unlike many works of Cosmic Horror, there are some honest to goodness victories on the part of humanity. Despite the horror, some of which comes from the descriptions of actual historical events, Old Gods of Appalachia has strong elements of hope.

Old Gods of Appalachia blends hope, folklore and cosmic horror. Even if you only like two out of those three, you will get something out of it.

The Magnus Archives - my choice of horror for housework

The Magnus Archives is a horror podcast that I have been listening to off and on for the last few months. I only listen to podcasts when I'm doing something else. A quote that has stuck with me from My Brother, My Brother and Me is that podcasts are the mustard of life. They add some spice but you don't eat them by themselves.

So, the Magnus Archives are for cooking and cleaning. I add cosmic horror to folding the laundry.

The framework is that we are listening to recorded statements from the archives of the Magnus Institute, a paranormal research center in London. The primary voice actor and creator of the series is a guy called Jonathan Sims, who has a voice like Vincent Price after one too many cups of coffee. He named his character after himself, which had to be creepy at times.

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Initially, the Magnus Archives seems like a monster-of-the-week job. Urban fantasy and modern horror. However, as the podcast goes on, there is a broader story revealed. Not only is there a bigger picture, there aren't any actual monster-of-the-week stories. Everything ties together. Every story is a mythology story, to use a term I'm pretty sure the X-Files coined.

More than that, the Magnus Institute isn't an impregnable fortress. The first season has the institute almost destroyed by a literal supernatural infestation, as the statements start coming from inside the institute itself. There are ongoing characters who are being pulled into the nightmare hellscape that is the true reality of the setting. Oh, that was fun to write.

Okay, full disclosure, I haven't come close to listening to all of the Magnus Archives. However, I have read up on it so I am familiar with the overall setting and story arc. And it's an almost Lovecraftian cosmic horror. The supernatural horror all comes from the Powers, the manifestation or the origin of human fears. (Which is why I feel it isn't full Lovecraftian since it does directly connect to humanity. Cthulhu doesn't care about us. The Powers do) And their influences and actions are disturbing, often visceral and ultimately inescapable. Good stuff.

Jonathan eventually learns that he is becoming the avatar of one of the powers, the Eye, the fear of being watched. An incredibly amusing aspect of this is that people who give him testaments are compelled to be truthful and coherent. Thus, there is an in-story justification to why all the statements are structured to be good stories.

I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, let alone horror ones. So I don't know how the Magnus Archives measures up. However, I am enjoying myself

I finally go to the Adventure Zone

As a rule, I am not interested in watching or listening to other people play games. I know there are whole genres of videos of people playing board games, role playing games and video games but I think it generally falls under the category of watching someone else eat.

However, Carrie recently introduced me to the Adventure Zone, a podcast of a family playing D&D and other RPGs and I’ve been enjoying it. I think a big part of it is because they are podcast comedians first and RPGers second but still RPGers.

Many years ago, I tried listening to Kevin Smith’s Crimson Mystical Mages, which may have only lasted one episode. It failed for me because it was just dirty jokes with the game falling apart as a game. The Adventure Zone works because it may be funny and irreverent but it’s still a story and game.

They do play a bit fast and loose with the rules but I’m cool with that. There are times when I think we all could learn something from that. Dedication to rules should be reserved for conventions and other official events :)

Adventure Time may become a regular part of our routine.