Dark Adventure Radio Theatre® - A Solstice Carol


$ 14.49




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"That which men call Christmas is an ancient thing. You can keep your Christmas - give me the Solstice!"

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: A Solstice Carol combines the supernatural horror of H.P. Lovecraft with Dickens' celebrated holiday ghost story in the style of a 1930s radio drama. Dark Adventure Radio Theatre presents the tale with a huge cast of professional actors, exciting sound effects and thrilling original music by Troy Sterling Nies. Click here for more information about our other Lovecraft stories in the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre series. They're like movies you can enjoy with your eyes closed.

This unique anthology holiday episode combines three of Lovecraft's most popular shorter stories with a healthy dollop of the Dickens classic. Listeners will visit snowy Kingsport and discover the horrid rites celebrated in The Festival. They'll travel to Boston and the studios of ghoulish artist Richard Upton Pickman to see the horrors in Pickman's Model. And they'll learn the dreadful secret of the shunned Outsider.

This special holiday episode weighs in at nearly 90 minutes and comes as a special two disc set that includes almost 45 minutes of bonus material. In addition to the CDs, you'll get five carefully made props from the story to enhance your listening experience:

• the obituary of celebrated pulp fiction author Mason Farley from the Providence Journal

• the cover of the latest issue of Astonishing Tales, a pulp magazine featuring the story "The Panther Lady of Aquelva"

• The Winter 1921 exhibition guide for an art show at the Boston Art Club, featuring the works of Richard Upton Pickman

• A rejection letter sent to an aspiring author of weird fiction by the editors at True Terror magazine

• A page from John Dee's translation of the Necronomicon which details the Rites of the Yule with a horrid medieval illustration

All of these great extras are complemented by the fantastic artwork of illustrator Darrell Tutchton in the style you've come to know and love from other episodes of Dark Adventure Radio TheatreThe CD edition also includes a free MP3 download of the show.

Digital Downloads! Buy it now and be listening to A Solstice Carol in a few minutes. We offer three options:

  1. Single MP3 - You'll get the whole show as one long MP3 file, plus cover art, liner notes and bonus audio.
  2. MP3 Chapter Files - It's the whole show broken up into multiple MP3 chapter files, plus cover art, liner notes and bonus tracks.
  3. Download MP3 w/ Props via Post - an option made especially for overseas customers and those who no longer use CD discs. You'll get the link to download the show and bonus audio files, but then we ship you a set of the props via post. Save money on shipping with this light weight alternative.

Everything else you ever wanted to know about Dark Adventure Radio Theatre is right here.

Want more solstice fun? Get our Cyclopean Holiday Combo, our ultimate collection of Lovecraftian holiday goodies.

Want even more fun than that? We now offer a host of A Solstice Carol designs via Redbubble!

 

 

Customer Reviews

Based on 29 reviews
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J
John Perry
Excellent

Great quality, loved the props.

A
Alastair
A MODEL FESTIVAL FOR OUTSIDERS

Like a surprising number of others, I struggle with the whole Yule/northern winter solstice period, thanks to unfortunate and unwanted associations. Consequently, parts of the Bonus items in this set were difficult for me to appreciate - read other reviews for positive thoughts on those. Ironically, while I never took to Dickens as an author, I did make a particular study of his “Christmas Carol” back in high school, and felt it an interesting framing sequence for the three Lovecraft tales given the DART treatment here. “The Festival” was always among my favourites of Lovecraft’s shorter works, with its mix of realistic and dreamlike elements, much like “The Outsider”, and both of those near-monologues are nicely performed here, although “Pickman’s Model” perhaps works best of the trio. It certainly gives more of the DART ensemble cast an opportunity to shine. I was less sure about the Mason Farley items; rather too much “pulp” and too little “horror” about them for my taste, especially with two physical props in that connection. However, another recovered page from the Dee “Necronomicon” is always welcome, if to the shame of the Club there was no image of any of Pickman’s masterpieces in the Boston Art Club’s 1921 exhibition catalogue, even before they cancelled his involvement in it. The CD sleeve art, as so often, enhances the whole, complete with a silent Nightgaunt front and centre!

P
Patrick Rabon
A wonderful amalgamation

I was a bit skeptical to the mixing of Christmas Carol with Lovecraft stories ("The Festival," "Pickman's Model," and "The Outsider). However, they weave the narratives together in interesting and unexpected ways. I downloaded this one as a Christmas present to myself, and I'm glad I did.
(Note: purchased via Audible, so I didn't have the cool props. I'll need to go for those next time).

D
Dee
Very Impressed

I gave this another listen on my drive today and was very impressed with it again. It combines the familiar narrative of Dickens' classic with three HPL stories. A nod of thanks to Sean Branney and crew for a great piece of work.

C
Christopher P Crossley
A stocking full of treasures!

SOOOO much in these two CDs! An interesting story and exercise in mashing Lovecraft and Dickens together...enjoyable music tracks...fun poetry readings...and the first two chapters of what sounds to be a thrilling pulp tale with the Panther Lady!

I'm planning to give this a re-listen in December when I'm in more of a holiday mood...but even without the Spirit flowing through me I appreciated this production and the work that went into making it.