WTT Extra: ‘Side Effects’ short film

Written, directed and edited by Kevin Colligan. Synopsis: Three volunteers are tormented by their most primal fears when a medical trial for a new anti-anxiety medication goes awry. Tagline: A prescription for terror Starring Rachael Drummond, ...

The 85 Weirdest Storytellers

In celebration of 85 years in print, Weird Tales magazine has complied a list of the 85 weirdest storytellers from the past 85 years. The list includes some of my favorite writers like Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Kurt Vonnegut, and Joyce Carol Oates. The list includes other weirdos such ...

WTT 32: ‘The Lizard Pit’

Written by Horace James, read by Steve Anderson. A relationship between a low-life funeral director and a malevolent spirit turns messy ... very, very messy. Explicit language, violence and sexuality.

Custom zombie portraits

My birthday is just around the corner, so I may be adding this to my wishlist: A hand-illustrated portrait of myself as a zombie by illustrator Rob Sacchetto. You send him a jpeg and he draws your "inner zombie," rendered as an 8 x 10, full-color hard copy suitable for ...

Remake overload?

One of my favorite all-time movies is "John Carpenter's The Thing" (buy) -- which is a remake of the classic 1951 film

Old Time Radio: Throwback podcasts

Podcasts, like those featured on Well Told Tales, pair gripping stories with talented actors. This idea is the modern incantation of the old-time radio plays prevalent in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Many of those radio plays are available free online. You can check out Orson Welle’s infamous Andrew Culver, music by Josh Charney. The drifter has become forever trapped in the fifth and final chapter of this spoken word/music collaboration. Previous chapters: 1 |

Stan Winston, R.I.P.
Sad news: Movie monster/makeup maestro Stan Winston has died at the age of 62. The L.A. Times has a nice photo gallery of his creations. I particularly loved his work on John Carpenter's "The Thing" -- which I think represents the high-water mark of pre-CGI special ...

Preview of ‘M-Theory’ comic posted
Dwight L. MacPherson, the writer of "A Zombie's Tale," has just posted a preview of the upcoming "M-Theory" No. 1 comic at the Image Comics Web site. Billed as "the ...

WTT 31: ‘It’ll Be a Long, Hot Summer’
Written by William Meikle, read by Eleiece Krawiec. A young girl with an interest in astronomy gets -- and gives -- one hell of a sunburn. Explicit: language and violence

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 4′
Written and spoken by Andrew Culver, music by Josh Charney. The drifter lands a job -- but quickly regrets his decision -- in the fourth chapter of this spoken word/music collaboration. The fifth and ...

Selznick’s sovereign summer
Matthew Wayne Selznick is a podcasting pioneer. His “Brave Men Run” thriller was the first novel released simultaneously in paperback, free audio podcast and five -- yes, five -- ...

Online script software scripped.com
When I write screenplays, I use either Final Draft or a yellow legal pad and a sharp pencil (... and then Final Draft.) But I just stumbled across this promising new site, scripped.com, ...

‘The Monster’
Editor's note: From time to time, we'll run original flash fiction (very short stories, 100-1,000 words long) in text -- not audio -- format. Eric Sandler's "The Monster" gets us started.
'The Monster'
Written by Eric Sandler.

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 3′
Written and spoken by Andrew Culver, music by Josh Charney. A lonely prostitute warns the drifter about a "monster" in the third chapter of this spoken word/music collaboration. New chapters will be released each ...

WTT 30: ‘Depopulator’
Written by Lavie Tidhar, read by Christina Colligan. A shadowy band of criminals implement their own brand of population control. Explicit: language and violence

WTT Extra: ‘Walt Disney’
Written by Matt Zitron, illustrated by Anthony Hope-Smith. You may have seen the very cool "Walt Disney" short comic on our site. Now here it is in PDF format for ...

‘Walt Disney’
Written by Matt Zitron, illustrated by Anthony Hope-Smith. Lots of people believe "Disney on Ice" is more than an ice-skating spectacular, falling for the rumor that Mickey Mouse's creator was

Watch ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes online
In today's A.D.D. world, it's not easy to sit through long-form content on the Internet. But one huge exception is Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone." Episodes from the first three seasons of the ...

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 2′
Written and spoken by Andrew Culver, music by Josh Charney. A world-weary barkeep has a warning for the drifter in the second chapter of this spoken word/music collaboration. Chapter 2 of 5. New ...

Nominate Well Told Tales for a major award!
Film has the Oscar, music has the Grammy and speculative fiction podcasting has The Parsec Award. And it just so happens that Parsec nominations are now open. So, um, if you like us -- if you ...

‘Documentary’ seeks proof of zombies
The folks over at LostZombies.com are on a mission to alert the world to the imminent zombie apocalypse, and they want your video proof -- or re-enactments -- for their site and a feature-length documentary. Damn! And I just recorded my dog chasing a flashlight beam over the tape ...

Free audiobooks for Memorial Day travels
If you're going for a roadtrip -- heck, a plane, train or automobile trip -- this Memorial Day (U.S.) weekend, you should probably fill your MP3 player or burn some audio CDs with pulpy fiction. You've no-doubt ...

‘Fear’ your television
Get your Tivo's ready -- horror anthology returns to network television on June 5 with NBC's "Fear Itself." The series will feature 13 -- of course -- episodes or "mini-movies" as the Peacock prefers to call them. And they've lined up some solid creative types, like directors John Landis ...

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 1′
Written and spoken by Andrew Culver, music by Josh Charney. In this spoken word/music collaboration, a train-jumping drifter gets dumped in an ominous desert town. Chapter 1 of 5. New chapters ...

What’s “Happening”? New trailers!
No, this post is not about Rog, Dwayne and Rerun. It's about the creepy new trailers proliferating around the Web for M. Night Shyamalan's new movie "The Happening." I think Shyamalan is a helluva filmmaker. Yes, ...

Hugo short-fiction nominees reviewed
The reviews of the 2008 Hugo Award short-fiction nominees on the SFSignal site provide a nice overview of the competing novellas, novelettes and short stories. And there ...

Scott Sigler interview on SciFiDimensions podcast
Catch an interview with podcast novel pioneer -- and now hot-selling print author -- Scott Sigler on the SciFiDimensions podcast. If you haven't heard Sigler's work before, head over to his site

Jon Favreau on ‘The Treatment’
Earlier this week, "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau discussed his comic book-based hit film on "The Treatment," the KCRW public radio show hosted by film critic

Must-See TV II: Rachael Drummond on ‘Hollywood Heat’
Get your Tivo's ready -- there's a double-feature of Well Told Tales thesps on TV tonight. Another favorite WTT reader -- and "Side Effects" star -- Rachael ...

Must-See TV: Andy Hoff on ‘Without a Trace’
Catch thespian Andy Hoff -- one of our favorite Well Told Tales readers and the co-star of our 10-minute film "Side Effects" -- as Agent Beames on the ...

Hardcore hardboiled tales from ‘ThugLit’
If you like your hardboiled fiction with an in-your-face, profanity-studded style, you should check out the ThugLit site run by editor (and writer) Todd "Big Daddy Thug" Robinson. Issue ...

‘Friday the 13th’ remake in production
There was a remake of John Carpenter's 1978 classic "Halloween" released last ...

Star Wars, Episode Election ‘08?
OK, first off, we here at Well Told Tales try to steer clear of politics -- like Snake Plissken in "Escape From New York," our official stance is "We don't give a f*** about your president." But this "Star ...

Fun horror short: ‘Before Silence’
Technological advances in digital filmmaking have led to an explosion in the number of short films available on the Web. I always enjoy finding good ones, so I'm glad someone tipped me off to this stylish, spooky horror short written and directed by Jacob Swanson.

Ray Bradbury to speak at UC Riverside
Attention So-Cal sci-fi fans: Ray Bradbury, author of the classic "The Martian Chronicles," is slated to speak about his vision of the future ...

Hard Case Crime publisher on NPR
National Public Radio had a great interview this week with Charles Ardai, award-winning author and founder of pulp-fiction publisher Hard Case Crime. Hard Case Crime publishes mass-market paperback crime novels -- both all-new ...

‘Iron Sky’ teaser trailer
The creators of Internet film sensation "Star Wreck" are at it again. This time with "Iron Sky," a movie about ... well, I'll let them tell it: "In 1945 the Nazis fled to the moon. In 2018 they are coming back."

Pulp Friction
Editor's note: We've invited our authors to blog on Well Told Tales. Jennie Kermode wrote WTT 19: "Type A" which ran November, 2007. This is my first attempt at blogging for Well Told Tales - in fact, it's my first attempt at blogging anywhere (!), though ...

Audio interview with ‘The Ten-Cent Plague’ author
If you like the classic, grisly EC Comics of the 1940s and 1950s -- or the entertainment they spawned, like the "Tales from the Crypt

Well Told Tales 2.0
Greetings, loyal listeners and readers. You'll notice we had a bit of makeover today. In addition to the paint job, we're adding a bunch of new content -- comics, videos, text stories and a blog that will fill you in on all sorts of pulpy entertainment from around the Web ...

‘A Zombie’s Tale’
Zombies are mindless, shambling ghouls, right? Maybe the story is more complicated than that. In the short comic, "A Zombie's Tale," written by Dwight L. MacPherson, we get a look at the zombie apocalypse through the eyes of an undead New Yorker. A big ...

WTT 29: ‘Night School’
Written by Keith Schaffner, read by Christina Colligan. A hooker is abducted by a mysterious school bus filled with blood-thirsty, young vampires. Explicit: language

Creepy, funny short film: ‘Terminus’
Battling insomnia one night, I stumbled across this short film by Canadian director Trevor Canwood and was completely mesmerized. The surreal stalking creatures are quietly menacing. And the '70s look of the film is pitch-perfect. Needless to say, I didn't get back to sleep easily after watching this.

WTT 27: ‘Piercing the Dead’
Written by Kevin Anderson, read by Brandon Carpenter. The proprietor of the Ink Spot tattoo and piercing parlor of Austin, Texas recalls his most terrifying customer. Eyebrow rings have never been so spooky.

WTT 26: ‘Cell’
Written by Lavie Tidhar, read by Brandon Carpenter. An intergalactic prisoner serving a hard labor sentence comes to an understanding with his robotic prison cell/spaceship.

WTT 25: ‘Are You On Drugs?’
Written by Jack Valbrook, read by Nobilis. A high school student learns about the perils of drug use ... but not in an ABC After School Special kind of way. Explicit: drugs, language

WTT 24: ‘Fat Larry’s Night With The Alligators’
Written by Ken Goldman, read by Rick Stringer. Two mobsters face off -- and commune with nature -- in an alligator-infested Florida swamp. Explicit: violence, language

WTT 23: ‘What Little Girls Are Made Of’
Written by S.R. Bartok, read by Steve Anderson. It's time to "party-party" when a strikingly beautiful -- and oddly retro -- receptionist entertains a wary businessman. Explicit: language

WTT 22: ‘The Fourth Wall’
Written by Maddie Ward, read by Eleena de Lisser. A teenage girl freaks out her little brother by incessantly talking to herself. When the little brother confronts her about her strange habit, he discovers a terrible secret.

WTT 21: ‘Circling’
Written by Steven J. Dines, read by David Maciver. A one-and-a-half pound seagull sucked into the engine of a Boeing 777 has the same effect as a cannonball. Falconer Tom Camron's job is to keep the airport runways clear of these ...

WTT 20: ‘The Lure of Heaven’
Written by Kevin Anderson, read by Christina Colligan. A young faithful couple is lured by an angelic voice to a desolate clearing. They believe, as do others, that they have received the calling from a new prophet ...

WTT 19: ‘Type A’
Written by Jennie Kermode, read by Christina Colligan. A lonesome man becomes obsessed with a beautiful, young woman. And finds himself in desperate straits. Explicit: violence

WTT 18: ‘Trick or Treat’
Written by Finn Colgan, read by Christina Colligan. A simpleton -- with a gruesome secret -- is targeted by Halloween tricksters. But he gets bloody revenge. Explicit: violence, language

WTT 17: ‘The Beautiful Game’
Written by Steven J. Dines, read by Richard L. Richards, Jr. A cynical raconteur parlays boyhood infamy into tawdry fame on the TV talk show circuit. But his pretty young thing doesn't seem to mind. Explicit language, ...

WTT 16: ‘Stop Loss’
Written by Dayton Ward, read by Richard L. Richards, Jr. Undead U.S. Marines -- don't call them zombies -- continue patrolling Iraq under the military's new version of the "Stop Loss" initiative. Explicit: violence, language

WTT 15: ‘The Love Bug’
Written by Teej Grant, read by Christina Colligan. An extraterrestrial crash-lands on Earth, discovers the joy of sex ... only to spark a plague of passion. (Explicit sexuality and language)

WTT 14: ‘The David’
Written by Jonathan Kravetz, read by Andy Hoff. A detective is hired to find the "will to live" of a former lover -- and finds something out about himself -- in this hardboiled tale with an existential twist. (Explicit language)

WTT 13: ‘Death’s a Bitch’
Written by Finn Colgan, read by Andy Hoff. A small-town cop battles an epidemic of flesh-eating zombies -- both human and canine -- and does the unthinkable to survive. Explicit: violence, language

WTT 12: ‘The Hard Way’
Written by Tom Barlow, read by Frederic Heringes. A gambler heads to Vegas to win enough money to pay off his mob debts -- only to find himself in the middle of a dirty bomb attack, riding the wrong ...

WTT 11: ‘One More Kill’
Written by Matt Hughes, read by Andy Hoff. An unscrupulous doctor persuades a terminally ill leukemia patient to become a "vigilante" assassin. But the good doctor may have something up his sleeve.

WTT 10: ‘Cellar Meat’
Written by Douglas R. Burchill, read by Richard L. Richards, Jr. HORROR -- A lone, desperate woman driving through the desert picks the wrong gas station for a pit stop. (Explicit violence, language)

WTT 09: ‘Red Lips’
Written by Tim Keenan, read by Richard L. Richards, Jr. When murder and drugs no longer provide a rush, a world-weary psychopath willingly transforms from the ultimate predator into prey for a sexy female thrill-killer. (Explicit violence, language, sexuality.)

WTT 08: ‘The 30 Day Baby Company’
Written by Darren Callahan, read by Rachael Drummond. The Great Baby Plague lasted three years and killed twenty-four million babies. In its aftermath, entrepreneur Franklin Young established The 30 Day Baby Company, a Limited Liability Corporation, with ...

WTT 07: ‘Swan Song’
Written by Diana Kemp-Jones, read by Rachael Drummond. In a future world, an amoral elite class is threatened by an unconventional plague and protected by immune, conscripted trackers. (Explicit language, violence and sexuality)

WTT 06: ‘Battle of the Carson Hotel’
Written by Heath Lowrance, read by Andy Hoff. While World War II rages overseas, the house dick at the Carson Hotel fights his own battle against a gang of pasty-faced gunmen, a mysterious woman and the brilliant ...

WTT 05: ‘Death and Taxes’
Written by Finn Colgan, read by Andy Hoff. When the taxman comes calling on an shabby nursing home, someone will wind up paying the ultimate price. Just in time for the American tax deadline, April 15. (Explicit violence, ...

WTT 04: ‘The Red Hurricane’
Written and read by Christina Colligan. A mother must protect her children from a great Evil -- and his winged minions -- in a post-apocalyptic world where the only defense is anonymity.

WTT 03: ‘The Last Day of Summer’
Written by William Meikle, read by Andy Hoff. A young lad with a burning desire to grow up learns the hard way that he should be careful what he wishes for ...

WTT 02: ‘Hand of God’
Written by Liz Shannon Miller, read by Rachael Drummond. Determined to win the affection and respect of her distant father, a young scientist breaks the space-time continuum to fix the worst blown call in sports history.

WTT 01: ‘Tequila’
Written by Finn Colgan, read by Andy Hoff. A violent drunk on a bender through Tijuana looks for answers in the bottom of a bottle ... and finds more than he bargained for. Explicit: violence, language

Well Told Tales: Pulpy horror, sci-fi and hardboiled fiction

WTT Extra: ‘Side Effects’ short film

The 85 Weirdest Storytellers

WTT 32: ‘The Lizard Pit’

Custom zombie portraits

Remake overload?

Old Time Radio: Throwback podcasts

Stan Winston, R.I.P.

Preview of ‘M-Theory’ comic posted

WTT 31: ‘It’ll Be a Long, Hot Summer’

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 4′

Selznick’s sovereign summer

Online script software scripped.com

‘The Monster’

'The Monster'

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 3′

WTT 30: ‘Depopulator’

WTT Extra: ‘Walt Disney’

‘Walt Disney’

Watch ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes online

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 2′

Nominate Well Told Tales for a major award!

‘Documentary’ seeks proof of zombies

Free audiobooks for Memorial Day travels

‘Fear’ your television

WTT Extra: ‘The Town Without a Soul, Chapter 1′

What’s “Happening”? New trailers!

Hugo short-fiction nominees reviewed

Scott Sigler interview on SciFiDimensions podcast

Jon Favreau on ‘The Treatment’

Must-See TV II: Rachael Drummond on ‘Hollywood Heat’

Must-See TV: Andy Hoff on ‘Without a Trace’

Hardcore hardboiled tales from ‘ThugLit’

‘Friday the 13th’ remake in production

Star Wars, Episode Election ‘08?

Fun horror short: ‘Before Silence’

Top 10 pulp movie moms

Docu on sci-fi on American TV

Ray Bradbury to speak at UC Riverside

Hard Case Crime publisher on NPR

‘Iron Sky’ teaser trailer

Pulp Friction

Audio interview with ‘The Ten-Cent Plague’ author

Well Told Tales 2.0

‘A Zombie’s Tale’

WTT 29: ‘Night School’

Creepy, funny short film: ‘Terminus’

‘Diary of the Dead’ - Worst. Movie. Ever?

WTT 28: ‘Final Notice’

‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’

Coming soon: ‘Zombie Strippers’

WTT 27: ‘Piercing the Dead’

WTT 26: ‘Cell’

WTT 25: ‘Are You On Drugs?’

WTT 24: ‘Fat Larry’s Night With The Alligators’

WTT 23: ‘What Little Girls Are Made Of’

WTT 22: ‘The Fourth Wall’

WTT 21: ‘Circling’

WTT 20: ‘The Lure of Heaven’

WTT 19: ‘Type A’

WTT 18: ‘Trick or Treat’

WTT 17: ‘The Beautiful Game’

WTT 16: ‘Stop Loss’

WTT 15: ‘The Love Bug’

WTT 14: ‘The David’

WTT 13: ‘Death’s a Bitch’

WTT 12: ‘The Hard Way’

WTT 11: ‘One More Kill’

WTT 10: ‘Cellar Meat’

WTT 09: ‘Red Lips’

WTT 08: ‘The 30 Day Baby Company’

WTT 07: ‘Swan Song’

WTT 06: ‘Battle of the Carson Hotel’

WTT 05: ‘Death and Taxes’

WTT 04: ‘The Red Hurricane’

WTT 03: ‘The Last Day of Summer’

WTT 02: ‘Hand of God’

WTT 01: ‘Tequila’