Tales to Terrify #51: Thomas Smith

I've been a fan of Tales To Terrify, Starship Sofa's creepy little sister podcast, since episode #1.  I hope to actually write a review for that some time, but they wrapped up their first year recently and I'm catching up.  Let's review a whole bunch of episodes in a row.  First up, Episode #51, December 28, 2012.

Auld Lang Syne: Larry reads a classic holiday song as poetry, this is "Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot" for those who don't know.  It makes surprisingly good poetry in the dulcet voice of Larry Santoro, no real horror connection, but it's a nice way to set the mood, and a nice opening to the episode.

The Heart Is a Determined Hunter by Thomas Smith: An okay-but-not-great story about a man who returns to the site of his wife's death.  2.5/5

Mahler Faces Trans-Dimensional Terror: Cute little anecdote about Larry's cat defending his family from mirror-universe incursions.  Maybe it's just that I like cats, but I can't help smiling at this, and the horror spin Larry puts on it.

The Fence at Yard’s End: Another creepy little poem from Larry.  Not bad.

Summary: I can't say I'm as down on New Year's as Larry is, but he gives us something to think about and a break from the generic cheerful sentiment is always nice this time of year (I originally did listen to this on New Year's Eve.)  The story wasn't bad but I won't go pushing it as the story to get people into ghost stories, I feel the same about the poem.  The real draws to this episode are Larry's opening song reading and the talk about his cat.  So like the story, I wouldn't recommend this episode to get someone into the show, but I hardly feel my time has been wasted, thanks to the skills of an excellent host.

Listen to the episode at TalestoTerrify.com

The Heart Is a Determined Hunter

Short Story by Thomas Smith
Read for Tales to Terrify #51 by Drake Vaughn

A man returns to the resort where his wife died in a terrible fire.  This is basically a classic ghost story with creepy hotel and a ghost-wife who wants her husband to stay with her forever.

It's a bit predictable and dull overall but eventually comes around to the theme of being hung up on the past that is central to most ghost stories, but done in a more interesting way.  Then it over-explains everything.  There is an interesting take on ghost stories here, hidden among a story I swear I've read 20 times before, but it's explained to death in a way that robs the story of much of its mystery.

Quite a bit like a much a less-poetic, less unusual version of Ramsey Campbell's "Above the World".

2.5 Ghost Wives out of 5.