Over the past few weeks, I got a chance to take in the first three episodes of Tales From Beyond The Pale. This is a new series of audio plays created by Larry Fessenden & Glenn McQuaid of Glass Eye Pix. Their goal is to bring back the glory of the horror & mystery radio shows of yore and have recruited many talents from around the horror community to broadcast their horrifying wares.
Each episode begins with an intro from Fessenden, where he, in true Rod Serling fashion, informs that you are going beyond the pale. With some great musical accompaniment, it does conjure up memories of old episodes of The Outer Limits and Tales From The Crypt. I could tell that this was a labour of love and it immediately brought a smile to my face.
The first episode by Joe Maggio, called Man on the Ledge, is about just that. A man (Vincent D’Onofrio) reflects on his life to the cop (Larry Fessenden) who is trying to talk him down. I thought it was very cool how this one played out and is my favourite so far, as it was the best suited for the medium.
Next, was an entry called British & Proud from Simon Lumley. This one, about a newlywed couple’s (Gareth Bennett-Ryan & Jenny Wambaa) honeymoon, was a bit more ambitious with multiple characters and ‘locations’. I could go along with that, but there were perhaps a few too many logic leaps required during the narrative. The finale is certainly disturbing, but I guess I should have expected that from the director of Red, White & Blue.
The last one I listened to was Is This Seat Taken? Written by novelist Sarah Langan and directed by JT Petty, this is a piece about two people (Joe Swanberg & Vonia Lanian) that meet on their daily commute and begin a very strange relationship. It didn’t turn out to be quite what I was expecting, but it still painted a telling portrait of the disturbed mind. Man, what a weird fucking couple these two made!
For the most part, I’m liking the series and appreciate that someone has resurrected this storytelling format. For the measly sum of two bucks an episode, there is absolutely no reason not to check out at least give it a try. Having brought us such genre efforts as I Sell the Dead, House of the Devil & Stake Land over the past few years, Glass Eye Pix’s record speaks for itself. Fessenden has built himself a nice little empire that I think is well worth supporting.
There are many more Tales From Beyond The Pale on the way, so stay tuned for my thoughts on future episodes from the likes of Graham Reznick, Paul Solet & Glenn McQuaid.
Each episode begins with an intro from Fessenden, where he, in true Rod Serling fashion, informs that you are going beyond the pale. With some great musical accompaniment, it does conjure up memories of old episodes of The Outer Limits and Tales From The Crypt. I could tell that this was a labour of love and it immediately brought a smile to my face.
The first episode by Joe Maggio, called Man on the Ledge, is about just that. A man (Vincent D’Onofrio) reflects on his life to the cop (Larry Fessenden) who is trying to talk him down. I thought it was very cool how this one played out and is my favourite so far, as it was the best suited for the medium.
Next, was an entry called British & Proud from Simon Lumley. This one, about a newlywed couple’s (Gareth Bennett-Ryan & Jenny Wambaa) honeymoon, was a bit more ambitious with multiple characters and ‘locations’. I could go along with that, but there were perhaps a few too many logic leaps required during the narrative. The finale is certainly disturbing, but I guess I should have expected that from the director of Red, White & Blue.
The last one I listened to was Is This Seat Taken? Written by novelist Sarah Langan and directed by JT Petty, this is a piece about two people (Joe Swanberg & Vonia Lanian) that meet on their daily commute and begin a very strange relationship. It didn’t turn out to be quite what I was expecting, but it still painted a telling portrait of the disturbed mind. Man, what a weird fucking couple these two made!
For the most part, I’m liking the series and appreciate that someone has resurrected this storytelling format. For the measly sum of two bucks an episode, there is absolutely no reason not to check out at least give it a try. Having brought us such genre efforts as I Sell the Dead, House of the Devil & Stake Land over the past few years, Glass Eye Pix’s record speaks for itself. Fessenden has built himself a nice little empire that I think is well worth supporting.
There are many more Tales From Beyond The Pale on the way, so stay tuned for my thoughts on future episodes from the likes of Graham Reznick, Paul Solet & Glenn McQuaid.
1 comment:
Vincent was excellent in Man on the Ledge. I absolutely loved it!
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