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Rating
5from
This podcast has
55 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
ambientarcanaExplicit
No
Date created
2022/05/10
Latest episode
2026/10/27
Average duration
21 min.
Release period
31 days
Description
Strange and unusual stories from history, literature, myths and legends.
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Check latest episodes from AMBIENT ARCANA podcast
"The Werewolf" by Angela Carter and "Mother Oni" from "Tales of Times Now Past" Translated by Marian Ury
2026/10/27
In this episode we take a deep dive into folkloric forensics with two strangely similar stories where a simple fingerprint just isn't enough to reveal the identity of a horrible fiend:
"The Werewolf" by Angela Carter from "The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories"/ Narrated by Danielle Barry
"How the Hunters' Mother Became an Oni and Tried to Devour Her Children" from ""Tales of Times Now Past"
Stories from "The Konjaku Monogatarishū" translated by Marian Ury/ Narrated by Bob, Paul, and Jim Billbrough
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
"Jack the Ripper" By Shirley Jackson
2026/09/29
A man takes a bartender to task for his indifference towards a young woman in need, but being ignored is the least of her worries.
It's Shirley Jackson's "Jack The Ripper"
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
"MIMIC" by Donald Wollheim
2026/08/25
Giant Bugs! With Hats!
Donald Wollheim's strange tale of entomological terror - "Mimic"
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated By Sean Brann
"A Woman Seldom Found" by William Sansom
2026/07/28
A lonely man has a chance romantic encounter with a rich, beautiful, and mysterious woman during a hot night in Rome.
Is she too good to be true? Probably...this is Ambient Arcana after all.
It's William Sansom's weird tale of the preternatural consequences of a casual hookup -
"A Woman Seldom Found."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
"The Badger and The Bear" From "Old Indian Legends" Retold By Zitkala-Sa
2026/06/23
In this episode a friendly family of Badgers helps out a starving Bear, only to have their kindness repaid with cruel betrayal. Also, Blood Magic!
"The Badger and The Bear." from "Old Indian Legends" Retold by Zitkala-Sa
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Jim Billbrough as The Badgers, The Baby Bear, and The Narrator
Bob Familiar as The Bear
Joey Pesce as The Dakota Avenger
This episode is dedicated to our good friend Tim Halle. Lead singer of 'The Archbishop's Enema Fetish,' founder of a religion worshiping a certain Mrs. Zinman of Newton, Massachusetts, and affectionately called Satan by many who loved him, Tim deserves an episode all his own, but it would need to be a very, very long episode. So instead we present a story about one of Tim's favorite obsessions: Badgers. He was mad about the Badgers. He was also very fond of birds, but that's a story for another day. Maybe. We'll see. It's sort of besides the point allegorically speaking, but anyway...Badgers!
"Trace" by Jerome Bixby
2026/05/30
In this episode we spend a delightful day in the New England hill country discussing the vagaries of cosmic dualism with a fiendishly pleasant host in Jerome Bixby's "Trace."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
"The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke
2026/04/28
In this episode an interstellar trip to a distant nebula brings on a crisis of faith for the spaceship's astrophysicist in Arthur C. Clarke's Hugo Award winning story "The Star."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
We'd like to dedicate this episode to our good friend, band-mate, landlord, and poker buddy Tristram Lozaw.
Tris was an excellent bass player, film composer, magazine publisher, and writer. He was a major force in the Boston Music scene for decades, but, more importantly, our friend. A simple Google search for 'Tristram Lozaw' will give you some idea of all that was left behind in the mighty wake of his life. We will miss him.
6 (Very) Short Stories By Franz Kafka
2026/03/24
In this episode we present a 6-pack of strange and unusual stories by "Mr. Kafkaesque" himself - Franz Kafka.
"At Night," "Poseidon," and "The Vulture" translated by Tania and James Stern
"The New Advocate," "A Fratricide," and "A Dream" translated by Willa and Edwin Muir
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
Story Order: "A Fratricide," "Poseidon," "A Dream," "The New Advocate," "At Night," and "The Vulture."
"One Of These Days" by Gabriel García Márquez and "Razor" by Vladimir Nabokov
2026/02/25
What would you do if you suddenly found your worst enemy completely at your mercy? Would you take revenge? Would you forgive?" Here are two stories that explore what happens when, out of the blue, the opportunity for vengeance arrives.
"One Of These Days" by Gabriel García Márquez
"Razor" by Vladimir Nabokov
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
"Strabismus" by Stefan Grabiński
2026/01/27
A man finds himself struggling against an invasive intelligence taking over his mind and trying to eradicate everything the man had previously revered and admired in Stefan Grabiński’s “Strabismus.”
Translated by Miroslaw Lipinski
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
"TIBETAN FOLK TALES" BY A.L. SHELTON, VOL. 4
2025/12/23
Once again we spend the Yuletide season high up in the Himalayas with three stories from Albert Leroy Shelton's 1925 book Tibetan Folk Tales:
"The Wiley Poor Man," "The Story Of The Two Devils," and "The Story Of The Violinist."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Bob Familiar and Jim Billbrough
"In the Compartment" by Stefan Grabiński
2025/11/28
In this episode we explore what happens when a mild-mannered man is not only addicted to train travel but is actually transformed into a bold and charismatic person each time he rides the rails...and the consequences he must face when the ride comes to an end.
"In the Compartment' by Stefan Grabiński
Translated by Miroslaw Lipinski
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narrated by Jim Billbrough
Train sound effects by Pond5
Please note: this story deals with some adult themes so parents might want to give it a listen first before letting young kids hear it. No obscene language or explicit descriptions are used and the adult themed passages are portrayed in a rather outdated, quaint, and metaphorical way. At least we hope Grabiński is using metaphors...
"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe
2025/10/28
This Halloween, in the grand tradition of horror duo team-ups such as “Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman,” “Billy The Kid vs Dracula,” and “Sharktopus X Whalewolf,” we bring you David Mulholland and Robert Billbrough performing Edgar Allan Poe’s OG dungeon crawl - “The Cask Of Amontillado.”
Robert Billbrough as Montresor
David Mulholland as Fortunato
Music by Man Tray: Kelvin Weston, John Gunther, and Paul Billbrough
Music Production by Paul Billbrough
Post Production by Bob Familiar
Sound Effects by Pond5
"The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde
2025/09/23
In this episode a selfless Nightingale sings her heart out to create a Red Rose for a lovelorn Student, but is he truly worthy of such a precious gift?
It's Oscar Wilde's poignant tale of blood thirsty horticulture - "The Nightingale and the Rose."
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Joey Pesce
Nightingale recordings by Pro Sound Effects
"The Twins" by Edogawa Rampo
2025/08/26
In this episode we present a twisted tale of twin brothers. The younger brother -a murderous, narcissistic hedonist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants; the older brother -a man who enjoys wearing silk kimonos, taking early morning walks in the garden, and neatly folding his towels after every use. Physically identical except for a small mole on the younger brother's thigh - a mole with a suspiciously sinister looking goatee!
"The Twins" by Edogawa Rampo.
All Music and Audio Production by Bob Familiar
Narration by Jim Billbrough
Podcast reviews
Read AMBIENT ARCANA podcast reviews
SoYouDie 2024/01/30
Delightful and Very Well Produced
I find most horror podcasts and audiobooks overdone and overly dramatic. Ambient Arcana is expertly produced and finds some gems of stories without be...
Methitablle 2022/06/20
Interesting listen
Had to order the book so I could read the stories.
Thanks
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