"“For there be divers sorts of death—some wherein the body remaineth; and in some it vanisheth quite away with the spirit.”— An Inhabitant of Carcosa, by Ambrose Bierce
“Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa.”— An Inhabitant of Carcosa, by Ambrose Bierce
“Strange is the night where black stars rise, / And strange moons circle through the skies / But stranger still is / Lost Carcosa”— Verse 2 “Cassilda’s Song” by Robert W. Chambers
Skyboat Media and Steven Archer reunite for another unique audiobook experience …
Beyond Carcosa is an original compilation featuring stories and poetry by Ambrose Bierce, Robert W. Chambers, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Bulter Yeats.
Carcosa is an imagined land that first appeared in Bierce’s 1886 story “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (included in this collection), and later in Robert W. Chambers’s volume The King in Yellow. It has since been featured by many other Fantasy writers, including H. P. Lovecraft, Joseph S. Pulver, John Scott Tynes, and George R. R. Martin. Carcosa has even been referenced in HBO’s True Detective and Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
This collection takes us to Carcosa and other imagined places explored by the finest Weird storytellers of the nineteenth century.
As with the first Skyboat and Archer collaboration, The Masque of the Red Death, the works of these classic and innovative writers are given new life, and a new generation of readers will have the chance to voyage to Carcosa … and beyond.
Original musical score and artwork by Steven Archer. Includes an accompanying PDF of Steven Archer’s original illustrations.
Compiled and Produced by Stefan Rudnicki at Skyboat MediaDirected by Alison Belle Bews
Full Contents:
“To Elsa” (From The Haunts of Men) by Robert W. Chambers“An Inhabitant of Carcosa” by Ambrose Bierce“Cassilda’s Song” (From The King in Yellow) by Robert W. Chambers“In the Court of the Dragon” by Robert W. Chambers“The Haunts of Men” by Robert W. Chambers“A City in the Sea” by Edgar Allan Poe“The Purple Emperor” by Robert W. Chambers“Song of the Wandering Aengus” by William Butler Yeats"
"A cinematic audiobook with a haunting score and enhanced atmosphere
Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Masque of the Red Death” nearly 180 years ago, yet its narrative and characters continue to mystify and captivate. The short story is driven by Prince Prospero’s attempt to evade the “Red Death,” a fatal plague infecting his kingdom, by hiding in his abbey, where he indulges in pleasures and delights with other nobles. He soon finds out that no one can escape their end.
Steven Archer has recast the characters of “The Masque” and illuminated the narrative in a novel and perhaps more visceral light, while remaining true to the raw darkness and decadence of the tale. His modern take on the classic story brings it into our new infected world. Perhaps it was prescience that drove him to create the illustrations in 2018, only to have them see the plague-filled light of day in 2020. Even now in our enlightened and modern world, “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death holds illimitable dominion over all.”
With a foreword by John Langan (The Wide Carnivorous Sky), this is an immersive audio-visual feast that breathes new life into this classic memento mori tale of disease, decadence, and inevitable mortality.
The audiobook features a conversation between Steven Archer and Stefan Rudnicki and includes an accompanying PDF of Steven Archer’s original illustrations."
