by Jen

​October is upon us, and in preparation for Halloween I decided to go shopping for a scary podcast.  I have a special place in my heart for the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so I thought that would be a good search term to start with - and lo, success!
 
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast began in 2009, with friends Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer talking about their own admiration of Lovecraft's writing and what brought them to this podcast.  I was super psyched to hear one of the guys talk about playing the old Call of Cthulhu RPG, which I played frequently in college.  
 
Each episode includes a discussion of one of Lovecraft's stories, along with dramatic readings of excerpts by special guests.  Like any true Lovecraft fan, Chris and Chad  gamely acknowledge that not all of Howard Phillips' stories are literary masterpieces, but it's delightful to listen to them discourse about not only the tales themselves, but also the time in which each piece was written and how events in Lovecraft's life might have affected it.
 
In addition to discussing the stories, the guys recommend movies and other resources that feature Lovecraftian themes.  One of the more humorous was this Elder Sign infomercial:

​It helps to read or listen to each story before you hear the podcast discussing it, and I found LibriVox to be a great resource for most of Lovecraft's tales.
 
Six years into the podcast, they've covered the entirety of Lovecraft's works and have now moved on to stories and writers that influenced him.  But you can still download the early podcasts and start from the beginning - I'm on episode 14 now, and looking forward to many more hours spent with this duo!
 
Whether you're a longstanding fan of H.P. Lovecraft or a new reader seeking a better understanding of the 1920s horror genre, I highly recommend the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast to all lovers of scary stories.

by Meghan

​Have you ever been listening to your favorite podcast and thought “Hey, I want to do that! I’ve got opinions/stories/jokes!” Well, believe it or not, it’s incredibly easy to get started recording yourself, your friends, or anyone else you can think of and broadcast it to a worldwide audience. I recently attended a panel by the guys at Shedless, a funny, pop-culture based (and rather geeky) podcast, about how YOU can easily create your own podcast, too! 

One of the myths they busted is one I hear many times from my friends: “every topic has already been covered by tons of people!” Sure, there are already plenty of podcasts out there, but what really matters is a unique perspective. Last I checked, you were all pretty unique, so I’m sure you can bring something to the table that no one else has. Another roadblock is putting off the actual creation of the show - the guys admitted easily to their problems with procrastination. Be sure you have someone to keep you accountable, and a reliable schedule to keep you on track.

All you truly need to start creating your own show is a recording device with a microphone; if you own a smartphone, you probably already have this covered. Everything else is just gravy - if anything, getting a better microphone is all you need to sound great. 

There was plenty more covered in their panel, but luckily they recorded the whole thing: have a listen at ShedlessPodcast.com and look for “Greetings from Atlanta!” You can also hear them heckle me quite a bit - what can I say? I like sitting in the front row.

Now that I’m inspired, is a Geek Girls, Inc. podcast in our future?