Hello, and welcome to Tom's Terror Trove, a podcast currently disgorging The Crawling World, an original dark fantasy/sci fi, full cast audiodrama. I also narrate classics and little-known gems of horror fiction: Mid 19th - early 20th century a speciality. New episodes every Friday, 9am NZ Time. I’m Thomas, a voice-actor (+ an occasional writer and musician), and I’m delighted to have you join me for tonight's episode. If you'd like to buy me a ko-fi, I have a page for that! ko-fi.com/tuomasva Q...
Aug 15, 2025•1 min
The madness and monstrosity lay in the figures in the foreground—for Pickman’s morbid art was preëminently one of daemoniac portraiture. In this classic short story by H. P. Lovecraft, the narrator, Thurber, describes his encounter with the reclusive painter of the story's title, and comes to a dreadful conclusion about the inspiration behind his creations. "Pickman's Model" was written in September 1926 and first published in the October 1927 issue of Weird Tales. Narrated by Thomas Barker If y...
Aug 14, 2025•44 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Walter John de la Mare (25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was a prolific writer of fiction, and a crafter of finely tuned psychological horror. Lumping this particular story in with the 'gothic' subgenre is a little crude, but it shares a fair some features with The Turn of the Screw, so if you enjoyed my reading of that legendary novella, you'll likely appreciate this. Then again, I don't think Henry James had much of a sense of humour. De la Mare on the other hand... Out of the deep features an un...
Aug 07, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Wes, Lithee and Garm contend with a monstrous interloper, as the pilgrims near the end of their journey through the mountain. Their troubles are far from over, as they now face the vast, fetid swampland of The Grey Grease. Part 8 of a multi-part series. Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.com/ Thomas Barker as Athamas Jesse D. Hill as Longarm defunktknight@gmail.com Emily Morse-Lee as Wide-Eye @TheRealGChu.bsky.social Melissa Carrington as Split-Heel @melissac-va.bsky.social V...
Aug 01, 2025•13 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this story: RATS! Seeking solitude in which to study mathematics for his upcoming tripos (it's a Cambridge university thing), a fresh-faced undergraduate takes lodgings at an ill-omened country house. Could this possibly end well? No. No it could not. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi
Jul 16, 2025•49 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Have you ever been out in the cold, yearning for the warmth of a crackling fire, and the company of kind humans? Well, tonight's double-feature will satisfy that unnatural yearning, as both tales concern the subject of companionship, although each with wildly different, and terrifying results... Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi...
Jul 09, 2025•45 min•Season 2Ep. 10
The descent continues. Through fire, into ice. The deep, dark hell of frozen shades recount their heinous acts to our narrator and his spectral guide. The kaleidoscopic imagery and boundless, morbid imagination of Dante Alighieri is fully on display in this new translation, with each soul given their own distinct voice and characterisation by the narrator. Abandon all hope, but enjoy the ride! Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on...
Jul 02, 2025•2 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 9
ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi
Jun 06, 2025•2 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Another temporary shift. Away from the pilgrims and their murky problems, to a lighter sphere, at least at first glance. A place of grand palaces and ancient lineages. The roots of nobility are buried deep in this plane, but long rotted, and fit only for kindling. How, and when, will all these stories converge? The echoes are increasing. Part 7 of a multi-part series. Cast Steven Courtney as A Sibyl Stevencourtneyvo.carrd.co Gabi King as The One-Eyed Servant https://x.com/gabikingmusic Thomas Ba...
Mar 08, 2025•16 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The group makes its way through the tunnels underneath the mountain, towards the marshes of the Grey Grease. Wes and Lithee are isolated from the main group, and encounter strange phenomena. Garm goes to investigate. Huw, Ra and Asher share a story. Part 6 of a multi-part series. Cast Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.com/ Thomas Barker as Athamas Jesse D. Hill as Longarm defunktknight@gmail.com Emily Morse-Lee as Wide-Eye @TheRealGChu.bsky.social Melissa Carrington as Split...
Feb 14, 2025•10 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The pilgrims regroup to assess their situation, given the catastrophe that has befallen them. Asher begins to assert himself, and faultlines are revealed, but there are moments of bonding too. Will they make for the city and an uncertain future? Part 5 of a multi-part, weekly series. Cast Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.com/ Thomas Barker as Athamas Jesse D. Hill as Longarm defunktknight@gmail.com Emily Morse-Lee as Wide-Eye @TheRealGChu.bsky.social Melissa Carrington as S...
Jan 16, 2025•8 min•Season 2Ep. 5
We rejoin the pilgrims in the aftermath of an attack by the Child of Iachtanabas. Trapped within the cave they fled to for safety, they set to in order to dig themselves out of trouble, literally. Huw enlists Wes and Lithee to search for the lost sleepers, and Garm entertains (in the loosest possible sense of the word) Ra with an old song. Part 4 of a multi-part, weekly series. Cast Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.com/ Thomas Barker as Athamas Jesse D. Hill as Longarm defu...
Jan 07, 2025•7 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Our narrative swerves, temporarily, and we find ourselves under a merciless sun, atop shifting sands, in an unknown time and place. Connections to our main story, the sunken realm and its imperilled pilgrims, will become apparent in due course. Part 3 of a multi-part, weekly series. Cast Matthew T. Patton as The Lead Excavator https://whyp.it/users/36577/mtpatton Asha Lear as Digger 1 and 2 https://www.castingcall.club/asha_lear Sammi Puffer as Assistant Sammipuffs.bluesky.social Thomas Barker a...
Dec 31, 2024•11 min•Season 2Ep. 3
With no time to further understand the strange world he has been thrust into, the erstwhile sleeper and the small group that accompanies him flee for their lives. In the brief moments of respite during their flight, introductions are made. Part 2 of a multi-part, weekly series. Cast Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.com/ Thomas Barker as Athamas Jesse D. Hill as Longarm defunktknight@gmail.com Emily Morse-Lee as Wide-Eye @TheRealGChu.bsky.social Melissa Carrington as Split-H...
Dec 24, 2024•7 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Behold, The Crawling World. A thickly huddled mass. Dark-hued, folded in on itself a thousand, nay ten thousand times over. From your vantage point beyond the veil, you can dimly make out vast oceans, a tumult of mountains honeycomb-riddled with caves, extending you suppose, down into the fused depths. Into this world is born Athamas. A sleeper, now awakened into a very dangerous reality indeed. Part 1 of a multi-part, weekly series. Cast Andrew Winson as Fork-in-the-Road https://andrewwinson.co...
Dec 17, 2024•6 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Sword and Sorcery clashes with the Cthulhu Mythos in this thrilling tale of the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, by Robert E. Howard (a contemporary and correspondant of HP Lovecraft and creator of Conan the Barbarian). In order to bring justice to one of his people, the warrior-king enlists an ancient foe. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 29
The first in a sequence of three stories (The Shambler from the Stars, The Haunter of the Dark and The Shadow from the Steeple), this gruesome narrative involves a burgeoning writer who, in the desire for occult knowledge, purchases a forbidding book: De Vermis Mysteriis. This tome has had quite the afterlife in subsequent fiction, appearing in many other stories by Bloch and Lovecraft, as well as (among many others) the opening title card of the 2004 movie Hellboy. This is my first reading of a...
Aug 26, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This famous story (regarded by Kurt Vonnegut as the best short story in American literature) describes (in a style that today might be described as Lynchian) a moment in time. A man, condemned, and a dreamlike escape. Narrated by Thomas Barker https://ko-fi.com/tuomasva Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi
Aug 26, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Narrated by a (somewhat) impartial court observer, this reworking of a much older tale, concerns the obsessive artistry, and terrible downfall of the painter Yoshihide. First published in 1918 in serial form, the author is considered the father of the Japanese short story, and himself met a tragic end. Narrated by Thomas Barker https://ko-fi.com/tuomasva Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0n...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 26
It was a seemingly ordinary mezzotint*, unremarkable except for the unusually high price, and the half-missing attribution on the back. Until the changes began. For the curator of a university art museum, a most unexpected, and shocking series of events is about to unfold. This tale first appeared in James's first collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, in 1904. *a type of monochrome print Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on ...
Jul 28, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Robert Blake is a hunted man, only he does not know it yet. A young writer with an interest in the occult, Mr Blake becomes fascinated by a distant church, the spire of which he can see from his garrett window. A furtive exploration uncovers an ancient artifact, and seals his fate. The last written of H. P Lovecraft's stories (apart from a few collaborations), and is part of a sequence of three stories, the first and last of which are written by Robert Bloch (upon whom Blake is loosely based). I...
Jul 20, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Warning! Tonal whiplash incoming. This delightful (and delightfully creepy) short story by master of the genre Montague Rhodes James is a sort-of Billy Bunter meets the contents of a Breugel the Elder painting. Hopefully that doesn't give too much away. First published in 1928, this was a joy to record; you can't beat the old English public-school grotesques. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playl...
Jul 03, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 23
An ancient evil festers in the heart of a small community, and though the original perpetrators may be gone, traces of their misdeeds linger on. Also, it's never a good idea to stay the night in a seemingly abandoned mansion, even if you are on holiday. Written in 1934, "Pigeons from Hell" is one of several regional horror stories by Howard set in the Piney Woods of the ArkLaTex region of the Deep South. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In our final instalment of this perplexing and perturbing story, (see episode 34 for part two). Things reach a fever pitch at Bly manor with multiple manifestations, disappearances, and a possible breakdown. Of reality, or of sanity? You be the judge. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In part two (see episode 33 for part one), tension mounts, apparition encounters increase, and the governess at Bly begins to lose the plot. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi
May 31, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 20
The ceremony of innocence is drowned in this, most ambiguous ghostly novella from 1898 by renowned Anglo-American writer Henry James. A governess is given charge of two young children in the countryside manor of Bly, only to find (or does she?), that erstwhile inhabitants of the house, and their influence over the children, may linger. Lock the door, light a candle, and keep watch; for there may be faces peering in at the window. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuoma...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 19
If you open the doors of perception too far, who knows what might come knocking? An eminent physician is drawn into a dangerous occult scheme by a longtime colleague, with horrific results. The Thing in the Hall displays the authors characteristically deft style, with a touch of sly humour, in this alarming yarn from 1912. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4...
May 16, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 18
A remote house, a decaying journal. Two friends on a holiday in remote Western Ireland uncover a tale of wonders (and terrors), and an unfathomable abyss that will leave them forever changed. This unusual, and poignantly haunting novella from 1908, by one of horror fictions true originals, has been a massive influence on generations of subsequent writers. Narration and some music by Thomas Barker "Welcome to HorrorLand" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribut...
May 09, 2024•6 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Upon rediscovering a drug used centuries ago to expand the consciousness of mystics, eccentric author Halpin Chalmers hopes (along with the aid of certain, esoteric mathematical formulae) to utilise it in an experiment. An experiment in TIME TRAVEL. Unbeknownst to him, his inquiry draws the attention of unwelcome entities, from dark dimensions. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gA...
May 07, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 16
One of the first stories written by Lovecraft as an adult, the story was inspired in part by a dream he had. "I dreamed that whole hideous crawl, and can yet feel the ooze sucking me down!" he later wrote. The earliest elements of the Cthulhu Mythos begin to stir in this tale of madness and the churning deeps. Narrated by Thomas Barker Queries, comments? Write to me at: tuomasva@outlook.com Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU9gAlZeexHnFHASayT0nGM17V4hCSzSi...
Apr 22, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 15
