"The Moonstone Mass" by Harriet Prescott Spofford / Horror at the Poles

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Күн бұрын

HORROR AT THE POLES
Episode 4: "The Moonstone Mass" by Harriet Prescott Spofford
First appearing in Harper’s magazine in October 1868, the story describes an unnamed narrator’s attempt to cross the Northwest Passage, which, unsurprisingly, results in a series of unusual events.
00:00 - Introduction
00:58 - The Moonstone Mass
42:51 - Further Listening
How about some Lovecraftian artifacts?
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Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble
Music and production by Ian & Jennifer Gordon
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Пікірлер: 105

@VonPetters 6 ай бұрын

As a Pole facing occasional horrors of everyday life, I am delighted with this

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

😂 Haha! Poles are cool. I’m most concerned with the horror of the next elections all over the world… 😬 the "polls"

@fingmoron 6 ай бұрын

Piwopiwopiwopiwopiwopiwo

@seanmurphy6480 6 ай бұрын

I'M A FENCE POST 👍

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

@MrRolloTomasi 5 ай бұрын

@@sub-jec-tiv As for the democratically elected dictators, the election outcomes are already written. Then there are the aspiring dictators/ national mob capos.... Horror fiction is more comforting.

@dwellerofthedark 6 ай бұрын

You went digging deep for ‘The Moonstone Mass’ Bard of Horror! Great tale from 1868!

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@willmistretta 6 ай бұрын

Written some 58 years before the first successful north polar expedition. True terra incognita. It may as well be another planet the way it's imagined here.

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

I’d love to see "Who Goes There" (The Thing) written in gothic style. Ugh maybe that’s an assignment for me. 😂

@VictorReynolds 6 ай бұрын

Love the theme of the unattainable treasure. Great tale for a cold night!

@moirajamiechuma5149 6 ай бұрын

Yeeees! Let's get into it!!! Thank you, you uploaded right on time... i was about to look for a story to repeat 😅

@thehobbyzoo6124 6 ай бұрын

Me too

@TheGruntski 2 ай бұрын

I love listening to these stories

@blacklisted4885 6 ай бұрын

Writing was so much better back then. Very poetic

@2001Tavis 6 ай бұрын

YASSSSSS!!!!😫 I'm going to the Poles !!!! 😆❄❄🌬

@mariovillarreal8647 6 ай бұрын

I'm pole shifting now!❤

@johnjones2nd667 6 ай бұрын

@@mariovillarreal8647is that a homosexual innuendo?

@mariovillarreal8647 6 ай бұрын

@johnjones2nd667 No, why are you Jonesing!? Sorry bro...lol. Weird!? I just had a JDJones ask me did I kill his father!? Thank God I've never killed or wanted to kill Any person! ❤️💜 It's a reference to when the Earth shifts its magnetic North a few degrees I think. Maybe a complete pole reversal!?

@2001Tavis 6 ай бұрын

@@johnjones2nd667 The Arctic people !!!! the poles are at the Arctic 😆😆😆

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

My grandparents were Poles, but they certainly weren’t at the arctic!

@jeffashley5512 6 ай бұрын

I'm late but finally here on this Yuletide eve. It's cold out here in Tennessee so stay inside with warm drink and Horrorbabble. 💀 Yuletide Blessings to All.

@michaelgreaves2375 6 ай бұрын

You certainly could do a lot worse. I know I could. (Now, where's my hot beverage? ... oh, there it is.)

@rneustel388 6 ай бұрын

It’s nice here in Kingman, Arizona - 55 degrees and no wind, which I’ll always take.

@Rynewulf 6 ай бұрын

Blessed be on this Yuletide!

@jeffashley5512 6 ай бұрын

@@Rynewulf )O(

@soulreaver1983 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for another fantastic video Ian 🙂👍

@robbabcock_ 6 ай бұрын

What a wonderful story, and amazing that it's so old.

@TheHappyhorus 6 ай бұрын

As always we are in your debt HorrorBabble. Thank you 🙏

@Bbergster 6 ай бұрын

There is an owl in the yard…. Who is it looking for? Two cannibals are eating a clown, and one asks the other, “does this taste funny to you?” Many thanks. 👋🐝🐝

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

That's pretty funny

@paulross225 6 ай бұрын

I have nothing more to add to the plaudits and superlatives already written in the comment section - just a thank you for a job well done. 🎯🙏🏆

@blurryface9597 6 ай бұрын

Fantastic story! Thanks for the great narration as always.

@ScullyPopASMR 6 ай бұрын

Upper Echelon Narration.

@tellket 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for the post.

@seanmurphy6480 6 ай бұрын

BRILLIANT ANOTHER 🏆 PRIZE EVERYONES A LOLIPOP THANKS IAN .I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED ARTIC HORROR SINCE WHO GOES THERE / THE THING ❤

@Aroundthesquarebowl 6 ай бұрын

Thank you ❤

@iexplore9870 5 ай бұрын

Amazing narration, best wishes from India

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

Excellent read Sir Horror Babble as usual of course

@Nanosuit37 5 ай бұрын

Excellent! Very good as always. Thank you Mr.Gordon and Horror Babble. Until next time.

@bholdr----0 6 ай бұрын

The far north and south have so much potential for horror... the atmosphere of unexplored mystety, the climate inimical to life, the vast expanse... (and the northern lights!) They all scream 'You do not belong here!). Authors from Lovecraft to Blackwood and Jack London... and modern writers have all tapped the poles for stories... Franklin's expedition has been done to death: I wonder if Scott's will ever get the same treatment? (Or, maybe Shakelton's Endurance oddesy?) This has been an excellent set of stories, yet, I know it has to end, (I feel like a man alone, falling in the endless night and the cold, drifting off to sleep, wanting just... one... more... story ...Lol!) Great series! Cheers! (Could you do: 'To Build a Fire' by Jack London, a story about the relentless, uncaring cold... Or, 'Love of Life', about starvation in Alaska in the 1910s. Both can be exceptionally frightening, despite a total lack of the supernatural.)

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

"…modern writers have all tapped the poles for stories…" Don’t take this the wrong way, but I would tap that pole for stories.

@bholdr----0 6 ай бұрын

@@sub-jec-tiv How the hell am I SUPPOSED to take that? (J/K- the more poles the better) I like to think of myself as an open minded guy (kinda)... Which can make Lovecraft's total and ubiquitous crazy xenophobia kind of problematic, eh? Lol. Cheers!

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

@@bholdr----0Haha laughed out loud

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

We tackled To Build a Fire a few years ago: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f82hY5ukmNGpoGQ.html

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

Yes and it's so cold it's terrifying

@AcornElectron 6 ай бұрын

My pole is well and truly horrified. Keep up the good work and, as always, Merry Christmas Jen and Ian?

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Merry Christmas!

@RazZiikiel 6 ай бұрын

The imagery and language used in this story are exquisite. Amazing listen.

@ukcats82 6 ай бұрын

It's crazy when I see the dates on these, "1860's?," I always think I'm definitely not gonna be into this, but I'm always shocked at how relatable or sometimes they even sound like something written now. I really think it's Ian's way of reading then, it's perfect (and I listen to a lot of powerhouses (Frank Muller, Roy Dotrice RIP, and Robert Inglis) Ian is right up there. His single character narrations are top notch, his separate characters are getting amazing, he's really got the American accent perfect. In ready to hear him read a big novel. I vote for a SK story

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

Yep! Besides Ian’s fantastic readings, humanity is what it is. Look at how well Shakespeare still connects with people (once they get past the changes in verbiage). Shakespeare’s comedy still makes people giggle with delight. His tragedy still makes people cry out of recognition. We might have a $£900 computer in our pocket now, but we’re still the same hairless ape as always.

@fingmoron 6 ай бұрын

@@sub-jec-tivI enjoy a fart joke as much as a Roman did.

@Jason-ng2vf 6 ай бұрын

Ian truly is one of the best narrators, hands down.

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Thanks! King is out of the question, but I'm currently negotiating license terms with more accessible, living authors.

@seanmurphy6480 6 ай бұрын

HAVE A TOP CHRISTMAS AND MAY NEXT YEAR BE KIND TO YOU AND YOURS ❤

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Same to you, Sean!

@howardhavardramberg7160 6 ай бұрын

Such a great story!

@beitodesstrafe 6 ай бұрын

Arctic/Antarctic and nautical tales are my favorite themes for horror.

@donaldmccleary9015 6 ай бұрын

Awesome story and narration! I'm listening to this again because it is so good. I really like the sense of adventure and mystery. Just as good is the unbelieving nature of others despite evidence proving otherwise. This story portrays quite an adventure! This is a great tale of knowing the truth and what you saw despite only a few believing you. Great story and narration!

@oldskooldave 6 ай бұрын

What a great yarn.. nice find and great narration 👍

@Eris123451 6 ай бұрын

A series of unusual events then ?

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

As always...!

@bertbaker7067 6 ай бұрын

Great story, i wonder if the author was inspired by the disappearance of the 1845 Franklin Expedition. She would've been in her early teens when people started worrying about the overdue expedition.

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Very likely.

@7F0X7 2 ай бұрын

Uncle Paul was just ahead of his time.

@0therun1t21 5 ай бұрын

This males me want to go there!

@H0RR0R_HANG0VERZ 6 ай бұрын

abSEAlutely *BRRRR* -illiant!!! 💙❄️🌊🥶⛴️🩵

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

Well descripted

@jamesharrington8353 5 ай бұрын

So... he found the North Pole? I haven't heard it described so poetically since reading The Book of Lost Tales.

@bigsarge2085 6 ай бұрын

❤️‍🔥

@bobbymarcum772 6 ай бұрын

We must never underintigate what the horses of nature can wrought, in their equinatural portense. Porridge. Abstinethe, and curdlemore; porridge.

@awarningtothecuriouswerewolves 6 ай бұрын

Isn't Joel Manton from Moonstone, Mass? Warren!

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

You Fool,,, Warren is dead

@seanjustinkvalsvig1581 4 ай бұрын

Woe

@harryblack540 6 ай бұрын

By no means could you be considered a WHAT Oh false alarm

@MikuHidesBodies 6 ай бұрын

The way I got jump scared bc I thought the same thing 😭😭

@angelaverbowski995 6 ай бұрын

#204-✅👍

@sentryogmixmaster 6 ай бұрын

"cool" winter descriptive work here. good enough story but still doesn't hold a match to my favorite cold wintery tale...To Build A Fire.

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

A classic, indeed.

@edwardnimerowski7577 6 ай бұрын

I’m not going to the poles I’m not Polish😊

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

Ooohhhh,,,,,I see what you did there

@linnmatthews8615 6 ай бұрын

Absolutely love your voice, your narration - voice acting is fabulous. I'm sure no one could read this matterial better. But sadly to me this story's prose are far to floridly purple. I lose the story beneath all the discriptive verbage. This writer makes Lovecraft's writing seem sparce.

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for listening, either way.

@victoriahadley7138 5 ай бұрын

Ian could read the back of a shampoo bottle & it would be great

@dirkbruere 6 ай бұрын

"Spofford"? Is that a real name?

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

Fording the mighty Spof!

@HorrorBabble 6 ай бұрын

Spofforth just wasn't cutting it.

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

Don’t go chasing moonstones

@victoriahadley7138 5 ай бұрын

Love us worth more than money, silly man

@edwardspencer3906 5 ай бұрын

Since When?

@MC-zr6gc 5 ай бұрын

Good story. Question though. Is the main character supposed to be likeable? Because, within the first 5 minutes, I experienced a mild, but growing.... dislike, of him.

@leebennett1821 6 ай бұрын

I like writing from the past is so much better most modern horror mostly unimaginative gore

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

I like them both, I think much of depends on the narrator to I think, obviously of course, and then some stories are poorly written and just be off putting, even for horror

@sub-jec-tiv 6 ай бұрын

There are great things about both. The big plus of old stuff is, they actually care about the history of storytelling

@williestreiff9314 6 ай бұрын

@@sub-jec-tiv it reads to me by the feel of it that the style reflects maybe a little more classical technique and more suggestive than just in your face, and I'm not trying to criticize modern horror, it may be a generational thing also