The Haunter of the Dark
"Cautious investigators will hesitate to challenge the common belief that Robert Blake was killed by lightning...."
For decades, an old Providence church has stood empty, silently looming in the city's skyline. As a young writer looks into the history of the abandoned church — and the cult that once resided there — he stirs an ancient horror. Will he be able to finally solve an unspeakable mystery, or has he merely paved the way to become its next victim?
This episode is an adaptation of HPL's last story. It is the favorite tale of many Lovecraft fans, and its themes of immigration and xenophobia, religious freedom and newspaper sensationalism seem shockingly relevant today. Stephen Woodworth joins the DART creative team with his first draft of the script for this episode.
Get it now!Props
To enhance your listening pleasure, the HPLHS will pack the jewel case for The Haunter of the Dark with carefully created props from the story. You'll get:
Track Listing
1. Opening 2:40
2. College Hill 15:47
3. Federal Hill 17:36
4. Starry Wisdom 9:56
5. The Haunted 19:59
6. The Haunter 9:10
7. Closing 1:27
Total Runtime 76:40
Cast and Crew
Sean Branney...Officer Monahan, Shopkeeper, Edwin Lillibridge
Kacey Camp...Miss Lanigan Markham, Italian Mother
Matt Foyer...Enoch Bowen, Sgt. Kelly
Casey Kramer...Nonna
Andrew Leman...Father Bardazzi
Jacob Andrew Lyle...Robert Blake
Barry Lynch...Morris Herald, Mayor Doyle, Barkeeper
Grinnell Morris...Clayton Munn, Dr. Ambrose Dexter
David Pavao...Fireman, Heath McKerrow, Bishop Harkins
Kevin Stidham...Clark Gamwell
Josh Thoemke...Announcer
Time Winters...Creighton Cobb, Chief Benson, Italian Man
Starry Wisdom Choir...Mike Dalager, Andrew Leman & Jesse Merlin
Based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft
Radio adaptation by Stephen Woodworth and Sean Branney & Andrew Leman
Original music by Reber Clark
Dark Adventure Theme by Troy Sterling Nies
Vocals recorded at The Jungle Room, Glendale, CA
Audio engineering by Julian Beeston
Cover and disc illustrations by Darrell Tutchton
Prop Inserts by Andrew Leman
Photo of St. John's Church by Will Hart
Shining Trapezohedron Reliquary by Gage Prentiss
Trapezohedron Sketch by Patrick Boerger
Blake Letter mostly written by Clark Ashton Smith
Produced by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman
Script, Liner Notes & More
Talented Rhode Island sculptor and painter Gage Prentiss has made a truly amazing version of the Shining Trapezohedron, and he graciously allowed us to use a sketch of it as part of one of our prop documents. The real thing has to be seen to be believed, but you can find pictures at his website.
HPLHS member Patrick Boerger has developed an intriguing theory regarding the Shining Trapezohedron that appears in "The Haunter of the Dark". He believes it was inspired by a real object that is still on display in a museum in New Jersey. Check out the details in this fascinating report.
The Starry Wisdom church was inspired by a real church in Providence: St. John's Catholic Church on Federal Hill. It was torn down many years ago, but HPLHS member Will Hart took several great photos of it while it stood, which we used in making the prop newspaper clipping for this episode. You can see more of his photos at Will's website!
Tironian shorthand, or Tironian notes, was a way of writing Latin invented by Cicero's personal secretary, Marcus Tiro. It was expanded during the Middle Ages to a system of about 13,000 individual signs, some of which survived into the present day in the form of ampersands and other assorted glyphs. For more about this fascinating system of writing, check out this book, published, coincidentally, in 1893.
Bile Beans, the sponsor of this episode, was an actual product with an actual jingle known as The Bile Bean March, composed by F.H.Fulford. We only used short excerpts in the episode, but we wanted to share this catchy full-length version that Reber Clark prepared. Click on the orange arrow in the image above to hear it.
Reber Clark wrote some haunting music for the chant of the Starry Wisdom Choir, and we wanted to let you hear it without dialogue and sound effects over it. We thank Mike Dalager and Jesse Merlin for adding their voices to the choir. Click the orange arrow in the image above to play the piece.
For your enjoyment, we present free PDF downloads of the final recording script and liner notes of The Haunter of the Dark. Note: this script is only for use for reading along with Dark Adventure Radio Theatre; no performance of the script may be made without written consent of the HPLHS.
