From the twisted mind of H.P. Lovecraft and the talented hands and voice of Julie Hoverson, comes the adaptation, “The Rats In The Walls.”
Narrated by Julie Hoverson, H.P. Lovecraft weaves the tale of an American widow, Mrs. Delapore, moving into her old family home in England. During her first night, Mrs. Delapour is immediately alerted to the fact that her house seems to be haunted by rats. Unfortunately, out of all the people in the house, she is the only one who can hear them. Only the cats seem to be aware that something sinister is going on, and they yowl in the dead of night to alert her that something is definitely wrong.
As she continues her investigation, Mrs. Delapour finds there are many disturbing rumors surrounding her house, and all that live within are cursed! She continues to look, even though she is warned that to continue her search will be her undoing. In the end…her curiosity gets the better of her. Curiosity killed the cat, but Mrs. Delapour meets her fate with the rats!
Click here to listen to “The Rats in the Walls.”
With music from Footage Firm and voices from the 19 Nocturne Boulevard crew, Fictional Cafe welcomes back this award-winning audio production from its long sabbatical! As the second chilling podcast during our spooky month, we hope you enjoy it!
As always, we will be posting a new audio adventure every other Friday on our Audio Arts page at 7pm EST! So don’t change that dial!
This comment from Mbizo Chirasha, Poet in Residence, Fictional Cafe (writing from Zimbabwe):
“I found the comment difficult to comprehend. The story is a form
art that can be a satire, allegory or irony. When George Orwell wrote
“Animal Farm,” his animals were as characters and the interpretation
thereof was based on the Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist, Russian revolution.
Stories can not be interpreted by just one or two words in them. Usually
interpretations are varied and cannot be imposed. Having said that,
every reader like you or me is entitled to his or her sentiments.”
It’s unfortunate, to say the least, that, as this country finally faces a year of racial reckoning, fictional cafe decides that it’s meaningful to feature this story, albeit old, that has a cat renamed Blackie who, in the original story, is named Nigger-Man. As a black woman and a regular reader of fictional cafe, I’m offended that this is run without any commentary. As a child, because of my darker complexion, I was called “Blackie,”by family members and others, either as a way of telling me that something was wrong with me or as a way of denigrating me when I did something that angered them. When discussing this story with my wife, I was immediately triggered by hearing that name. It, of course, is not the first time I’ve heard it since I was a child but it is, however, the first time that it had the impact this had. Especially after understanding that, in another remake, the cat was named “Black Tom.” There were other choices that could have been made for the cat’s name. I don’t understand why the choice to feature the story with the cat named “Blackie” won out except that the choice was made by someone who had the privilege to not think about how this may upset or offend. Or, maybe they didn’t know that black people read this and felt that other white people wouldn’t take issue? I’m not sure. I’m guessing and presupposing without knowing certain factors because nothing has been stated. It just feels like “get a clue.”
The cat’s name is Bolton Blackie, named for Bolton, the town where the character came from, and partly after a popular character name of the time – Boston Blackie – who was a pulp criminal turned crime-fighter (not a black person however). I tried to make it clear in subtle ways that yes – the character is classist and racist. I refused to cover it up, and do not feel that it was the place for a dissertation. I took that chance. Also, take into consideration that the show (19 Nocturne Blvd) came out in 2012 or thereabouts, not recently – so this was not “something being made in this year of racial tension.”
I’m sorry this person had a bad experience as a child, and that they were triggered. I’m not denying that they have an issue, but I made the decision to name the cat that, fully knowing that it was walking a tightrope and apparently for this person I fell off.
– Julie Hoverson, producer of “The Rats in the Walls” for 19 Nocturne Blvd.