Interlude: John Smith and the Cost of the Hungry Blade

Among the Stacks

This week, we're doing something a bit different. What you're about to hear is our entry from the October 2022 Phonic Fiction Fest, John Smith and the Cost of the Hungry Blade, as it was created by people all involved in making the show, and is an idea we want to develop further.

Detective John Smith is a hardboiled detective in a strange world. When a body is found with a mysterious knife which isn't the murder weapon, Smith must turn to Doe, his magical partner for help. Doe has been sent by the Guardians of the Forest as an envoy to the human world. But they’ve found a new candidate to represent them — too bad he doesn’t believe in magic.

Dramatis Personae:

J. R. STEELE as DOE

NIGEL MCKEON as SMITH

EIRA MAJOR as ZARGOTH

ALEX KINGSLEY as JAZARAG

Written by ALEX KINGSLEY, J. R. STEELE, and NIGEL MCKEON

Directed by ALEX KINGSLEY

Produced by EIRA MAJOR

Scoring by JESSE SYRATT

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Content warnings for this episode include:

Murder

Profanity

Implications of violence

Mild threat

Loss of autonomy

Rot/decay

Supernatural harm

SFX: Birds calling, eldritch voices whispering, vocal distortion