Over the past few weeks, Ain’t It Cool News has been reviewing the new season of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE. Here they cover Simon Barrett’s “Dead Air” and Larry Fessenden’s “Caper”–

DEAD AIR_172x253“Episode 2.7: DEAD AIR
By Simon Barrett (writer), Larry Fessenden (director)
Starring Jonny Orsini, Joel Garland, Matthew Stephen Huffman, John Speredakos, Alison Wright

Simon Barrett, writer of A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, YOU’RE NEXT, and V/H/S, offers up this short that is oozing with both atmosphere and old school “things go a bumpin’ in the night” charm. This story of a college radio disc jockey who is forced to work the night shift in a haunted area of a school made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and salute. Though there are many of these TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE that are effective in chills, this one is my favorite of the bunch as Barrett mixes a familiar modern voice with old school creeps and hauntings. I loved every spine-tingling second of this offering. Though I knew Barrett was good, this little ditty makes me want to see what other kinds of short horror the scribe has up his sleeve.

CAPER_172x253Episode 2.8: CAPER
By Larry Fessenden (director/writer)
Starring James Le Gros, Matthew Stephen Huffman, John Speredakos, Jonny Orsini, Mark Margolis, Joel Garland

The last episode of the season is written by the maestro behind the TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE operation, Larry Fessenden. CAPER feels a lot like a twisted supernatural version of RESERVOIR DOGS/UNUSUAL SUSPECTS, as a bunch of seedy types are brought together on a mission seemingly in a random fashion, but as in all good stories, the methodology of bringing this crew together is anything but random. Fessenden creates some fun characters to follow into darkness and a heist that is just complex enough to be interesting, but not so complex as to be difficult to follow on a radio show. The results are a satisfying and fun little crime tale where things go into the realm of horror quickly and efficiently. This is a strong entry in a series and ends the season on a high and scary note.”

See the full AICN post here. Listen to the TALES streaming in the Listening Room for free, or get the entire series from the Tales Online Store.