Tales From Beyond The Pale: Season Five
Glenn McQuaid and Larry Fessenden ( 30 Minute Audio Plays)
Larry Fessenden, James Le Gros, John Speredakos,
Collection of live performances from the Overlook Film Festival, Lincoln Center in NYC and a special Tales Reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s Red Death.
Fangoria
Ken W. Hanley, 10/25/16
Event Report: “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE” Live at Lincoln Center!
As any New Yorker can tell you, a 70-degree night in the middle of October is a fairly strange occurrence. But perhaps the peculiarly warm weather was fitting for a night such as October 20th, in which the good folks at Glass Eye Pix would be taking their eerie brand of radio plays to Lincoln Center for another live edition of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE. Yet even beyond a showcase for the varying degrees of audio terror that can come from the minds of filmmakers Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid, TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE is such a special experience because it truly feels communal, with horror enthusiasts gathering en masse to witness the petrifying proceedings.
This writer doesn’t know for sure if the other horrorheads in attendance had ever attended a round of TALES live before, but as someone who was lucky enough to catch Glass Eye Pix’s show-stopping performance at the 2015 Stanley Film Festival, I knew exactly how much fun these shows can be. From genre-friendly performers, live music and foley work, and an immersive sound design, TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE’s live editions are as fun to witness as they are frightening. But the true kicker for seeing TALES live is to witness some truly original, fantastic horror from those who tell it best, with stories not bound to multiple takes, budgetary restrictions, or studio notes.
Arriving just in time to catch the introduction for the first tale, this writer spotted the murderer’s row of performers for the night, comprised of James Le Gros (THE LAST WINTER), Noah Le Gros (THE GET DOWN), Lauren Ashley Carter (DARLING), John Speredakos (THE MIND’S EYE), TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE regular Mathew Stephen Huffman and Fessenden himself. The first story, “Who Killed Johnny Bernard?,” was penned by Fessenden, following a non-linear Faustian tale that offers more heartbreak than it does straight-up horror. This story was also the most musically active of the pair, with Jack Fessenden and several of the TALES team providing a miniature jam session during one flashback in particular.
However, if Fessenden’s tale was light on the genre material, the second story, penned by McQuaid, certainly more than made up for it. Entitled “Game Night,” McQuaid wove a tale of middle-aged men whose version of a mid-life crisis includes an attempt to summon a demon in a satanic ritual. Yet when their efforts go bust, the four men are ready to call it quits…that is, until the Pizza Delivery Girl arrives and offers her Goth expertise to ensure their supernatural connection. Giving much for live foley artists Chris Skotchdopole and Tessa Price to do, “Game Night” is much more light-hearted than its predecessor, but also a much more traditional horror story with a subversive contemporary edge.
Luckily, each TALE was each equally fascinating to come to life, with the old school charm and the certainly capable cast offering a spirited take on these stories. In the case of “Johnny Bernard,” the story was somewhat like a puzzle, but once the audience understood what was going on and the performers got into the groove of things, the tale was quite captivating, with a bittersweet ending one normally doesn’t expect from anthology horror. “Game Night,” on the other hand, offered up a more jovial chemistry, with some laugh out loud moments (including a scene in which the guys realize they need a blood sacrifice) as well as a gloriously schizophrenic performance from Carter, who jumped between voices and characters with surprising finesse.
Overall, TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE once again proved to be an excellent show to be experienced live. From the inherent appeal of watching pumpkins getting smashed in by foley artists to the spontaneous performances to the phenomenal writing on display, there is truly something special about witnessing imaginative storytelling encapsulated in a medium so against the grain, and the welcoming Lincoln Center audience certainly felt it as well. This writer just hopes you’ll be able to hear these scary stories for yourself sooner rather than later, but make no mistake: if you get the opportunity to experience TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE live, run, don’t walk. It’s a fairly singular experience within the genre, and one that deserves to be witnessed firsthand.
Birth. Movies. Death.
May 1, 2017
The Overlook Film Festival: TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE
If you’re not familiar with Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid’s radio drama Tales From Beyond the Pale, it’s a terrific and haunting storytelling device. I’ve been lucky enough to see two live reads of the show – once at The Stanley Film Festival, and this week at The Overlook Film Festival.
The performers stand at mics with headphones and scripts on podiums, while McQuaid sits in the background at a soundboard, producing the show and playing his original score. Two sound effects artists work at a table to the side, using sound props like a small door in a frame, shoes in a box of gravel, jars full of liquid, a tube they shake to create, as my colleague Katie Rife phrased it, “ambient spookiness.” As riveting as the stories are, and as great as the performances, it’s tempting to just watch the sound artists at work, the little magic they create with bags of sand and aluminum ducts.
Fessenden, in his marvelous voice, opens the show with a Crypt Keeper-type monologue, assuring us that today’s stories are intended to distract us from the “hundred-day horror show” that has been this nation. He also performs a role in each story, along with Shudder’s Sam Zimmerman,The Pumpkin Pie Show’s Clay McLeod Chapman and actress Janet Scanlon.
The first story is titled “Re-Appraisal,” in which a man (Chapman) is trying to sell his house so he can escape the modern insanity of the United States and move back to his homeland of Ireland. A potential buyer (Fessenden) arrives with a very compelling offer, but the seeming bargain comes at a terrible price. “Re-Appraisal,” written by McQuaid, trades on our new, unfortunate revival of nuclear panic, and tells a lesson about the selfishness of our own anxiety.
The second story, written by Fessenden, is called “In the Wind,” and it’s a Fargo meets The Mist-type tale in which Scanlon plays Frannie, a small town police chief in a snowy mountain resort, with Zimmerman playing her sweet-tempered second-in-command. While investigating a homicide, Frannie and her team soon realize that what they’re dealing with is something much worse, a supernatural foe that threatens to overtake the entire town.
Both stories were perfectly creepy and beautifully performed, generating real suspense in that small, warm room. Tales From Beyond the Palewas once more a highlight of this horror festival, a refreshing change from slasher flicks and the like. There’s a quaintness to the delivery of these scary stories that makes their unnerving content stand out in stark contrast. If you ever get a chance to see Tales From Beyond the Paleperformed live, you should take it, and in the meantime, check out more tales here.
REAPPRAISAL
by Glenn McQuaid
(Performed at Overlook Film Fest April 29, 2017)
Written and Directed by Glenn McQuaid.
Cast Larry Fessenden, Clay McLeod Chapman, Sam Zimmerman, Janet Scanlon.
A man trying to sell his home and uproot his family is visited by a mysterious buyer.
IN THE WIND
by Larry Fessenden
(Performed Overlook Film Fest April 29, 2017)
Cast Janet Scanlon, Samuel Zimmerman, Clay McLeod Chapman and Larry Fessenden
Winged creatures descend from the sky to terrorize a snow-bound mountain resort.
WHO KILLED JOHNNY BERNARD?
by Larry Fessenden
(Performed Live at Lincoln Center August 20 2016)
Cast Larry Fessenden, James Le Gros, Noah Le Gros, Matthew Huffman
Guitar Noah Le Gros, Guitar & drums Jack Fessenden, Sax Larry Fessenden.
After a devastating accident, a man struggles to alter the fate of his son.
DIE SLEEPING MY SWEET
Written and directed by Glenn McQuaid
(Performed Live at Lincoln Center August 2, 2019)
Cast: John Speredakos, Caprice Benedetti, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Teresa Kelsey, Matthew Stephen Huffman.
A comatose patient tries desperately to communicate with the outside world.
BLACKOUT
by Larry Fessenden
(Performed Live at Lincoln Center August 2 2019)
Cast: Larry Fessenden, John Speredakos, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Teresa Kelsey, Caprice Benedetti , Matthew Stephen Huffman.
Three nights under the spell of a full moon, Charles can’t fathom the things he’s done.
INT. COFFIN – NIGHT
Written and Directed by Glenn McQuaid
(Released November 25, 2020)
Cast: Grace Cooper, Martha Harmon Pardee, Glenn McQuaid. music by Glenn McQuaid.
Poster by Brian Level.
A long time ago… six feet under…
GAME NIGHT
Written and directed by Glenn McQuaid
(Performed Live at Lincoln Center, August 20 2016)
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
(Released 2021; 25 minutes)
writer: Edgar Allan Poe
reader: John Speredakos, sax score: Larry Fessenden
