HorrorBabble's Weird Creatures: A Collection

[@HorrorBabble]

From Benson’s Caterpillars to Smith’s Mother of Toads, let’s see how you fare, in spending an evening with HorrorBabble’s WEIRD CREATURES… NOTE: "Caterpillars" is supposed to end the way it does. Chapters: 0:00:06 - Introduction 0:00:54 - Caterpillars (E. F. Benson) 0:19:52 - The Creeper in the Crypt (Robert Bloch) 0:46:10 - A:B:O. (Walter de la Mare) 1:28:04 - The Beast in the Cave (H. P. Lovecraft) 1:43:26 - Hey, You Down There! (Harold Rolseth) 2:06:16 - Sredni Vashtar (Saki) 2:18:14 - Mother of Toads (Clark Ashton Smith) 2:36:52 - Further Listening Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/horrorbabbles-weird-creatures-a-collection Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Music and production by Ian Gordon & Jennifer Gill Image by tombud: pixabay.com/users/tombud-1908037 Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble

[@DuskFox7]

Greatly appreciate the heads up about Caterpillars.

[@ericdouglas9469]

😅

[@marcoscosta2318]

Rainy Saturday night , smoking a pipe and listening to creepy stories , doesn't get better than this , thanks for the work you do Ian

[@silvertheelf]

Perfect world discovered

[@kriskeilman8124]

this is NOT a pipe...

[@JM_Smith1]

Well change the pipe..with a pinch of snuff..and i agree!!

[@stevecooper7038]

Smoking a pipe (or anything else for that matter) is not a good idea.

[@GentlemanLife-Beyotch]

​@@stevecooper7038Gentlemen only, Steve.

[@Herschel1738]

Caterpillars (E. F. Benson) was written before 1912. Many people used to think cancer was contagious and cancer patients were shunned. I met people in the 1950's & 60's who avoided visiting cancer patients because they were afraid of of catching cancer - that last lingering remnants of a cruel superstitious belief.

[@LeeRaldar]

Cancer can also smell pretty terrible to the point of causing a gag reflex which may be a more objective reason why people avoided visiting. It can be embarrassingly difficult to appear empathic while your stomach content is trying to make a break for it.

[@SlideRulePirate]

www.tcg.vet.cam.ac.uk/about As the page there are only three 'known' ....

[@Herschel1738]

@@SlideRulePirate Yes, because in the 1950's people wouldn't take a casserole to their neighbor who was being treated for lung or breast cancer because they were terrified of infectious cancers that were only found in dogs, Tasmanian Devils & soft-shelled clams...

[@SlideRulePirate]

And then there is this nightmare... www.scientificamerican.com/article/tapeworm-spreads-deadly-cancer-to-human/#:~:text=A%20Colombian%20man's%20lung%20tumors,a%20report%20of%20the%20case.

[@Herschel1738]

​@@SlideRulePirate I am finding your posts very interesting, but besides the point. Besides being extremely rare (as this is the only know case to 2015), the article is not clear whether the tapeworm cancer actually infected the human cells & cause them to become cancer cells, or that the tumors were composed of tapeworm cancer cells that had spread throughout the body, settled in organs (the lymph nodes) & began to grow. I would only consider the first case to be "infectious" cancer as it is invading human cells and turning them cancerous. However, my point wasn't that there are no infectious cancers. It was that this has nothing to do with a belief, contrary to medical knowledge of the time, that you could "catch" breast cancer from sitting in a room with a patient suffering from breast cancer. And being repelled by sick room odors, or even sick people in general, has nothing to do with believing that they are doing to infect you with a disease that isn't infectious.

[@nategoalbevazin1387]

HorrorBabble RULES!!! I have listened to the stories narrated by Ian Gordon and I can’t pass em up! I’ve gotta listen to them all!

[@nategoalbevazin1387]

Yeah he’s very good at his narrations. I totally agree!

[@Nobllshit]

Awesome stories. Reminds me of elementary school when we were lucky enough to have someone visit our class and tell us a story like one of these, right before lunch. Innocence and excitement

[@yungpork5177]

ALWAYS let HorrorBabble sing you to sleep. Best rest ever.

[@liammccbyrne4184]

funny enough I suffer from real bad anxiety attacks especially when trying to sleep so I have spent many nights falling asleep to horrorbabble. its bizarrely relaxing.

[@hereticbastard666alejo3]

Best way to sleep

[@MECHanicPaw]

Thank you HorrorBabble! I have just had an annoying scratch on my eyeball ehich got infected, so i had to have closed eyes for most of the time for a week. Your storytelling is uttermost extraordinarily superb.

[@Tazirai]

Ian thank you guys for this. I was working on some art commissions today and this was what I needed to get through. Appreciate it.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks, Adam! I hope it was a productive day for you. :)

[@john_blues]

My goodness, The Creeper in The Crypt is excellent! "Trees toss their twisted tops to the sky, and stood like furtive conspirators in little groups together"

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

It really is a solid story.

[@robertmaaz7636]

Hey, you down there. Hands down best story. Started off slow, picked up the pace and finished with a laugh: 7.5/10 awesome and thank HorrorBabble for performance and content. You have done the story justice

[@alexgreychuck7605]

This is my favorite collection of yours. I never get tired of these.

[@TheMrSark]

'Hey, You Down There' was amazing.

[@Brodolf_Gainzdeer]

The Sark like Horrorbabble, huh. Nice

[@EdisonSpaeth]

A reference to the fact that it was made into a season 2 episode of 'Amazing Stories' in 1986 called 'Thanksgiving'?

[@goopah]

Yes, this one was special. Really enjoyed it in spite of the ending you can see coming. It's the journey. So enjoyable.

[@Kassamai]

@@goopah I was wondering where I had seen that, thanks.

[@slewis9602]

I was about halfway through when you pulled it. Happy it's back! So enjoyable, thank you.

[@HorrorBabble]

Sorry about that, Scott!

[@MrMonkfiish]

It wasn't until hearing this collection for the 2nd time that i remembered i've read "Hey You Down There" before. My class studied it in High School (very many years ago now i'm afraid), for creative writing purposes we were asked to use the text as a jumping off point and write what happens after the story's end.

[@bittybitty8233]

So glad to see this back up , I could just listen to you 24\7 !! Man of a thousand voices.💯

[@curtisgriffith2976]

Always wonderful always fantastic. Gordon is hands down one of my favorite narrators. Thank you for another great selection of stories.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks for listening, Curtis!

[@karenbanks5985]

Love this truly enjoy listening late at night great stories in collections

[@carwashadamcooper1538]

"Hey, you down there" Was a most excellent story! It has everything one may desire in a tale, especially the happy ending!

[@thefallencrow0722]

Sooo KZbin hasn’t been giving me notifications for any vids so I’m having to catch-up on everything in a night... Elder gods of the bell grant me the power to not miss another video!

[@jamiecameron7615]

An awesome collection!! Thank you very much!!

[@3drom988]

This is it! i had been looking for this tale, "Hey, you down there", for months now! I remember having listended it in this channel but i couldnt remember the name of it! i thought i checked every video and compilation in your channel but couldnt find it until now. Amazing tale, love it as i love all this narrations of yours, great job as always! Since i work from home i have your narrations on play on the background all day!

[@DJ-mh3ss]

I was halfway through this when you removed it. Glad you re-uploaded it and great compilation!

[@HorrorBabble]

Sorry about that, DJ!

[@RolandWieffering1]

1. Caterpillars (E. F. Benson) 19:57 2. The Creeper in the Crypt (Robert Bloch) 46:01 3. A:B:O. (Walter de la Mare) 1:28:03 4. The Beast in the Cave (H. P. Lovecraft) 1:43:24 5. Hey, You Down There! (Harold Rolseth) 22:50 6. Sredni Vashtar (Saki) 11:58 7. Mother of Toads (Clark Ashton Smith)

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks for posting this Roland - it served to remind us that we hadn't pinned a comment. Updated!

[@RolandWieffering1]

You're very welcome.

[@joz6683]

Listening to stories that were posted before I subscribed. Listening on a Saturday night after watching a sporting event that did not played out as hoped. Thanks for providing such good entertainment that can always be replied upon...Glad to see a Clark Ashton Smith story in the list, this has made up for any disappointment that tonight brought...Love the language used so much more evocative than present day stories...

[@nonserviam751]

Nice artwork.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

These tales are so awesome! Your narration, as always, is great! I love these stories! They are so darn good! I got a real kick out of "Hey, You Down There!".

[@RydarkVoyager]

Great collection, sir. I confess to a delicious chuckle at hearing "Hey, You Down There!" Give my regards to Glaah, the Master (just don't invite him/her/it/them to any dinner parties)!

[@StephanieMcGrathTheFeyWitch]

My mom turned me onto Ian and we both love HorrorBabble. Thank you for doing this, I listen to you every night. ❤

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks to you and your mom for listening! Ian

[@StephanieMcGrathTheFeyWitch]

@@HorrorBabble thank you, Ian!

[@Loki.uk70]

I am an avid listener of the ctfdn and I was very happy to stumble across this and subscribed straight after 'hey you down there ' thanks guy's.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks, Wayne!

[@cobrachicken07]

I love this collection. Nice work!

[@frankmcgovern5445]

I like "Hey, You Down There." Those fools get real real.

[@therustedshank9995]

Yeah that was my favorite one

[@rayanderson5797]

It almost played like a dark joke more than a horror story. Really good.

[@uxaenarrhythmia1483]

Well, I declare. This was quite a good audio narration.

[@k.vincentwoods4362]

I've turned my friend, who lives in Derby, England on to Horrorbabble... She's enjoying your tales as much as I do. Much success to you !

[@HorrorBabble]

Awesome -- thank you!

[@jensg367]

A super channel. Thank you very much. I did not know any of the stories before.

[@MC-zr6gc]

Calvin sounds like a real charmer, Dora. Don't let THAT one go!

[@bassblaster162]

In "Mother of Toads", I was waiting for Pierre to pull out his sword, or dagger, mace, something! THAT'S why I carry, never know when some toad witch might pop up 🐸😄

[@zaijal1572]

The Creeper in the Crypt, if you listen closely, is a sequel to "The Hound" by H.P. Lovecraft

[@willkersey7340]

You down there was the funniest scary story I've ever heard

[@sankturban291]

Great collection, guys.

[@necrophage5248]

1:18:18 I have never heard the devouring of a meal explained with so many terms. I rightly enjoyed that enough to play it over a few times. Too many word to digest of a homeless man on his digest I LOVE how you use other voices in ur narrations it just seals the deal ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@XelionGraves]

I remember reading The Beast in the Cave back in middle school or early high school, I can't recall, but I do remember that story as my first encounter with Lovecraft's work. The lesson continued on before I finished and afterward I borrowed the book to read the rest. I think that may even have started my fascination with that style of writing. Thank you Horrorbabble, for returning to me a piece of my memory I had thought long forgotten ^^

[@askwhy2030]

Great Post!! A flawless delivery Thanks very much!!

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

I love these anthologies, a bit disjointed but it helps with finding really interesting stories.

[@TheDeadmanTT]

Thank you!

[@BillRoyMcBill]

Very cool, thank you.

[@DocsChannel]

clicked on it with no views and no likes... Pretty sweet

[@angelaverbowski995]

Awesome job- great Stories!

[@TheBenjaman]

Really enjoyed this collection of tales. Nice to listen to when playing Minecraft.

[@greensky5328]

How right you are!

[@AhriOfAstora]

True

[@beverlyamarantes9775]

Thank you and we'll done. Creepier than any other.

[@heathquinby229]

Thanks so much, very enjoyable. I expect you have a lot weird creature stories, how do you ever choose between them all?

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

"Hey You down there " is a great Thanksgiving story ^^

[@Falsh125]

What a classic voice you have good Sir!

[@joz6683]

Send more Turkey, very humours, well telegraphed story that still satisfied 😌 👍 Thanks for something more lighthearted than the usually fare....

[@trumanwalls3668]

"City dinners! Orgies!" Lmfao.. I gotta find more stories by this de la Mare guy...

[@feralbluee]

My end to that horrible Toad Witch story - DON'T READ til you hear the story, and then only if you want another ending. . . He touched a toad "large and heavy as a fat woman." with all the blessed strength strenghth he could possibly muster, he felt for its neck. he scratched and squeezed. he was a tallbaoy and had long fingers. he slid his hands around the thick bumpy neck in the slime and locked his thumbs together! He clenched, he squeezed, he swore, holding his breath for what seemed hours.. His thumbs pressed into the front of the neck. The thing croaked and hacked. it tried to reach him with its short toadish arms. the toads around him were slipping off him. His strength running down he gave one last desperate death embrace and squeezed. its eyes bugged out hideously. Then, almost easily, the neck gave way and the loathsome thing slipped through the slime andmoved no more. the toads vanished in pops of brown slime. He himself almost gave way, his knees starting to buckle, but he shook his head and spit out the slimy water. he blinked his eyes. his legs were still stuck in the mud and he was so very tired. in desperation he reached out his arms in every direction around. totally in incredulity he grasped a tree branch, which he In the struggle they had moved towards. Grasping it he pulled slowly and finally fell exhausted on the bank of the pond. As he lay there, the dense greenish fog drifted up and away and the sun shown down on the trees and grasses turning them fromgrey to dewy greens, flowers bloomed with incredible colors. the pond scum and slime broke up into tin pieces and drifted off to nourish the earth and the water was clear and cool, with lfry swimming around, may flies, water walking buggies appearing. frogs croaked fish jumped through the water. even the little brown real toads were bounding through the grass and weeds. squirrels and rabbits appeared and settled around the young man to keep him warm. after a while his eyes opened, he stretched and looked around him. Where - where was he? he rubbed his eyes. he couldnot believe what he saw. he saw a fox drinking from the pond, he saw swans flying ing in and ducks swimming with their ducklings, birds were singing in the trees. the fox looked at him and trotted away. he went to pond's edge and saw all the fry swimming and water plants with bubbles on their fronds. He drank, he drank the amazing water fro quite a while; then he sat and put his head in his hands and tears ran down his cheeks. He slept again and when he woke up this time, it was dawn. He drank from the crystal pond again, looked at the beauty around him and began to walk hopefully home. and there was a path with berries and fruit along the way as he realized he was very hungry. Free and easy he walked homeward and "He whistled and sang till the green woods rang, for he had the love of a lady. . ."

[@20cencool]

People wrote better back then. They really know how to turn a phrase with eloquence. IMHO modern writers in this field seem Krause in comparison . These guys probably struggled all their lives to make a living too. It’s so cool they haven’t been lost in time and are entertaining readers today.

[@troymclure8330]

Totally agree, elocution is a lost art!!

[@skidmark2704]

Only 10 more years until August derleths and hp lovecraft's lurker at the threshold to be in public domain. I assume you guys are already on top of that.

[@HorrorBabble]

That, or we'll obtain the necessary permissions from Arkham House in the interim (which is far from straightforward!)

[@skidmark2704]

@@HorrorBabble that would be pretty hype, but I can wait too.

[@beverlyamarantes9775]

I loved every story!

[@J_Honor_]

Your voice is so sultry especially with the music in the beginning. 💘 horror babble

[@robertcessford3745]

Back for my nightly dose 😱😱😱

[@lisawhite-pagano3455]

I used to listen to a meditation channel when I slept but I started trying these stories the other night. Omg, talk about waking up in the middle of some of weirdest nightmares I’ve ever had! The dialogue was working it’s way into my subconscious and it was scary as hell.

[@dmx5439]

Its 1:59am ...i need yr help to sleep 💤 again lol...thanks for being here 😊

[@paysonterhune290]

This is awesome

[@madmoran1029]

This is great! I wonder if you guys ever deal with Arkham House for the stories not in the public domain ? Then again are they even a thing still?

[@HorrorBabble]

It's something we're working on!

[@onestrangepitabread5478]

Aw Dora was so sweet😭 got them a lil ham sandwich

[@feralbluee]

i love the story of Conradine. another piece of toast my darling boy ? 😼😇

[@willibeaa]

"Oh whoever will break it to the poor child" said the sour -faced maid upon discovering her mistresses mutilated corpse, courtesy of Shredni Vastar, the beloved polecat-ferret god of Commardine. For a child with a terminal illness to "make a piece of toast" after indirectly witnessing his sole caregivers demise is absolutely diabolical lol 😂 PERFECT ending too! Just imagined some small boy popping a slice of bread in the toaster, as celebration of his beloved God answering his chanted prayers and in spite of that mean woman. Karma can be so lethally beautiful!🥹 🙏🏼

[@beverlyamarantes9775]

I come back for more.

[@CPower-kc8gu]

Just finished listening to "ABO" and couldn't help but chuckle at the description of the narrator and the beggar cowering in the house, the beggar never letting go of the bone he was gnawing before. 🤣

[@1982lucyc]

Hi there, I do love your selection of stories. Its wonderful to hear these forgotten tales, and some of my favourites. One question, relating to the Creeper in the crypt; why was only one leg left behind? I have relistened and cant work it out.

[@jayb4988]

The spoiler left ostentatiously in the comments aside...how many of these stories do you honestly believe are going to have a satisfying explication leading to closure?

[@1982lucyc]

@@jayb4988 am I supposed to be explaining myself to you? If you have no theories, what was the point of that comment?

[@DiaphaneDreams]

"Come at once! Antiquities!" is going to be my new catchphrase.

[@cmcapps1963]

Sometimes when I watch these episodes I feel that Winston is still alive somehow. Maybe I'm just being foolish...

[@Tonto117]

Can someone explain "Caterpillars" ending to me? Who... Got cancer? Was it the caterpillars that killed him? The story ended at "but"... At first I thought my TV was the problem.

[@johncarter5924]

Yes it was

[@mothmania1680]

It’s 2am, I have insomnia, and I work 8 1/2 hours tomorrow, this calls for a bedtime story 💀

[@frankcarreras6903]

I’m late,,, listening from the south bronx ny,,,thers lost souls all over,,thanks for the entertainment,,,I got some real joints for you to hear,,my god is bigger then your god down hear

[@bigmikc]

All hail Sredni Vashtar

[@rockspoon6528]

19:48 cuts off early

[@HorrorBabble]

Not so, Rockspoon! That's how the story ends. We've updated the video description.

[@rockspoon6528]

@@HorrorBabble oh, understandable. Sorry for not reading, good job on the video!

[@HorrorBabble]

No apology required! We should have mentioned it in the description before. In audio, abrupt endings are always odd.

[@austinm3377]

😂😂😂 TURKEY!!

[@benwil6048]

Wb video, what happened?

[@HorrorBabble]

Audio glitch, Ben. Just added a pinned comment.

[@benwil6048]

HorrorBabble thx Edit: my bad btw would have prob seen it if I wasnt studying 24/7 for exams :’)

[@kristinacable]

❤

[@brigetteebejer5407]

What happened to the end of Caterpillars.

[@HorrorBabble]

Hi Brigette - that's just how the story ends: "But..."

[@noneyabeeswax3200]

❤❤

[@jimowens7953]

Boy, you can talk some stuff smoothly!

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks for listening, Jim!

[@Dracologist]

Is it me or the Catterpillars story end was snipped?

[@HorrorBabble]

Nope, that's just how the story ends!

[@Dracologist]

@@HorrorBabble apologies it just felt weird

[@dexterisabo3137]

Yeah I think I would have just drank Mother Toad's Viagra ecstasy wine and treated the whole weekend like a trip to Vegas. It just didn't happen. I mean, wisdom is knowing when to fight, and when not to fight, and if you want the horror babble that is your existence to continue, better to just f with the old crone than to f with the old crone.

[@micahfoley9572]

I think...i have a crush on Dora.

[@greensky5328]

They just wanted some turkey...

[@riskit_4_thebiscuit]

Why does Caterpillars end that way? I know it's supposed to, but....why?

[@john_blues]

I have the same question. To say the writer had an abrupt ending is an understatement. It's like a movie ending smack in the middle of the 3rd act. So weird.

[@Thestephouse1]

❤😴

[@AmyChappell]

What happened at the end of the Caterpillars?

[@HorrorBabble]

That's just how the story ends, Amy! Weird, eh?!

[@AmyChappell]

@@HorrorBabble very!!!

[@Beauweir]

Aha! I read the first story as a young lad of about 8 (I was a strange little boy) I heard about the caterpillars and I thought if they have claws, I've read this story before. Then pincers were mentioned and I thought, that's the kitty!

[@erroneous6947]

Weird creatures? Don’t talk about me like that. I’m sensitive.

[@bobbymarcum772]

M

[@BryinWillis-e8g]

22min

[@sandy_says]

2:18:14 the first date rape drug🤦🏽‍♀️😬

[@gothicdragonwarriorqueen5819]

Scary-as-shit cool!!!🙂🖤💀☠👻⚰🦇🕷🕸

[@vivanecrosis]

I’d love to give the weird creatures a cuddle! NOT.... back to my drawing. I wonder if these stories might seep into my art.

[@drummyt7166]

In response to "Mother of Toads"... We've all had a little too much to drink and woke up with unwanted company. Be polite on your way out... or else.

[@karencawthorn3173]

Seems like the channels compete to tell the most gut wrenching, blood soaked stories. We've had plenty of that for the last four years with this Lame Duck. Let's clean up our mouths & Hearts & bring in some relief from our past. Respect & trust would be good for starts.

[@0menv0x]

boring

[@troymclure8330]

If u don't like it then go away.