Welcome to Pleasant Green
January 4, 2024 5:11 PM Subscribe
This year saw the unexpected fourth season of The Lovecraft Investigations, The Haunter of the Dark. This “popular with MetaFilter readers” audio drama reworks a series of Lovecraft stories into a modern, mostly UK-based story, adding in a healthy dollop of spycraft and esoteric security activity. However, listeners may be unaware that…
… the series dovetails with long running mythology of the show’s creator, Julian Simpson. Simpson's work revolves around the mysterious town of Pleasant Green and deals with questions of memory, identity, sound, and human potential. Many of the earlier episodes were very difficult to hunt down for years, but all seem to be available for the moment, mostly on YouTube.
While the Wikipedia entry linked with Simpson gives details on the various shows, this FPP will focus on identifying which link closely to The Lovecraft Investigations (identified in the “Connection:” line), and, of course, where to find the episodes, listed in date order.
Fragments 2007
The first Pleasant Green Story, about a teenage girl and an old man both dissatisfied with the gentrified town in which they are trapped and isolated.
Episodes: 1
Length: 56 minutes
Connection: none
Link
The Listener 2010
A science fiction story about a police officer whose memory was damaged in an explosion but restored via an experimental medical procedure.
Episodes: 1
Length: 57 minutes
Connection: none
Link
Bad Memories 2011
The Blake Family disappeared in 2004. Bodies are discovered, but they apparently died in the mid-1920s. A police officer brings a voice recorder to an expert in digital forensics, who tries to uncover the secrets inside.
Episodes: 1
Length: 56 minutes
Connection: themes that reappear in The Whisperer in Darkness
Link
Fugue State 2015
A non-responsive agent of the Department of Works is retrieved after a visit of the town of Pleasant Green. A scientist attempts to contact his consciousness using sound records, with possible apocalyptic results.
Episodes: 1
Length: 46 minutes
Connection: Department of Works; themes that reappear in The Whisperer in Darkness
Link
Mythos 2017-18
Agents of the Department of Works deal with paranormal events in this horror comedy series.
Episodes: 3 (“Mythos,” “Glamis,” and “Albion”)
Length: 15-25 minutes
Connection: Department of Works; prototypes of characters who appear in The Lovecraft Investigations
Link Mythos Glamis Albion
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward 2019
1st season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 10
Length: 15-35 minutes
See the main link
The Whisperer in Darkness 2019
2nd season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 9 + Bonus
Length: 20-40 minutes
See the main link
Shadow Over Innsmouth 2020
3rd season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 8 + bonus
Length: 25-35 minutes
See the main link
Who Is Aldrich Kemp? 2022
Clara Page, agent of the Department of Works, tries to hunt down the elusive criminal mastermind, Aldrich Kemp and her own murky past. More comedy/thriller than horror.
Episodes: 5
Length: 25-30 minutes
Connection: Department of Works
Link Also available via podcatcher as part of Limelight
Who Killed Aldrich Kemp? 2023
Clara Page returns in another action/comedy outing as she tries to discover who killed criminal mastermind Aldrich Kemp.
Episodes: 5
Length: 25-30 minutes
Connection: The Department of Works
Link Also available via podcatcher as part of Limelight
The Haunter of the Dark 2023
4th season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 10
Length: 15-25 minutes
See the main link
… the series dovetails with long running mythology of the show’s creator, Julian Simpson. Simpson's work revolves around the mysterious town of Pleasant Green and deals with questions of memory, identity, sound, and human potential. Many of the earlier episodes were very difficult to hunt down for years, but all seem to be available for the moment, mostly on YouTube.
While the Wikipedia entry linked with Simpson gives details on the various shows, this FPP will focus on identifying which link closely to The Lovecraft Investigations (identified in the “Connection:” line), and, of course, where to find the episodes, listed in date order.
Fragments 2007
The first Pleasant Green Story, about a teenage girl and an old man both dissatisfied with the gentrified town in which they are trapped and isolated.
Episodes: 1
Length: 56 minutes
Connection: none
Link
The Listener 2010
A science fiction story about a police officer whose memory was damaged in an explosion but restored via an experimental medical procedure.
Episodes: 1
Length: 57 minutes
Connection: none
Link
Bad Memories 2011
The Blake Family disappeared in 2004. Bodies are discovered, but they apparently died in the mid-1920s. A police officer brings a voice recorder to an expert in digital forensics, who tries to uncover the secrets inside.
Episodes: 1
Length: 56 minutes
Connection: themes that reappear in The Whisperer in Darkness
Link
Fugue State 2015
A non-responsive agent of the Department of Works is retrieved after a visit of the town of Pleasant Green. A scientist attempts to contact his consciousness using sound records, with possible apocalyptic results.
Episodes: 1
Length: 46 minutes
Connection: Department of Works; themes that reappear in The Whisperer in Darkness
Link
Mythos 2017-18
Agents of the Department of Works deal with paranormal events in this horror comedy series.
Episodes: 3 (“Mythos,” “Glamis,” and “Albion”)
Length: 15-25 minutes
Connection: Department of Works; prototypes of characters who appear in The Lovecraft Investigations
Link Mythos Glamis Albion
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward 2019
1st season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 10
Length: 15-35 minutes
See the main link
The Whisperer in Darkness 2019
2nd season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 9 + Bonus
Length: 20-40 minutes
See the main link
Shadow Over Innsmouth 2020
3rd season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 8 + bonus
Length: 25-35 minutes
See the main link
Who Is Aldrich Kemp? 2022
Clara Page, agent of the Department of Works, tries to hunt down the elusive criminal mastermind, Aldrich Kemp and her own murky past. More comedy/thriller than horror.
Episodes: 5
Length: 25-30 minutes
Connection: Department of Works
Link Also available via podcatcher as part of Limelight
Who Killed Aldrich Kemp? 2023
Clara Page returns in another action/comedy outing as she tries to discover who killed criminal mastermind Aldrich Kemp.
Episodes: 5
Length: 25-30 minutes
Connection: The Department of Works
Link Also available via podcatcher as part of Limelight
The Haunter of the Dark 2023
4th season of The Lovecraft Investigations
Episodes: 10
Length: 15-25 minutes
See the main link
I liked The Lovecraft Investigations at first, but I thought linking the Mythos to real world religions was tasteless (if in keeping with what Lovecraft would have done). I do remember Pleasant Green coming up in one of the previous seasons as a town that didn't exist, but a few people remember sending out investigators to.
posted by Canageek at 6:16 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by Canageek at 6:16 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Oh, nice, thanks for the post! Because the Spotify app is rubbish at surfacing things, I totally missed that there was a new series out. Let's see how much I remember from a few years back...
posted by slimepuppy at 1:15 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by slimepuppy at 1:15 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
blurb theme description sounds a bit like Tim Powers' Declare, can anyone comment?
posted by hearthpig at 4:08 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by hearthpig at 4:08 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
It is not much like Declare, which was built on actual history and spycraft. The Lovecraft Investigations is a pretty basic "people start researching an odd mystery and find more than they bargained for" podcast and the Department of Works stuff is "government paranormal agency" in a cynical register. I enjoyed them, but the are a very different sort of thing that Declare.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]
Aaaand... I just found there was a previously for Bad Memories from 2014!
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:02 AM on January 5
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:02 AM on January 5
If you are interested in the writing of this kind of thing, Julian's Development Hell newsletter is well worth a read.
posted by reynir at 2:20 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by reynir at 2:20 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
Yay, another season of The Lovecraft Investigations!
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 6:55 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 6:55 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
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posted by GenjiandProust at 5:15 PM on January 4