Between a fickle wireless connection, broken USB ports on this secondhand computer and an iPod that may have been dropped a few times too many, checking out podcasts is no longer something I do very much.  Still, memories of the best series I’ve found linger.  One of these is “Something Wicked This Way Strums“.

Harpist-turned-writer Michele Roger has a way of turning words into strings that resonate … and cut.   Detached narrator she isn’t; she admirably plunges into horror plots usually told from a safer distance.  In “Addicted to Love“, she is tormented and devastated by a medical conspiracy while haunted by her slain love.  In her podcast, the accompanying music turns it all into an overwhelming phantasmagoria of despair and longing.

What I like best is that her stories don’t rely on her music to be complete.  In addition to her podcasts on iTunes, she also has her Parsec-nominated book, Dark Matter, detailing the afterlife of a music teacher as the End of Days nears.  One book I’m hoping to check out soon will be The Conservatory, about a haunted music school and the twisted experiments inside.   Short stories Michele offers include:

• “Santa CLAWS“, a tale of a werewolf Santa;
• “Hyde”, set in plague-ridden post-apocalyptic Detroit;
• “Rock. Scissors. Paper.” A ghost responsible for maiming her brother in a car accident seeks out a vampire and struggles with a decision to make him one of the undead;
• and “Gluttony”, where a demented and powerful vampire priest seeks to bestow corrupt eternal life on more and more victims.  The only hope: a school’s star athlete.

Michele Roger’s main website is http://micheleroger.com.   There you can find her musical events, music CDs, and much more.