Fiction Podcasts Are Finally a Thing! Thank You, Sci-Fi and Horror Although radio dramas once populated the airwaves, fiction has never dominated the podcast charts. Podcasts are a continuation of an older audio tradition that hearkens back to Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds. “Sci-fi audio drama has a 70-year history,” says Sollinger. “We’re interested in sound as a medium itself, in the stories that are at their best in a pure audio form.” So along with his co-producer Marc Sollinger, who plays Dan’s concerned friend in the podcast, Powell launched Archive 81; the 10-episode tale reached #25 on the iTunes chart and is still highlighted in the “New & Noteworthy” arts section, four months after its April debut. The element of suspense is particularly well-suited to audio formats. “Horror is less about the monster you see, and more about the monster you think might be there,” Cranor says. “Audio forces you to build the world.” There’s no longer any uncertainty of whether fiction podcasts can work: in the past year, producers have built the outlines of that supernatural world, populated by frustrated time-travelers, demonic invaders, and conniving robots. Fiction podcasts are here to stay — but the suspense is just beginning.... If you are not on iTunes, then you can go to http://ift.tt/2bxb4Ca and either play it in your web browser, or listen to it via the Player FM podcast player. See http://ift.tt/2bhHDVU
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