hellofromthehallowoods

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Fishbone and Clara~

#hfth fanart #fishbonnneee #he is perfect

[hellofromthehallowoods]

i just thought you’d love to hear that you were amazing in the new *explosive* episode of the silt verses, i’m just finishing up my first listen and wooooow!!!!!!

Oh I'm so glad! I was so excited getting to return for the Silt Verses' triumphant last season (and my lord, the sound design for this episode is incredible). They've got some unspeakable things cooked up for poor Chuck Harm.

#hfth asks #the silt verses #tsv #chuck harm

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Propaganda:

Riot: butch sword lesbian!

#hfth polls #oh one of the og’s

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Fandom Manifesto: Hello From The Hallowoods

(Originally written for the Fandomanifesto community on Pillowfort.)

Here's a (mostly spoiler-free) fandom manifesto for my favorite podcast, Hello From The Hallowoods. (Please try to keep the comments on this post spoiler-free as well.)

What is a fandom manifesto?

Inspired by ship manifestos, a fandom manifesto is an essay meant to introduce people to a fandom and promote it by explaining its appeal. It's a really fun tradition that I would love to keep going.

What is Hello From The Hallowoods?

Darker than your dreams, and farther North than you remember, there is a forest where life and death meet…

Hello From The Hallowoods is a queer horror podcast written and produced by William A. Wellman (they/them). This is the official description (taken from Spotify):

Come walk between the black pines! In this award-winning queer fiction podcast, a cosmic narrator follows the increasingly connected residents of the forest at the end of the world. It's a bittersweet story that explores queer identity, horror genre tropes, and finding hope in humanity's last moments.

It's set in a forest in northern Canada (the Hallowoods) in a post-apocalyptic world plagued by the black rains. The story follows the inhabitants of the Hallowoods—only some of whom are alive and human—as their lives become increasingly interconnected. 

The podcast is narrated by Nikignik (he/they), also known as One Hundred Eyes in the Dark, an eldritch god who speaks directly to the listener via their nightmares. He begins to tell these stories because he's grieving his partner, another god called Marolmar (he/him), and humans were the last thing Marolmar created. Over time, Nikignik changes from a more passive narrator to an active character in the story.

There are a lot of characters, including but not limited to:

a nonbinary Frankenstein's creature piercing together their identity

a trans ghost dealing with his occultist father

an invisible man finding love at first sight

a genderfluid storm witch trying to prove themself

a retired rockstar and her punk butch lesbian daughter

a floral-suit-wearing demon on a celestial audit of earth

a starwolf on a mission to kill said demon

a killer robot skull and his pet dead seagull

an unkindness of ravens (yes, they are one character)

… and many, many more.

How scary is it?

It's a horror podcast, so there are some scary moments, but for me, the story feels very comforting and bittersweet as it explores horror tropes in a really unique way. According to the website:

It's been described as a show that helps you sleep easier, rather than one that keeps you up at night.

The story also explores themes like religious trauma, isolation, death, grief, and queerphobia, so please check the content warnings at the end of each episode description or at the start of each episode transcript. Transcripts are available on the website.

Why should I listen to it?

If the description above didn't convince you, here are some more reasons why you should listen to Hello From The Hallowoods. 

There is so much content! I often complain about books being almost always standalones or duologies lately and TV seasons only being 8-10 episodes. If I really like something, I want to spend as much time with it as possible!

With HFTH, I don't have that problem because there is so much to listen to! There are currently (almost) 150 episodes available (plus a few live shows and bonus episodes), and new episodes come out every Wednesday. There are also weekly 100-word bonus stories on Patreon, and a tie-in novel called One Hundred Eyes In The Dark is currently in the works, so if you're looking for a story you can get really invested in (or if you're angry that all your favorite shows have been canceled), HFTH is perfect for you!

There are so many queer characters, disabled characters, and characters of color! If you're looking for a really diverse show, you will love HFTH. (I cried when I heard a character describe herself as aromantic.) But even aside from the diversity, the characters are just amazing. I mean, "What if Frankenstein's creature got love and support and was an absolute cinnamon roll?" is the perfect character concept. The villains are also really compelling and well-written. 

It's a great introduction to podcasts, especially for book lovers, because it often feels like a very immersive audiobook! The voice acting and music are incredible, and even though there are a lot of characters, you can tell them apart very easily by their voices. If you like fantasy and horror books, this could be your introduction to the world of audio dramas. 

That being said, if you have listened to other horror podcasts before, you will still love this one! It sometimes reminds me of Welcome To Night Vale, but the setting and characters are very unique, and the writing is so, so beautiful. 

It's also a great introduction to horror! I used to avoid horror media because I get scared very easily, but horror podcasts (and especially Hello From The Hallowoods) made me discover how much I actually enjoy horror. HFTH explores horror tropes in such a kind, unique, and hopeful way, and as sappy as that sounds, listening to it makes the horrors of everyday life a little easier to deal with. 

If you like Malevolent (another really great horror podcast), Harlan Guthrie has a guest role in HFTH! You might also recognize Mx. Wellman's voice from other podcasts like WOE.BEGONE, The Silt Verses or Old Gods of Appalachia. 

The fandom is amazing! Everyone is so kind and talented, and we always have a lot of fun theorizing about what will happen next. There's even a fan-run Discord server!

We also have a fan wiki, and in addition to the official information, we also have a "fun gender" for each character. Here are some of my favorites:

Tumblr Sexyman (Official)

Eye-Affiliated Podcast Host

Deer that will fuck you up

Whatever the hell was going on with the guy from Shape Of Water

Nightmare Personality

Hot Topic Goth

Dilf Automobile

How do I listen to it?

You can listen to Hello From The Hallowoods on the podcatcher of your choice. Here are some suggestions from the Hallowoods website:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Podbean

YouTube

Google Podcasts

It's not an anthology, so please listen to it from the beginning to see how the different characters and plot threads come together. 

The show is entirely ad-free and sponsor-free, so if you like it and want to financially support it, please consider joining the show’s Patreon.

And that's it! There are many things I didn't include for spoiler reasons, but this should give you a basic idea of what HFTH is about and why I love it so much. 

I hope I convinced you to listen to Hello From The Hallowoods, and maybe you will love it as much as I do!

#whoah this is awesome #hfth #hello from the hallowoods #hfth fandom

[hellofromthehallowoods]

The color scheme of this podcast is an absolute joy.

White and black and red all over?

#hfth asks

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Can't wait to get sketching!

I JUST ORDERED MY HALLOWOODS SKETCHES IM SO HYPED!!!!

#hfth #hfth commissions #hfth sketches #hfth patreon

[hellofromthehallowoods]

I LOVE HELLO FROM THE HALLOWOODS!!!!!!!!!

#hfth #hello from the hallowoods #incredible!!!

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Final editing touches done for E150.

Can’t believe it’s been 150 episodes of this little queer horror show. Hope you’ve enjoyed Season 4 so far, and you’re in for a treat 🖤✨

#hfth #hello from the hallowoods #it’s been so long since threats were made

[hellofromthehallowoods]

There's a non-zero amount of ✨denial✨in response to certain podcast-based events this week, as I bring you my thoughts about the fiction podcasts I've been listening to in this week's audio fiction Sunday blog post!

#love to see these week to week

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Eyes

pro-tip: you can eat a podcast

#hfth #hello from the hallowoods #hfth fandom

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Our weekly Q&A kicks off at 2PM Eastern this afternoon! Come say hello, or if you're a patron, you can drop questions in the fancy patron askbox in advance. See you there!

#hfth livestreams #hfth patreon #hfth #hello from the hallowoods

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Has anyone tried an audio drama "book club" (pod-club? [better name]?) yet?

I know some people are hesitant to try a new show if they won't have someone to talk to about it, so it seems like the obvious way to solve that, plus help people find new shows and vice versa? I don't actually know how book clubs work.

#podcast book club

[hellofromthehallowoods]

"Dreams are never fair, including the one you're listening to now, Dreamer"

Mx Wellman turn on your location, I just need to talk...

Oh that it was.

#hfth asks

[hellofromthehallowoods]

for an improv jazz compoition i wrote a monologe inspired by the openings of hfth. we compete on Sunday and so far our main feed back has been that the spoken words is both eirrie and strangely calming.

Our feedback has been much the same. Best of luck in the jazz fight!

#hfth asks

[hellofromthehallowoods]

Your loyal host will always be down to participate in anything Silt Verses related in a heartbeat!

A series of novels taking place in the same universe definitely worked for the welcome to night vale folks. I bet you have a lot of fan overlap too so you know it would appeal. If you did audiobooks do you think you would you have the cast narrate? Also for me the appeal to a collection of transcripts would be the kind of behind the scenes directors commentary aspect you get with the descriptions in the script of what a character is thinking or the tone that might be implied or sometimes just a clarification on what actually happened that you don’t always get from the audio. That’s why I read them. But having them in a book I could put on my shelf would be nice too.

We do already have those director's commentaries (from S2 onwards) on our Patreon if you're interested! But agree that they could be combined with the scripts themselves for ease.

Audiobooks read by the cast would be wonderful, I'm sure it'd just be a question of whether any prose adaptation sold well enough (if I managed to get it written and published in the first place! Lotta maybes) and how busy our cast are however many years down the line. Our actors are rightly seeing a ton of success in all their endeavours, exactly as they deserve, so I wouldn't want to assume.

#the silt verses #other podcasts

[hellofromthehallowoods]

“Mx Wellman says as though s3 or s4 are good places” truer words never spoken

just finished ep 83 😐

Mx. Wellman you are an incredible writer but OUCH

Oh you’re in the bad place

#hfth

[hellofromthehallowoods]

just finished ep 83 😐

Mx. Wellman you are an incredible writer but OUCH

Oh you’re in the bad place

#hfth asks #hfth season 2