It's Halfway to Halloween--and 8TW is ready to celebrate!

Last October, 8TW presented a month-long festival of frights called Echoes of Horror.  The festival turned out to include some of our best work, with excellent audioplays by Anna Crawford, David Ellis and Arthur Ratnick.

It shouldn't be surprising that we're planning on doing a second festival this coming October, Echoes of Horror 2023: Bug Juice Bugaloo.  This year, we're even planning on having open submissions (keep an eye out for our announcement for guidelines and more information), allowing anyone with a chilling tale to tell to be given the 8TW spotlight.  But even with all that, we still wanted to mark this moment of anticipation where we're Halfway To Halloween!

So on April 28th, we'll be doing something the collective have been talking about since November by releasing Echoes of Horror: The Portmanteau, an omnibus collection containing all seven audioplays in last year's festival with interstitials featuring the Horror Host from Public Domain Comics Theater.  The goal was to capture the feel of those great horror anthology films from Amicus Pictures, and we hope you'll enjoy revisiting these amazing tales from a different perspective.

Then in May 7th, it's time to get nostalgic yet again, as Anna Crawford writes another episode of the long-forgotten 60's sitcom 'Hoppily Ever After' in Love and The Loveland Frog Conquers Most!  Dotty and Guy Frogman, everyone's favorite mismatched couple--she's a potential criminal mastermind and he's the legendary Ohio cryptid--plays cupid by helping their friend Mayor Lynn get a date with the new professor at the local college who's sexy, European and made of non-contiguous flesh.  But can Dotty resist trying to make the date go perfect?  'I Married The Loveland Frog' was one of the most popular plays in last year's Echoes of Horror, and this follow-up promises more hilarity from giggles to belly laughs!  Sarah Palmero and Jim Moon reprise their roles as Dotty and Guy, with Chris Tyler joining the cast as Professor Frankie!

Our Halfway to Halloween specials ushers in our Summer schedule, which will include more of the fifth season of Stranger In Paradise, new episodes of Public Domain Comic Theater, and a new F.O.X.E.S. spy-fi adventure.  We hope you will join us for all we've got to offer.

You can download or stream the audio dramas here. They will also be available on Apple Podcast, Podbay and other places where quality podcasts can be accessed.  Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

Katchoo In Her Own Words: Vanessa Van Zerr On Voicing The Comic Icon in STRANGERS IN PARADISE

This month, we are once again continuing 8TW Audio Works' authorized fan adaptation of Terry Moore's amazing comic book Strangers In Paradise by adapting the fifth volume, Immortal Enemies.  This is an integral volume as it once again brings hero Katina 'Katchoo' Choovanski face to face with her past--and especially the woman who still wants to use her as a weapon, Darcy Parker.

One of the reasons I am so proud of this adaptation is because of the voice actors who have stepped in to bring Terry's characters to such vivid life.  Over this month, I hope to turn over the spotlight to some of them to talk about their characters and what this iconic series means to them.

We begin with Vanessa Van Zerr, who presently plays Katchoo.  I'll share more as they become available.

"Terry Moore’s original work, Strangers in Paradise, is a timeless classic. His character, Katchoo, holds up over the years because she’s a damaged person with a good soul, just doing the best she can with what she’s got, which is all any of us can do.  She is a complicated yet relatable character, emotionally guarded yet fiercely tender with the ones she loves. She is completely unafraid to inhabit herself authentically and make a statement about who she is. This makes her highly intriguing to all of us who are lucky enough to get to know her.

Tom Deja’s audio adaptation of Strangers in Paradise from a primarily visual media (comic books) to audio plays brings a fresh originality for listeners; both long-time fans of the series, and those discovering it for the first time. 

Voicing the role of Katchoo is consistently an exciting challenge, where I get to express volatile and explosive emotions, which is cathartic, as I’m certainly better-behaved in my own life (for better or worse). Playing off the super-talented Nicole Thomte as Francine pushes me to expand as a voice actor and as a person. Nicole inhabits Francines’s earnestness on the mic with great authenticity. Together, I am excited to bring life to Katchoo and Francine’s caring and nuanced relationship as they struggle to figure out what it means to deal with friendship, trauma, queerness, and love in the 90s."

Strangers In Paradise: Immortal Enemies begins March 18th with the first episode dropping here.  If you'd like to play catch up, we'll be presenting the Omnibus Edition of the previous volume, Love Me Tender, on March 11th.  If you wish to subscribe to this and other 8TW Audio Works Productions, subscribe to our RSS Feed.

8TW Now Has Its Own Discord Hangout!

https://discord.gg/bWbQP2fEas

All of our fans and listeners are invited to join and interact with us and learn about new and upcoming projects!  Just remember--LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE, BUT DON'T BE A DICK....

See you there!

ECHOES OF HORROR, a month-long 8TW Halloween celebration, to feature all-original audio plays to make listeners shiver!

In October 2020, 8TW (then called the Ocadecagonagon Theater Works) released its first production, an episode of Public Domain Comics Theater adapting the horror comic 'Flee The Phantoms.'

Not surprisingly, even though 8TW was originally conceived to adapt the Terry Moore epic Strangers In Paradise, we have had a strong affinity for the horror genre.  So it stands to reason that this October, to mark our second anniversary, we wanted to present you with something special.

Echoes of Horror is a festival of all original short horror audio dramas written by members of our troupe that span a number of different styles and tastes and featuring a couple of surprise performances by well known personages to members of the Horror Podosphere!  Join us throughout October for some great chillers to creep you out!

Oct 1st: "We Need To Talk About Your Son" by Anna Crawford
This two-hander features some sharp writing and excellent performances by Nicole Thomte and Thomas Deja

Oct 7th: "The Bridge" by David Ellis
...and speaking of excellent performances, Brad Oxnam (Freddie Femur in our adaptation of Strangers In Paradise) knocks it out of the park playing multiple roles in this tale of writer's block and storybook tales that get very dark!

Oct 14th: "I Was A Middle Aged Werewolf" by Arthur Ratnick
Come with us to a simpler time, where a retired postal worker accidentally gets in touch with his furry side, guest starring Dread Media's Des Reddick in the starring role and an excellent turn by Sarah Palmero!

Oct 18th: "Our Bodies Ourselves" by Thomas Deja
KBSY, Big Sky, Montana, has a message for its viewers...just stay calm and don't make any irrational decisions...with a cameo by YouTube's Twisted Girl Next Door Chauncey K. Robinson! 

Oct 21st: "The Creature Is Coming" by David Ellis
Just keep repeating 'It's only a movie...it's only a movie...'  But is the movie trailer you're watching about a real movie?  Featuring the monster stylings of Earth Destructive Directive's Luke Jaconetti!

Oct 28th: "This Little Piggy" by Thomas Deja
A throwback to classic EC comics is a tale of vengeance, scotch and sausages featuring standout performances by Pamela-Jean Agaloos and David Ellis!

....and it all comes to a head on Halloween with the feature length production "I Married The Loveland Frog!" by Anna Crawford, starring Hypnogoria's Jim Moon.  It's another throwback to another classic piece of Americana that will leave you nostalgic--and nauseous!!!

All of the plays will feature sound design by 8TW's exceptional Sultan of Sound Chris Honeywell.

You can download or stream the audio dramas here. They will also be available on Apple Podcast, Podbay and other places where quality podcasts can be accessed.  Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

8TW OPEN CALL!

8TW (a.k.a. The Ocadecagonagon Theater Works) are an LGBT+ friendly group devoted to creating audio dramas that are geeky, sometimes funny, sometimes campy and overall fun.  These are presently unpaid positions (although we hope to change that in the future), but we provide a fun, upbeat community that will allow you to grow in skill and versatility with little judgment.  Suitable recording equipment is required, and all voice tracks are saved in a 2400 bit wav. format.  We record 'live' in our own Discord channel usually on Sunday afternoons from 1-4pm EST.

We are having an open call for several of our projects for the next year on May 15th at 1:00pm EST.  Among the projects we are presently casting for are:

Strangers In Paradise: Our authorized fan adaptation of Terry Moore's genre-bending slice of life/soap opera/comedy/noir is about to enter into production of our 4th Season, Love Me Tender.  We expect to begin recording shortly.

F.O.X.E.S: Our martial arts/spy spoof throwback series will be wrapping up its second serial, Lightning Bolt Resurrection, and gearing up for its third story, Ninja School Reunion.  In addition to guest cast for Ninja School Reunion, we'll be looking for new actors to take on the main roles of Sally and Yuki!

Barbarian Queen 2: The Empress Strikes Back is our take on sword-and-sorcery films of the 80's, particular those produced in Italy.  Most roles are open (save for the invisible werewolf, sorry), and sides will be available for some characters in advance of the audition.

VHS Box Theater: a few of our productions are in different places on the timeline, including Women's Prison Massacre and Elves.

Eileen Thorne: Freelance Lab Assistant: We expect to begin the second storyline of this comedic time-hopping caper in the Fall, and several new roles will be required.  If you're able to sound like a dolphin or a baby seal, this project is for you!

We're also looking for a couple of new members of our 'repertory' to handle minor roles.  Members of our rep always step up to featured role; this position would be perfect for someone just starting out in voice acting and looking to build up their reel.  Voice actors of color and LGBTQ+ actors are especially encouraged to audition!

If you would like to attend the open call, please email us at 8twinfo@gmail.com with your voice reel (or a link).  If we feel you'd be a good fit, we'll send you a link to our discord before Sunday.   If you would like sides for any of the above projects, let us know in your email. Thank you for considering working with us!  See you on Sunday!

8TW OPEN CALL!

After a rocky second year, 8TW is looking for new actors to bring our characters to life!  We are an LGBT+ friendly group devoted to creating authorized fan adaptations of indie comics such as Strangers In Paradise as well as original dramas that are geeky, sometimes funny, sometimes campy and overall fun.  These are presently unpaid positions, but we provide a fun, upbeat community that will allow you to grow in skill and versatility with little judgment.  Suitable recording equipment is required, and all voice tracks are saved in a 2400 bit wav. format.  We record 'live' in our own Discord channel usually on Sunday afternoons from 1-4pm EST.

We are having an open call for several of our projects for the next year on April 3rd at 1:00pm EST.  Among the projects we are presently casting for are:

Strangers In Paradise: Our authorized fan adaptation of Terry Moore's genre-bending slice of life/soap opera/comedy/noir is about to enter into production of our 4th Season, Love Me Tender.  In addition to some new characters, we are presently looking for a new actor to take on the crucial role of Katchoo!  We expect to begin recording in May.

F.O.X.E.S: Our martial arts/spy spoof 70's throwback will be wrapping up its second serial, Lightning Bolt Resurrection, and gearing up for its third story, Ninja School Reunion.  In addition to guest cast for Ninja School Reunion, we'll be looking for new actors to take on the main roles of Sally and Yuki!

Warning From Space: Part of our VHS Box Theater line of serials and one shot dramas (see below), this is a Tokusatau inspired romp featuring two different visitors from space--but which one should we believe is on our side?  All roles are available.  Please note: we will begin recording of this production next Sunday, April 10th.

VHS Box Theater: a few of our productions are in different places on the production timeline, including Women's Prison Massacre, Elves and Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back.

Eileen Thorne: Freelance Lab Assistant: We expect to begin the second storyline of this comedic time-hopping caper in late Spring, and several new roles will be required.  If you're able to sound like a dolphin or a baby seal, this project is for you!

We're also looking for a couple of new members of our 'repertory' to handle minor roles.  Members of our rep always step up to featured role; this position would be perfect for someone just starting out in voice acting and looking to build up their reel.  Voice actors of color are especially encouraged to audition

If you would like to attend the open call, please email us at 8twinfo@gmail.com with your voice reel (or a link to some of your voice work).  If we feel you'd be a good fit, we'll send you a link to our discord before Sunday.  Thank you for considering working with us!

8TW OPEN CALL THIS SUNDAY!

As we begin our second season of audio dramas, 8TW are looking for new actors to bring our characters to life!  We are an LGBT+ friendly group devoted to creating authorized fan adaptations of indie comics such as Strangers In Paradise and Trekker as well as original dramas that are geeky, sometimes funny, sometimes campy and overall fun.  These are presently unpaid positions, but we provide a fun, upbeat community that will allow you to grow in skill and versatility with little judgement.  We record 'live' in our own Discord channel usually on Sunday afternoons from 1-4pm EST.

We are having an open call for several of our projects for the next year on October 3rd at 2:30pm EST.  Below are thumbnails for some of the roles available during this season.

Strangers In Paradise: It's A Good Life

This is a fan adaption of Terry Moore's classic authorized by Mr. Moore.

MARGIE: A peer of FRANCINE and KATCHOO who becomes their landlord.  Supposedly sleazy by FRANCINE's estimation, but we're not sure...

QUENTIN THE VIDEO CLERK: A 32 year old...manager?..at a video clerk who maybe needs to find a life.

RACHEL: The new girlfriend of FREDDIE's friend CHUCK.  A little acerbic. As we will find out, she will have a much larger role in things (She carries over into other seasons)

THE REV: The Hawaiian shirt wearing 'official' who conducts the marriage between FREDDIE and CASEY...whether he's an actual man of the cloth is debatable, but he sure is touchy.

Elves

This is a feature length thriller, part of our VHS Box Theater line, and will be broadcast on Christmas day.

JULIE ERLKONIG: Our heroine, a virginal and idealistic young woman of good German stock.

MITCH:  The older security guard and something of a father figure to Julie; does double as Santa during the holidays.

MR. MANDEL: The owner of this, the last Mandel's Department Store.  A little downbeat knowing this will be the last Christmas his livelihood will be open.

NICHOLAS ERLKONIG: Julie's uncle, who runs the decaying mall that Mandel's is in.  A German immigrant, we will learn that he harbors a deep secret and a strange connection with MR. WILLIAMS that reaches back to WWII.

BAMBER (could be either gender): A young skate punk, slightly shellshocked but also a bit snarky.

KRUPSKI: The mall security guard who is insistent on driving out the skater kids.  It doesn't end well.

ELVES: Half Nazi monsters.  Impossibly beautiful.  Impossibly horny.  Should speak some weird gutteral--and Germanic--language.

DR. TANNENBAUM (could be either gender): Nazi scientist who, in the opening scene, we see forcibly marrying fertile women to elves in the hopes of creating a master race.

YOUNG NICHOLAS ERLKONIG: He's a lowly soldier in WWII, charged in the opening scene with persuading the Priest to do his damn job.

PRIEST: Slight uncooperative clergyman.

FEMALE SUBJECT: A woman who is married to an Elf.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS (3)

SKATE PUNKS (2)

Mad World: Doom Asylum

This is a five part serial, part of our VHS Box Theater line.  The first part will be broadcast on the last week of October; the rest will be broadcast in late spring 2022

MOLLY SKALDUR: Youtuber, aspiring conspiracy theorist and paranormal investigator.  Fancies herself punk, but in the way rich kids think is punk.  Gets offed in the end of Part One...but she'll be back in the climax as a zombie.

SKINNER: Molly's cameraman who think he is Molly's boyfriend even though Molly thinks otherwise.  He's already realizing just what Molly thinks of him and might grow a set and tell her to get lost if she doesn't reach her grisly end.  He allllmost makes it to the end, and has a weird attraction to...

'REAL WORLD' KIRSTEN: One half of our final girl.  Attractive without being hot, a good student without being nerdy, your average 'girl next door' who you know would have been Laurie Strode's pal.

JOHNNY 'THE D IS FOR DEFENSE' DiNARDO: Kirsten's boyfriend, a defensive end for the local high school football team.  Hella hunk, dim but not stupid, has an incredibly good heart...which is why he's not long for this world when he tries to save Molly.  Don't worry; he'll be back as a (featured) zombie in the climax.

WEED:Stoner dude who frequently conquers his cowardice to come to the aid of his friends...which is why he won't make it to the end of the picture (except as, you guessed it, a zombie)

MARTIZA MURNAU: Mean, Mean, MEAN Girl who is the reason Kirsten and her friends are in this mess.  Pure diva through and through...so we're not too upset when she's slaughtered in Part Two...and yes, she comes back as a zombie, but Kirsten might not notice the difference.

'OTHER WORLD' KIRSTEN: The other half of our final girl, this Kirsten comes from a parallel dimension where every monster, demon and maniac exist.  This is Kirsten after having gone through a gauntlet of the worst Hard-R Horrors this cinematic world has to offer since Freshman year.  As such, she is super-talented when it comes to surviving and killing killers right back.

DR. BAVA: Our slasher monster, a shapeshifting undead fiend that was once the head psychiatrist for the Cyanna Institute who indulged in qustionable experiments.  All this mess is his fault...although to be fair, the government gave him money to be a monster.

DR. HOWARD PHILLIPS or DR. PHILLIPA HOWARD (can be either gender): really sketchy 'scientist' who has proof of Dr. Bava's cooperation with Dark Ticket Ops.

GENERAL BLOCH: Military person and professional denier of government involvement in Nasty Shite.

F.O.X.E.S: Ninja Class: Reunion

This is our second serial in the comedic spy-fi martial arts series featuring a team of female spies and their pet ocelot, Mr. Whistler.

NINJAS/NINJA BELLHOPS: Martial artists who make shouty sounds of hitting and getting hit

NINJA MESSENGER: Spokesperson for the Ninjas. Does not need to have a Japanese accent.

RON: School reunion attendee; former football bro who peaked in high school.

CHERYL: Ron's wife; ex-cheerleader

AKI: Head mean-girl of a trio of ninja women who used to antagonize Yuki, one of the main characters of F.O.X.E.S.

UMI: Aki's right-hand woman. Also a mean-girl, but could be reasoned with.

DEE-DEE: The third member of our Mean Girl Trio...who for some reason sports a Valley Girl accent.

YOUNG AKI, UMI and DEE-DEE: Our mean girls in their younger days.

YOUNG YUKI: the adolescent version of one of our heroes, and not the calm, centered and non-plussed action mistress she is today; here she is nervous and shy.

We're also looking for a couple of new members of our 'repertory' to handle minor roles.  Members of our rep always step up to featured roles in future production; these position would be perfect for someone just starting out in voice acting and looking to build up their reel.

If you would like to attend the open call, please email us at 8twinfo@gmail.com with your voice reel (or a link).  Thank you for considering working with us!