"Don't go near that old oak, miss. Her roots are bad... as is the dirt she writhes in."
Book of Rot is the upcoming pilot episode of Gothic Tales, a series of short audio dramas centered around fictional paranormal events during the early 1600s.
The bulk of the project will consist of audio content, with loose visual references painted by myself which will play along with script events.
This is a passion project, composed solely for fun, and the script is already written & ready to go. While I am hoping to have something compiled by Halloween, any given deadlines will be perfectly flexible, as I appreciate all of the hard work and time any prospective actors are willing to put into this little horror trip of mine.
Each episode, including Book of Rot, will include a narrator and a cast of unique cast roles with varying degrees of presence throughout the story.
YouTube is the platform of choice, and for purposes of communication and idea-sharing, a joinable Discord server is currently in the works!
The almost poetic narrator who pads the story between dialogue.
Atop the brow of the hill, at the farm's very edge, stood an oak as old as the earth. It's branches were gnarled, and twisted, and black... that the girl's every bone ached to climb.
There was a low creak, distant first, that grew so immense that it almost knocked Angharad to the ground. She peered through the dark as dirt fell loose from the crooked ceiling, and she knew she was no longer alone within the warrens.
[NOTE: Angharad, "Ahng-hah-rahd."]
As she beheld the scribbled note, she could picture the old washerwoman perfectly. She imagined she might've creaked as she moved, and that her aged and overworked hands would wring together like old rags. The woman had not spoken in their moment of meeting, but Angharad remembered clearly the way that her lips would tremble, as if silently muttering the words of the very note she had written:
"Don't go near that old oak, miss. Her roots are bad, as is the dirt she writhes in."
Angharad is the lead protagonist of Book of Rot; a shy and mild-mannered woman of the church who dispels wandering spirits as part of her holy duties. She is summoned to a small township after their adjoined farm raises concern about strange nightly activity surrounding an old oak tree.
[A farmer answers his door to Angharad, who has been told of strange activity on his land.]
Ah, Mr Grundy, is it? Apologies, I... My name is Angharad, of the Old Church. You wrote to Father Solomon with some concerns regarding... regarding a tree on your land?"
[Muttering/whispering fearfully under her breath as she wanders through an unknown crypt.]
O' Father... as I walk through the valley of death, guide my heart into thine sacred arms... raise me into thine own divine light, lest I -- (she gasps, as the light of her torch blows out.)
[After a failed exorcism, Angharad returns to the farmstead, exhausted and in panic.]
This is... this is terrible. That old woman was right. The earth here is bad. This is no ordinary spectre, nor lost soul, this is... this is something far, far worse. Grundy, this is beyond my experience, you have to... you have to find Father Solomon, and bring him here!
Farmer Grundy is the middle-aged land owner of Bedrick's main farmstead. He is stern, hard-working, and ever skeptical of the strange horrors which inhabit his land.
[Grundy is seated, as he begins to calmly explain past events to Angharad.]
Everything around it is dying, slowly but surely. The grass, the birds... even my crops are wasting away at the bottom of the hill, now. The field workers are scared shitless, won't go near the damn thing. Last week I relented, and thought I might cut the accursed thing down. But I couldn't even raise my axe... like the strength had been sucked clean out of my arms, at the mere thought of it. I was never a superstitious man before that, but... there's something terrible beneath that thing's bark, sister.
[The horses are spooked by something unknown, and Grundy sternly addresses a stable boy as he struggles to maintain control.]
Secure those horses, boy, lest we lose any hope for this damned place!
The leading name of the Old Church, and hailed exorcist among skeptics. He is calm and steadfast, even when faced with the purest of evils.
[Solomon arrives at the farmstead, and immediately comforts a distressed Angharad.]
I'm here now, sister, I'm here. Poor creature, what have you seen?
[Solomon stands firm against an approaching darkness.]
Back! There is no pasture on this earth within which you are welcome! Our Lord denies it, our divine wisdom binds it! Crawl back to thine own abyss!
The collective term for the demonic entity which resides within the tree. It speaks very few lines, but holds a major presence throughout the story. I offer full creative freedom for any auditions here and would love to hear edited interpretations on the tree's voice, but would also like to hear the clean versions, too!
[A voice echoes across a long dirt tunnel, taunting Angharad as she ventures deeper into the pit.]
Little light... little light... quivering in the dark.
(Quiet laughter) I know you. Your roots are bad.
[The entity writhes in pain, and begins speaking in unholy tongue.]
Yog ya'har-Gul, vos lok! You black-hearted bitch, we'll have you! We'll have you!
There will be many vacancies for extras, beyond the lines listed above!
[An elderly, prophetic washerwoman, who knows more than she lets on.]
Don't go near that old oak, miss. Her roots are bad... as is the dirt she writhes in.
[A panicked young milkmaid, residing on Grundy's farm.]
Mr Grundy! Oh Lord, It's one of the heifers, she's... she's given birth to -- to something! It's not... it's not normal, sir, it's..."
[A young girl, addressing an elder.]
Okay, I won't go near it again! Please don't tell my father.
There will be many vacancies for extras, beyond the lines listed above!
[A field worker, informing Farmer Grundy on the outlook of his crop.]
The crop's rotten, look -- it can't grow here. The soil is sour... it'll claim it all.
[A farmhand flees back to the work houses, having seen something frightful.]
Wake up, wake up! There's a beast -- a monster in the branches!
[A cobbler informs Angharad on the location of the farm.]
Old Grundy's place? Right up this way, past the dam. Spot the windmill, and you're on the right path.
