Moonlight Over a Ruined Village

            Moonlight Over a Ruined Village is a Weird Fiction anthology podcast dedicated to weird and scary stories. These stories deal with people caught in the grasp of social decay and are based on accounts collected from the residents of a suburban village that has fallen into a state of ruin.
            Though the names of the people and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved in these events, the events could happen anywhere at any time. These tales deal with dark themes and disturbing content that some listeners may find troubling. In addition, there is a fair bit or profanity, so listener discretion is advised.

            I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the ruined village. If you’re new here, the flowers are beautiful this time of year, so you picked a great time to join us. Other than the flowers, the rest of the place is fairly ruined. It would be a good idea to watch where you step. In fact, go ahead and bring an extra pair of shoes. Shoes don’t tend to last long in the village.
            Our returning listeners probably think they’re familiar with the state of the ruin at the heart of the village. Well, a lot has happened since our last visit. The pack of roving drunks we all know and love are now the River Road crew. They have claimed their rightful position as the law of the land. This claim was supported by the Cult of the Spider, who have taken control of the River Village and its neighboring Mountain Village. The birdman is locked away in a cage, the fox is in hiding, and the other creeps will be dealt with soon enough. So it may be a good time to come back to the village to see who survived the last season.
            It’s a new day in the village, and the old problems have all been solved or run off. A whole new set of problems is around the corner, so let’s hope the River Road crew notices. The Cult of the Spider may even prove to be understanding and compassionate in their reign. But that doesn’t seem likely. Given that spiders never have been known for their compassion, it’s best to be prepared for anything. But rest assured that no matter what dangers await us on the River Road, the bus that takes us out of there will be late.

            For tonight’s tale, we look upon an abandoned house. It was the scene of a horrific attack on a family that left one dead and two wounded. The attack was so brutal and savage that the surviving brothers could live there no longer. At least, that’s was version of the story that was told to a lone priest, who had previously been content to passively observe the village around him. However, this tale inspired him to take an active role in investigating the house. He is a member of a secretive sect that specializes in communing with the dead. Their practitioners are few and their methods are unconventional. Yet this lone priest from a renegade sect will dare to test their methods against whatever wickedness is lurking in that house.
            When he enters the abandoned house, he is confronted with an angry ghost that forces him to question his sanity, his faith, and his mental fortitude. This test is brought to an abrupt conclusion when the doorbell rings. Behind the door, he is confronted by two hulking brutes that demand his signature. They have a terrible burden to place upon his shoulders, and they will not leave until he signs his name to their unearthly document and accepts that burden. If you’re familiar with the village, you probably know the dread burden that the priest is made to bear. It’s an ass whoopin, administered by them boys, who are back in town. They’ve returned to teach the priest to mind his manners and pick up after himself.
            Humbled, our priest gets on the bus to make his way back to his home. Yet on the bus, he has a chance encounter that greatly changes the nature of his relationship with the village. Armed with a new outlook, our humble priest decides he is no longer content to watch others from the shadows. He now intends to become an active player in the tragedy that is our ruined village.
            This tale contains profanity, violence, course language, and descriptions of antisocial behavior. Listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, I explain why this week’s episode is late. I also give you a bit of insight into how these episodes are made, and what it's like to deal with the denizens of these villages. Though this is not a full episode, I still managed to include profanity in it for some reason. Listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, we revisit an incident that had a monumental impact on both the River Village and the Mountain Village. Yet we will not concern ourselves with that tale, for it was not true. Not only that, it was a shameful falsehood intended to cover up the folly of the wolves of the mountain. That had been charged with protecting the mountain, and they had been found lacking.
            This is the tale of the young man who forced the wolves of the mountain to own up to their ineptitude. Our hero was a proud resident of the mountain village. He was proud of its rich history and cultural heritage. His ancestors called to him through these tales. For the mountain village was founded by fiercely rugged people who thrived amidst the supernatural elements of the strange, shadowy mountain. His ancestors made homes for themselves where others feared to even tread. For they dared to form an alliance with the dark elements of the mountain. Our hero stared into the dark places of the mountain, hoping to see what his ancestors saw.
            But the dark places faded away when the tourists arrived. Soon, the tales our hero grew up with became entertainment for the throngs of tourists who come to the mountain to gawk at things other people told them were important. Our hero could no longer accept the fact that his village was becoming nothing more than a tourist attraction. So he found the worst tourist of the lot and whooped his ass. He whooped his ass good and proper. He whooped that ass in the spirit of his proud ancestors. And for that act of resistance to overtourism, he was expelled from his village.
            Cast out of the light, he sought out the darkness. Yet he never suspected that the darkness had been creeping closer and closer to him all of his life. As he makes his way from the village, the cult of the Spider claims him for their own. They offer him a chance to join the darkness at the heart of the village. So he is faced with a choice. Should he make peace with the modern world, or should he embrace the inhuman forces that lurk in the darkness. The decision he ultimately makes shapes the fates of both villages. For the cult of the spider has come to power, and their members are everywhere.
            This tale contains profanity, overtourism, violence, antisocial behavior, occult elements, and references to excessive alcohol consumption. Listener discretion is advised.

            In this episode, I will talk to you like a normal person and give you some insight into what it’s like to do field work in these two ruined villages. Please be warned that I will resort to the use of course language to do so. I may also mention violence, occult activities, and antisocial behavior. For those reasons, and probably others that I am too far gone to even notice, listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale we follow a lone IT specialist as he whiles away his life working for a pharmaceutical company. However, this is no normal pharmaceutical company. For it has government contracts to produce chemical weapons that can be used to remove the bones from the living. Fortunately for out IT specialist, he knows all about those contracts. In fact, he is not even an IT specialist. He is a spy that was sent to that company to find those very chemicals. He was sent by none other than the spider deity, who has claimed control over the mountain village and the river village.
            In his capacity as lord of these villages, he aims to find a cure for the victims of their cruel experiments. So he made his best disciple into his chief specialist and sent him to obtain the means to do so. However, between our specialist and the chemicals he needs to make that cure lurks a horror beyond imagination. For those chemicals are being kept in the domain of the creature known by its creators as the Skin Doll. This creature is the result of the horrific experiments being conducted at the facility, and is being kept alive for nefarious purposes.
            Our specialist will have to enter the domain of this creature and ultimately deal with it. But out specialist has died before, only to be reborn as something beyond human. By the order of the spider deity, he fears no darkness. For the cult of the spider has claimed lordship over the entirety of both of these two villages, and that includes the denizens of the places too dark to even be imagined.
            This tale contains themes of mutilation, medical horror, bureaucracy.  Human resources departments, office culture, occult activities, and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, we follow a lone fox as it emerges from its burrow. It has just healed from wounds dealt to it in the past, and it needs to hunt to regain its strength. So the fox ventures out to capture its prey. After a successful hunt, it returns to its burrow. It is that satisfied it has secured its survival for the immediate future.
            However, the prey is far from normal. It was infected by some unknown force that animates it into a grotesque mockery of life. The prey captures the newly healed fox and drags it from the safety of its burrow. Then, the fox, who some of us may know by the name of Tomisaburo, is confronted by one of his former victims. Tomisaburo is then dragged through the streets to serve as an example to all of the denizens of the ruined village. The journey is a hard one for him, as he is forced to endure beatings and humiliation. The fact that all of it is justified doesn’t lessen the weight of his burden. His ultimate destination is unknown to him, but he is sure he doesn’t want to go there.
            Along the way, they encounter the town drunk. He is more than familiar with Tomisaburo and his past crimes. The drunkard accompanies Tomisaburo as he nears the end of this gruesome procession. Though the conditions are far from ideal, the two of them eventually reach something of an understanding and reveal their honest opinions about each other. But it is far too late. The bond of camaraderie they form is tainted by the sense of doom that overshadows the end of their journey. For amidst the drunken ramblings of the town drunk lurk hints of the doom that awaits Tomisaburo at the end of his journey. And for him, that end has arrived.
            This tale contains descriptions of beatings, vampirism, zombification, antisocial behavior, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and the use of profanity. Listener discretion is advised.  

            For tonight’s episode, I explain why there was a delay in the release of this episode. That involves me recounting a strange incident that occurred while I was conducting field work for the next episode. This episode will serve to give you an idea of the hardships and dangers I face to bring these episodes to you on a semi regular basis. Despite the informal nature of this episode, it still includes references to violence, excessive alcohol consumption, charlatanism, and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, we join another solitary pilgrim who has the audacity to walk on the river road after nightfall. The night on which he chose to do this dangerous activity is the night of the Wild Hunt. Though this tradition is forgotten amidst the chaotic events that happen in the ruined village on a regular basis, the gods have not forgotten. This night is when supernatural denizens are led by the Queen of Winter. They hunt for living souls to enlist in their endless hunt.
            This solitary figure finds himself amidst an assembly of otherworldly creatures being led by the Queen of Winter, who demands he fulfill his end of the hunt by being their prey. However, things soon fall apart when it is discovered that he is too weak to run from them. Deprived of a means to satisfy their bloodlust, they have to alter the details of the hunt. Soon, the nature of the hunt is changed greatly. It then becomes unclear which side of the conflict is hunting which.
            This tale deals with ghosts, death, horror, supernatural elements, and despair.  It also contains mentions of irresponsible alcohol consumption. Furthermore, it occasionally resorts to the use of profanity. Listener discretion is advised.