This reminds me of when we sent the probe Venera 7 to Venus. We were all oh so excited for the first pictures from the surface of a planet and maybe even finding alien life and then... The poor rover took the pictures, sent them, and melted off very, very quickly, along with all of our hopes. What we expected to be somewhat a paradise turned to be the most hell-looking place. Quite interesting lol
Good reading and a pretty good yarn from CAS. But I had to smile when the pilot, after landing the spacecraft. joined the other crew members in a nice nap without bothering to set up a watch.
Honestly, for all the fantastic speculative elements like the atomic engines, heat tubes, and ether ships, the shockingly poor planning and execution of the expedition was incredibly realistic. 😅
I love early science fiction, it's so interesting what writers thought about Travel to other planets even in our own solar system. Great story Ian! Thanks for the great fun! Interesting that back in the day people thought Venus might be Covered in plants, but they knew it was very hot!
Ian and Jennifer, I can't express how much I love what you do. Horrorbabble is becoming my favorite way to enjoy my favorite kinds of Horror. Your voices and styles of reading are the ideal way to hear the Gothic, the Weird, and similar works of terror. Thank you so much for what you do!
Haha, I recall 1960s Soviet sci fi writer Alexander Kazantsev's novel about an expedition to Venus in which a young scientists saw some tiny dinosaurs and cried: "Professor, I've found... There is life in Venus!" The old man replied: "Of all kinds of life on Venus I prefer my own first!". The novel was soon adapted to a joint US-Soviet film "Planet of Storms" (or something like). The Soviet version did not contain parts with bikini-wearing Venusian blond female beauties - lol.
Great read Ian ! Decades ago it was thought that Venus was a lush jungle due to the clouds, even early school books I had suggested it, mid 60s, but thanks to the Russian probes we know it's a very nasty place, later orbiting craft w SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) show a semi molten like landscape, the pressure is about 90x that of earth, carbon dioxide gas w sulphur, def no place you wanna buy real estate. Despite this the Chinese plan to send a 2 part probe eventually, a lander and orbiter to gather more info than the Russian ones did before they fried. Some sci-fi I've read has taken all this into account and suggested non corporeal life could still exist or some kind of hive mind cellular organisms, worth pondering over a pint. Keep up the good work.
"The Immeasurable Horror" is a science fiction horror story written by Clark Ashton Smith. It tells of an expedition to Venus, and of the weird and wonderful flora and fauna encountered there. Chapters: 00:17 - Opening Credits 00:55 - The Immeasurable Horror 36:02 - Closing Credits Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-immeasurable-horror Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Intro music and production by Ian Gordon Music 'Relentless Part One' by Glenn Alexander: glenalexander2.bandcamp.com/album/relentless-berlin-1975 Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble
Damn you both, as I was so close to assigning a horror unit constant value based solely on Ian’s narration, but now you’ve forced me to reject that theory because of the unquantifiable boost it receives after sundown, as well as the possibility that it could conceivably be packaged not in Ian’s voice at all but rather in an open ended visit from the in laws, & how do we measure THAT horror?
I never stick around long enough to measure the various horrors I've encountered. I am far too focused on my fleeing and shrieking in freshly soaked pants to attempt such a useful service. However from this day forward I shall refer to all horrors larger than myself as 'immesurable' rather than my habitual 'really really big'. It might lend me a touch of class. A bug eyed exclamation of "Voluminous !!" may also convey the depths of my terror.
God i love first encounter stories. Honestly as a species we’re all curious, and much to our protagonists chagrin I have no doubts we’d be exploring the heck outa that immeasurable beast!
Hehe - i recall an exchange between two astronauts on Venus in an old sci fi novel. Young enthusiastic astronaut: "Look, Professor! I've discovered! There is life on Venus!" - Old cynical Professor: "Of all types of life on Venus I prefer my own first".
Well, let me ask you this: have you ever read Stephen King's "N"? That story is extremely unnerving... but I have a feeling yall would enjoy it as much as I did. Definitely up your alley!
"It was unsafe, we found to breath" I'd be more concerned about the 500 degree c surface temperature and sulphuric acid raining down on me 😂 (of course they didn't know that then, and it's fantasy). I love old sci fi writers perspectives on space, makes for quite an interesting / funny listen. Great narration as always 👌
HorrorBabble yeah for sure! When was this written approximately 1930s ish? Talking about the likes of solar powered turbines, electronic machine guns and IR grenades.. he's extremely forward thinking 👍
HorrorBabble One last thing, are you a H. G. Wells fan? His novel the 'The First Men in the Moon' I believe would sound awesome with you narrating it, albeit alittle tame in regards to horror and quite lengthy haha cheers!
I am a fan of Wells, though I've never read The First Men in the Moon. A cursory glance suggests a recording of roughly 7 hours, so it might not be something I can get to straight away. I'll add it to our options list though for future consideration. In the meantime, I reckon its worthy of a read! Thanks again John! Ian
Amazing; one of the best SF horrors I ever experienced! Even though it's old and clearly unscientific - in reallity Venus is even more hellish than nightmarish landscape describe in this story - it captured something that is often missing in SF works; description of really alien planet with it's own unique and otherworldly ecosystem. As much I love things such as Star Trek or Star Wars, aliens in those stories are way too human - on the other hand stories like those are even better than what HR Giger created with his Alien... I would love to see modern film adaptation of this story... Is this in public domain?
Like. He was a very good writer. And special thanks to Mr.Gordon for his excellent, realy artictic reading. Sure some people might laugh at such image of Venus. Then, just imagine that it is some planet near Alfa Centaurus being described. A pity, of course - no jungle and dinosaurs on Venus, no princesses and four-armed warriors on Mars. Maybe some lunatic Lunites under the Moon's surface? Clark Ashton Smith wrote some 90 years ago. Just 40-50 years ago movie-makers liked to place beautiful savage bikini-wearing girls on Venus. No sci fi without love and romance :-)
The actions of the space explorers at the beginning of the story frustrate me. They come onto this strange planet and seem altogether offended when they discover unrecognizable life. Then again, that's just like a human to do that, no?
By 1979 we realised that Venus probably wasn’t worth the trip. By then we knew that Venus had way less giant plants, dinosaurs and jelly monsters then we had hoped.
I don't know which is more terrifying the true surface of Venus based on scientific exploration or the Venus created by the visions of Clark Ashton Smith 🌌💀🌌
Great reading! I think Clark did a bang up job on the action sequences in the later half; it truly held me in suspense. I was not a fan of the interminably long and overdone descriptions.
Hi babybobo! It's a piece called 'Lovecraft; Into the Abyss'. I wrote it as my own HorrorBabble 'theme'. You can listen to it in full here: ruclips.net/video/aoyHuj2IssM/видео.html 'The Ballad of Clark Ashton Smith' will be coming to the channel soon! Thanks for listening. Ian
I remember this story, weeks after hearing it read. Well up to CAS' usual standards. IMO he is a better writer than Lovecraft, and more consistent - HPL is a bit hit-and-miss.
Ah, the famous First Venusian expedition of 1977. I remember it as if it was yesterday.
I think I watched it with my father 😁
You posted this in the wrong dimension guys. Probably some Chrome bug.
Good ol Admiral Carfax. Such a pioneer!
This reminds me of when we sent the probe Venera 7 to Venus. We were all oh so excited for the first pictures from the surface of a planet and maybe even finding alien life and then... The poor rover took the pictures, sent them, and melted off very, very quickly, along with all of our hopes. What we expected to be somewhat a paradise turned to be the most hell-looking place. Quite interesting lol
Rocks, lava, acid rains and general lack of hot chicks is indeed a big turn-off.
@@Self-replicating_whatnot yiuiip
Luckily the Russians beat you to it and got pictures without much trouble.
@@Orgruk That's right! It was Venera 7. Thank you, I'll correct it
No one expected Venus to be paradise like you imbecile
Good reading and a pretty good yarn from CAS. But I had to smile when the pilot, after landing the spacecraft. joined the other crew members in a nice nap without bothering to set up a watch.
That's the beauty of CAS! Thanks for listening. Ian
Honestly, for all the fantastic speculative elements like the atomic engines, heat tubes, and ether ships, the shockingly poor planning and execution of the expedition was incredibly realistic. 😅
Wow!! That was one of the coolest sci-fi stories I've ever heard, the sound effects made it even better!! Thanks Ian!!!
This is the first Clark Ashton Smith I've listened to and I'm impressed.
Thanks Robert - I'm glad you enjoyed this one. There's more to come! Ian
Metoo
He's a legend, all his stuff is peak
I love early science fiction, it's so interesting what writers thought about Travel to other planets even in our own solar system. Great story Ian! Thanks for the great fun! Interesting that back in the day people thought Venus might be Covered in plants, but they knew it was very hot!
Ian and Jennifer,
I can't express how much I love what you do. Horrorbabble is becoming my favorite way to enjoy my favorite kinds of Horror. Your voices and styles of reading are the ideal way to hear the Gothic, the Weird, and similar works of terror.
Thank you so much for what you do!
Thanks for the kind words Calvin - we appreciate it very much! Great to have you on board! Ian
100%
No one wrote like Smith and Superb narration and production do it justice. Great job!
Came to this channel for it's classic ghost stories, and now pulp! Thank you HorrorBabble! Look forward to what horrors may come.
Great to meet you Theodore - thanks for stopping by! Ian
Great and horrible gods I love that piano intro. Always come back to these old ones and get blindsided by nostalgia.
Haha, I recall 1960s Soviet sci fi writer Alexander Kazantsev's novel about an expedition to Venus in which a young scientists saw some tiny dinosaurs and cried: "Professor, I've found... There is life in Venus!" The old man replied: "Of all kinds of life on Venus I prefer my own first!". The novel was soon adapted to a joint US-Soviet film "Planet of Storms" (or something like). The Soviet version did not contain parts with bikini-wearing Venusian blond female beauties - lol.
Looking up this author now! Thanks for this gem, I love Russian literature, so his reads should be wild! Cheers mate!
These readings are my happy place. Thanks Ian.
excellent reading with a wonderful tempo and expression. Thank you.
Ian, I can't get enough of your voice !! so mesmerizing to hear !! T.Y. 👍
Great read Ian ! Decades ago it was thought that Venus was a lush jungle due to the clouds, even early school books I had suggested it, mid 60s, but thanks to the Russian probes we know it's a very nasty place, later orbiting craft w SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) show a semi molten like landscape, the pressure is about 90x that of earth, carbon dioxide gas w sulphur, def no place you wanna buy real estate. Despite this the Chinese plan to send a 2 part probe eventually, a lander and orbiter to gather more info than the Russian ones did before they fried. Some sci-fi I've read has taken all this into account and suggested non corporeal life could still exist or some kind of hive mind cellular organisms, worth pondering over a pint. Keep up the good work.
a place where it seems life is endless, and so is death
Deep
Thank You and Hot DAMN, I can't wait!
Brilliant reading as always. Thank you. This was an exciting story and I liked it very much.
"The Immeasurable Horror" is a science fiction horror story written by Clark Ashton Smith. It tells of an expedition to Venus, and of the weird and wonderful flora and fauna encountered there.
Chapters:
00:17 - Opening Credits
00:55 - The Immeasurable Horror
36:02 - Closing Credits
Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-immeasurable-horror
Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble
Intro music and production by Ian Gordon
Music 'Relentless Part One' by Glenn Alexander:
glenalexander2.bandcamp.com/album/relentless-berlin-1975
Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon:
horrorbabble.bandcamp.com
www.patreon.com/horrorbabble
HorrorBabble MERCH:
teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch
Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on:
AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY
Home: www.horrorbabble.com
Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com
Social Media:
facebook.com/HorrorBabble
instagram.com/horrorbabble
twitter.com/HorrorBabble
Such a cool concept
This is the first story I've seen from him as well, I'm very impressed!
Now we know what planet The Blob came from
That was the very first horror movie I ever watched and it terrified me. I was five
Excellent talent, right up ol Cosmic Horror Alley.
Great oration, and concise delivery. Kudos !
The suspenseful ending is the real immeasurable horror of this story!
A wonderful tale!
Always amazing accounts of alien atmospheres. Loved it!
i prefer my horrors measurable i must say
That's just the beginning of my issues. Converting horrors from Imperial to metric horror is torture
Damn you both, as I was so close to assigning a horror unit constant value based solely on Ian’s narration, but now you’ve forced me to reject that theory because of the unquantifiable boost it receives after sundown, as well as the possibility that it could conceivably be packaged not in Ian’s voice at all but rather in an open ended visit from the in laws, & how do we measure THAT horror?
I never stick around long enough to measure the various horrors I've encountered. I am far too focused on my fleeing and shrieking in freshly soaked pants to attempt such a useful service. However from this day forward I shall refer to all horrors larger than myself as 'immesurable' rather than my habitual 'really really big'. It might lend me a touch of class. A bug eyed exclamation of "Voluminous !!" may also convey the depths of my terror.
Nine inch horror is the best size for home use imo.
God i love first encounter stories. Honestly as a species we’re all curious, and much to our protagonists chagrin I have no doubts we’d be exploring the heck outa that immeasurable beast!
Hehe - i recall an exchange between two astronauts on Venus in an old sci fi novel. Young enthusiastic astronaut: "Look, Professor! I've discovered! There is life on Venus!" - Old cynical Professor: "Of all types of life on Venus I prefer my own first".
good thing the main character never got stuck in the Walls of Eryx on Venus (HP reference)
And a good suggestion for a future reading!
HorrorBabble it isn't typical eldritch horror, but it makes me feel claustrophobic lol.
I'm a big fan of the sci-fi crossovers - pure horror in my opinion! Ian
Well, let me ask you this: have you ever read Stephen King's "N"? That story is extremely unnerving... but I have a feeling yall would enjoy it as much as I did. Definitely up your alley!
-note- "N" isn't a full length novel... more of a short story or novella.
I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a bad Clark Ashton Smith story. Excellent!
This was really fun and enlightening energies that will help in understanding non humanoid life forms.
I read this as a teen, but hearing Ian read it is a while new experience
Great visual story!
Good ol' Klarkash-Ton!!! Have you ever read "The Epiphany of Death"--that's one of my favorites!!!
I don't think I have - I'll take a look!
"It was unsafe, we found to breath" I'd be more concerned about the 500 degree c surface temperature and sulphuric acid raining down on me 😂 (of course they didn't know that then, and it's fantasy). I love old sci fi writers perspectives on space, makes for quite an interesting / funny listen. Great narration as always 👌
And CAS is undoubtedly my favourite sci-fi author of that time... His imagination, if a little wild, was unparalleled! Thanks for listening John! Ian
HorrorBabble yeah for sure! When was this written approximately 1930s ish? Talking about the likes of solar powered turbines, electronic machine guns and IR grenades.. he's extremely forward thinking 👍
HorrorBabble One last thing, are you a H. G. Wells fan? His novel the 'The First Men in the Moon' I believe would sound awesome with you narrating it, albeit alittle tame in regards to horror and quite lengthy haha cheers!
I am a fan of Wells, though I've never read The First Men in the Moon. A cursory glance suggests a recording of roughly 7 hours, so it might not be something I can get to straight away. I'll add it to our options list though for future consideration. In the meantime, I reckon its worthy of a read! Thanks again John! Ian
Those were the days... when the solar system was still chock full of habitable worlds with weird, intelligent life.
"The next few moments, were worse than a herd of nightmares" ❤ 27:43, ️💥 Loved It, Thanks
This is such a Legendary series.🔥🔥🔥🔥
I've read a lot of CAS' stories - but not this. Glad to have found it.
It's one of the first tales I came across of his - a classic work of sci-fi horror. Thanks for listening! Ian
I was going to comment, but Mr. Jack Redelfs read my mind and has said it all. Thanks very much for sharing.
Thanks very much for listening John! Ian
Good narration bro. Cheers.
So thats the blob's home world...
Keep in mind this takes place in 1979
One of his finest tales.
Thanks for listening Roland, it's a classic indeed. Ian
I think it's interesting how something like a swath can fill me with dread.
Amazing; one of the best SF horrors I ever experienced! Even though it's old and clearly unscientific - in reallity Venus is even more hellish than nightmarish landscape describe in this story - it captured something that is often missing in SF works; description of really alien planet with it's own unique and otherworldly ecosystem. As much I love things such as Star Trek or Star Wars, aliens in those stories are way too human - on the other hand stories like those are even better than what HR Giger created with his Alien... I would love to see modern film adaptation of this story... Is this in public domain?
Like. He was a very good writer. And special thanks to Mr.Gordon for his excellent, realy artictic reading. Sure some people might laugh at such image of Venus. Then, just imagine that it is some planet near Alfa Centaurus being described. A pity, of course - no jungle and dinosaurs on Venus, no princesses and four-armed warriors on Mars. Maybe some lunatic Lunites under the Moon's surface? Clark Ashton Smith wrote some 90 years ago. Just 40-50 years ago movie-makers liked to place beautiful savage bikini-wearing girls on Venus. No sci fi without love and romance :-)
The actions of the space explorers at the beginning of the story frustrate me. They come onto this strange planet and seem altogether offended when they discover unrecognizable life. Then again, that's just like a human to do that, no?
I think CAS saw into the future on more than one occasion, much like his contemporaries. Thanks again for listening! Ian
It's a fukkin story
1979, that was an abitious estimate.
But we did get an alien monster that dripped acid in 1979, so there's that.
By 1979 we realised that Venus probably wasn’t worth the trip. By then we knew that Venus had way less giant plants, dinosaurs and jelly monsters then we had hoped.
Venusian expedition in 1977. Sigh. I feel like our optimistic ancestors would be terribly, terribly disappointed with our actual timeline's 2019.
Where are the flying cars???
This is one of the stories that made me a convert to this channel...
Speaking of sci-fi horror, is there any hope of getting a HorrorBabble treatment for “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov?
Perhaps not, as Asimov's works aren't in the public domain unfortunately. I adore his works though. Ian
@@HorrorBabble thats ashame
Wouldn't wanna be there on foot, for sure...
Good reading
Amber Gris doesn't come from vegetables
And you can't get vitamin c or iron and zinc from whales.
Oh Venus, I wish you were as these stories say, also with narratives by Ian Gordon.
A huge predatory... Oh, sorry, I'd hate to become a spoiler. But the idea is marvelous, long predating "The Blob".
How disappointed our ancestors must have been to discover that life does not exist on other planets the way it does on earth
So the thing is a giant pink bubblegum Shoggoth, otherwise known as The Blob.
I don't know which is more terrifying the true surface of Venus based on scientific exploration or the Venus created by the visions of Clark Ashton Smith 🌌💀🌌
Corrosive saliva or blood? [calls up Ridley Scott]
To Bloody good. Mass of blob that can bend gravity to it's will.
Great reading! I think Clark did a bang up job on the action sequences in the later half; it truly held me in suspense.
I was not a fan of the interminably long and overdone descriptions.
agree on the overdone descriptions. the reading was a bit too fast for me, who am not a english native speaker.
Your voice is the best
Could you please make the coming of the white worm
Eventually!
Short and sweet
the original Alien.
The original Blob too.
What is the music played when the narrator is introducing what the story is?
Hi babybobo! It's a piece called 'Lovecraft; Into the Abyss'. I wrote it as my own HorrorBabble 'theme'. You can listen to it in full here: ruclips.net/video/aoyHuj2IssM/видео.html
'The Ballad of Clark Ashton Smith' will be coming to the channel soon! Thanks for listening. Ian
HorrorBabble that is amazing and awesome
Thank you! Ian
Any chance yoy could read Ubbo-Sathla, HorrorBabble? First time I read it, I got chills down my spine.
Hi Jayson - feel free to forward your request here: www.horrorbabble.com/contact
I wish Wayne June would do a CAS reading.
What are the chances of you performing the Basil Copper story "The Great White Space" or other stories of his?
To my knowledge, his works aren't in the public domain.
I am curious does anyone know what year this was written?
Hi Dewboy - it was written in 1931.
HorrorBabble thank you 👍
Tekeli-li!
Not sure if you guys read your comments, but I was wondering if you'd be interested in reading any of my work.
Edward Lorn of course they would !!! I'd love to hear it !! plez just send it in ! hell ! you mite b the next Stephen King !!!!!
Hi Edward, we'd certainly be interested. Feel free to send us an email to discuss further (you can find it on the about page). Thanks!
Will do. Thanks.
Warren?
Don't worry, Warren was still dead back then.
@@HorrorBabble Did you not get the papers I served demanding that the rumor of Warren's death be immediately suspended???
'The Immeasurable Horror" - ironically, not very long.
i love supernatural/paranormal and science fiction, but it's got to at least border reality, as we like to know it.
I remember this story, weeks after hearing it read. Well up to CAS' usual standards. IMO he is a better writer than Lovecraft, and more consistent - HPL is a bit hit-and-miss.
I've got many more CAS readings planned. He was, as I've stated before, the first Weird Tale author I ever read. Ian
More CAS is always welcome. His stories really get into one’s head :) This story still feels unsettling - after just that one reading.
"The immesurable horror"
Funny. That's how I describe the existential dread constantly experienced being an adult in America. :v
I feel ya.
11:41
*10000%* 👁👁💯💯💯💯💯❤
*Much better than Harry Harrison.*
36min 30sec
Idk why but I love stories in the mythos set around the turn of the century and HATE the ones set in the future. Mild dislike for the fantasy ones.
My daughter has the website sci fi and scary you shud take your story there
first
Huom
1987??😂and here it is 2019...and humans can't quit arguing over the same old thing😂😂😂