Thanks for listening, all! There are four other stories in the 'Stranger Club' series -- possibly a little more on the science fiction side of things, but I may tackle them in due course if people are interested.
@@HorrorBabble this seemed a bit on the sci Fi side as well. It's horror in topic but sci Fi in its execution. Very good story either way, no matter how one thinks it leans.
Whenever I hear the surname "Smithers", I can't help but think of Mr. Burns. I can imagine Mr. Burns' iconic voice rasping out contemptuously: "You fool, Smithers is dead." ; )
@@stewartlancaster6155 Oh no! Foiled again by my clumsy, fat fingers and auto-correct! Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I'm going to edit out my mistake.
HorrorBabble reads with such poise and an elegant dagger at times. it is truly hypnotic and yet always manages to keep a cat on the top shelf ready to jump at you when you least expect it!
When I was just a sprout, my dad took me and my brother to the Carlsbad caverns. At one point the path passed under a vertical shaft with a ladder. The tour stopped, the guide told everyone to turn of their lights and they began telling us to not look up. If we did, we might get a face full of bugs or worse since they fall down this shaft constantly. Well I didn't require anymore prompting and I turned back on my light. Lol. I was not supposed to until told to but even at 7, I knew better than to keep it off. It may have been good fun for the adults but from where I was looking a "Cavern of Horrors" was exactly where I was. I guess the guides were used to complient children who had no strong opinions but I didn't fall in that category. "Son, will you switch your lamp back off so we can finish to tour?" They asked me. "Sorry" I said "I need it to find my way out" and proceeded to leave the way we came. "You can't exit that way" I heard in the distance. "I remember the way don't worry. I'll see you at the entrance." My dad was in stitches. His laughter was omnipresent in there. All I could hear as I fled was the shuffle of my feet and his booming laugh. I did not want to be the unfortunate soul that discovered Warren even before I knew who he was. I could sense his presence down there so I noped the f@#k out with all alacrity.
@@sarge4455 The funny part is that on the way out, I passed back by the wishing well room. I took "my"(a) penny back and felt rather satisfied about it. I thought to myself something like, "No. Not my penny. I can't pay for this." I was gonna do whatever I wanted even as a kid and if I could reason you out of your position, fine but if I needed to go I went. I didn't care about demands or threats of punishment. I'll take whatever that is later than this here and now. My dad and brother finished the tour and I chatted up the workers at the entrance. I questioned them about why they thought that was funny and wanted a list of things that had actually fallen on people. I didn't get that list. I bet Warren would have been on there
😂😂❤ Great story! What year was this? I'm thinking it was a while ago, considering they let a 7yo go back alone. Are you Gen X or older Milinial , maybe?😊
This story was incredible. One of the most intense and wild stories I've ever heard from this channel. Feels distinctly more modern in how things develop.
A great story from an author I'd not heard of. Thank you for the uploads, they are so enjoyable. A little tale for you. I am not good with heights. Many moons ago a rather handsome bloke took me out for the day. We went to Cheddar Gorge and then Wookey Hole Caves. Well, part of the Wookey Hole tour went over a narrow metal catwalk over a drop down to water. I got about two steps, looked down and froze. One of the guides managed to escort me off and then took me an alternate route where we met the group after the catwalk. I was rather embarrassed 😂
Happy birthday, Smithy! Hope it was a good one. I’ll be catching up to you, slightly, in a couple days when I turn 36. No alcohol for me, however, as I prefer to be sober for my yearly summoning of Azathoth and gang. Shub-Niggurath makes the best cheesecake (goat, of course) so fingers crossed she doesn’t forget this time.
Magnificent! It's not often I really love every single minute of a story but this one I absolutely did! Smithers clearly lived on the same street as Pickman. 🎨
A riveting and well-told tale as usual, Ian! Excellent choice, and from an author I’m not familiar with, which is nice. I tend to get stuck on the classics.
This is my favorite kind of story. Secrets hidden within the depths of the earth waiting to be found by curious explorers. I often wish there was a place like this in real life... maybe there is and we just haven't found it yet.
Of course there's a massive monster that looks like an angler fish. 😂😂 Idc what you've seen that's scary, nothing compares to an angler. Absolute and total nightmare fuel.
I love it when old stories like this more or less outright spells it out how these manly heroes make the men around them a bit bi-curios. Of course, male social relations were a lot closer back then since segregation of the sexes made men more reliant on other men for emotionally significant friendships (a role now much more heavily resting on wives and girlfriends), but sometimes the subtext is pretty damn close to just actual text.
@@kevinfogle7929 it's literally not. In the beginning they are speaking of Smithers being charming to both women and men. Meaning he doesn't evoke jealous reactions from other men, they are equally intrigued by him and want to get to know him. Nowhere did they say any men had romantic feelings for him. Nowhere.. there's just always someone trying to shoehorn something gay in where it doesn't belong. It's exhausting. And dishonest.
Ian, an incredible reading. and it felt so real. it wasn’t overly dramatic either. 🫣🙀🧟🧌🪼 you guys are in a house now, right? best wishes to your little family. :) thanks much. 🌷🌱
Thanks for listening, all! There are four other stories in the 'Stranger Club' series -- possibly a little more on the science fiction side of things, but I may tackle them in due course if people are interested.
This was very enjoyable as always. Thank you. I do hope you read the others as well.
Please do. Of course they are one member short now…
I would love to hear more of this series!
Yes, Yes & Yes, again!!!
@@HorrorBabble this seemed a bit on the sci Fi side as well. It's horror in topic but sci Fi in its execution. Very good story either way, no matter how one thinks it leans.
I wish Warren was still alive to listen to this. He loved this type of stuff.
🤣🤣🤣❤️
Warren was ahead of his time. He liked dark synthesizer music too, which is wild considering that he died in the 20s.
R.I.P. Warren.
Warren's dead?! Nobody told me!
@@SlimeBlueMS You fool! 😏
Whenever I hear the surname "Smithers", I can't help but think of Mr. Burns. I can imagine Mr. Burns' iconic voice rasping out contemptuously: "You fool, Smithers is dead." ; )
@@stewartlancaster6155 Oh no! Foiled again by my clumsy, fat fingers and auto-correct! Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I'm going to edit out my mistake.
Whereever did you hear that expression?! LOL.
HorrorBabble reads with such poise and an elegant dagger at times. it is truly hypnotic and yet always manages to keep a cat on the top shelf ready to jump at you when you least expect it!
Here's the rub through.
It's not a cat.
When I was just a sprout, my dad took me and my brother to the Carlsbad caverns. At one point the path passed under a vertical shaft with a ladder. The tour stopped, the guide told everyone to turn of their lights and they began telling us to not look up. If we did, we might get a face full of bugs or worse since they fall down this shaft constantly. Well I didn't require anymore prompting and I turned back on my light. Lol. I was not supposed to until told to but even at 7, I knew better than to keep it off. It may have been good fun for the adults but from where I was looking a "Cavern of Horrors" was exactly where I was. I guess the guides were used to complient children who had no strong opinions but I didn't fall in that category. "Son, will you switch your lamp back off so we can finish to tour?" They asked me. "Sorry" I said "I need it to find my way out" and proceeded to leave the way we came. "You can't exit that way" I heard in the distance. "I remember the way don't worry. I'll see you at the entrance." My dad was in stitches. His laughter was omnipresent in there. All I could hear as I fled was the shuffle of my feet and his booming laugh. I did not want to be the unfortunate soul that discovered Warren even before I knew who he was. I could sense his presence down there so I noped the f@#k out with all alacrity.
That’s hilarious 😂
@@sarge4455 The funny part is that on the way out, I passed back by the wishing well room. I took "my"(a) penny back and felt rather satisfied about it. I thought to myself something like, "No. Not my penny. I can't pay for this." I was gonna do whatever I wanted even as a kid and if I could reason you out of your position, fine but if I needed to go I went. I didn't care about demands or threats of punishment. I'll take whatever that is later than this here and now. My dad and brother finished the tour and I chatted up the workers at the entrance. I questioned them about why they thought that was funny and wanted a list of things that had actually fallen on people. I didn't get that list. I bet Warren would have been on there
@@kgreen242424All I’m getting from this is that you missed out on a pretty cool tour lol
@@Inquisitor_Zama
Not what I'm getting at all; I think they probably had a better tour than most.
Must be a temperament thing.
😂😂❤ Great story! What year was this? I'm thinking it was a while ago, considering they let a 7yo go back alone. Are you Gen X or older Milinial , maybe?😊
I sat back and closed my eyes and listened. And as I listened, a strange new world unfolded in my mind's eye. Well done as always!
This story was incredible. One of the most intense and wild stories I've ever heard from this channel. Feels distinctly more modern in how things develop.
I was waiting for Mr. Burns’ voice at the end saying, “You fool! Smithers is dead.”
Thanks
Thanks once again, Lee!
Ian, your readings never fail to exhalt, to thrill, and to enthrall. Another wonderful triumph!
I love the use of the telephone to add tension. Reminds me of an Alien movie! Great writing. Great reading. Thank you.
A great story from an author I'd not heard of. Thank you for the uploads, they are so enjoyable.
A little tale for you.
I am not good with heights. Many moons ago a rather handsome bloke took me out for the day. We went to Cheddar Gorge and then Wookey Hole Caves.
Well, part of the Wookey Hole tour went over a narrow metal catwalk over a drop down to water.
I got about two steps, looked down and froze. One of the guides managed to escort me off and then took me an alternate route where we met the group after the catwalk.
I was rather embarrassed 😂
Me neither, my wife took me up the Eiffel Tower and it was absolutely horrible.
What sort of deranged lunatic would even want to build such a thing ?
i wouldn’t have even tried. glad you had another way to go :)🌷🌱
It's my 58th Birthday and it's 23.30pm. Listening to this sobered me up a bit. A big thanks though, for stopping me vomiting. 👍❤
Happy Birthday ❤
Happy birthday. I hope you feel better.
Happy birthday, Smithy! Hope it was a good one. I’ll be catching up to you, slightly, in a couple days when I turn 36. No alcohol for me, however, as I prefer to be sober for my yearly summoning of Azathoth and gang. Shub-Niggurath makes the best cheesecake (goat, of course) so fingers crossed she doesn’t forget this time.
What I fantastic story! I really enjoyed this one. As always, thank you for bringing this tale to life with your outstanding narration.
this is absolutely stunninggggggggg one of my faves ever perhaps????
Magnificent! It's not often I really love every single minute of a story but this one I absolutely did! Smithers clearly lived on the same street as Pickman. 🎨
That hit the spot! Thanks so much!
Seaman i hear he had a lot of spunk
THE MAN WHO AWOKE…by this author written 80+ years ago but relevant to what’s happening in the world today,really worth checking out.
This was an awesome story!!!!❤ And perfectly executed as always. Kill it Everytime 💥
I can listen to this all day....while writing a story.
Yay! Thanks for the story from Colorado!
Delightful!!❤❤
You are slaying the summer with all the uploads 👍🫡
Fantastic.!! 👍 👍 👍
Thank you so much for this treat.!! 👍
Great story and narration! It is a very interesting adventure story.
What a gem! Thanks!
Thank you! Great job, as always.
Fantastic thank you Ian!
Your narration of this incredible story brought it to vivid life before my eyes and ears!!
Thanks for a pleasant end to a busy day.
A riveting and well-told tale as usual, Ian! Excellent choice, and from an author I’m not familiar with, which is nice. I tend to get stuck on the classics.
This is my favorite kind of story. Secrets hidden within the depths of the earth waiting to be found by curious explorers. I often wish there was a place like this in real life... maybe there is and we just haven't found it yet.
This is peak of all handwritten "omg I'm being killed" notes.
Fantastic! Quite nerve-racking at times.
'Warren is...oh we're in one'.
Thank You Ian! This is going to be a Good One, would expect no less!
Warren survived this episode. What a night.
Love this one, something about the strange unbothered setup of the beginning works so well^^
Seems quite well fit to be a Call of Cthulhu adventure^^
This was AMAZING!
A wonderful afternoon for spelunking!
Scary
I think not. hell, I'm afraid to dig a hole.
Good stuff. Many thanks.
Horrorbabble in the house 🎉🎉
Excellent Smithers 😅😅😅
That was excellent.
What a great reading
Another fine job g Man awesome 👍👍
Can’t wait, perfect timing!
Warren already did an underground tale. It was explosive.
Great story!
Awww, yeeeaaahhh. I'm working in the heat again, so gimme that sweet, sweet Horrorbabble escapism, hahaha
200,000 in clear sight! ❤
Everybody talking about Smithers, but here I am giggling like the immature nerd I am everytime he says "Seaman".
We need more of Peter and Dayane on the podcast format.
Sounds like a good one
ALAS POOR WARREN I KNEW HIM WELL .....😢😢😢
I was never a fan of trophy hunting. I suppose that's why I always liked "the most dangerous game" where man had to go against man in an even match
Great stuff. Don't mind more of an action story.
First viewer first commenter! Warren is gonna love this.
You’re amazing 😊
Aaahhh, satisfying.
Awesome 😎😎😎
I don't mind coming in second lol so look forward to Wednesday now ❤
🍻
Nevermind lol he just said hes got a flash light😅
❤🔥
25:46 😊🎉😂❤
Then he got a job as assistant with one Monty Burns at a new fangled nuclear power plant. Good man, Smithers but an odd duck and consummate bachelor
Whoo!! Canadiana!! Whoo!! lol
"I accidently red-litten Yoth"...
Damn I was hoping Smithers would survive and they could all go on another adventure lol
Saunters in and out of rooms..... I'm guessing that the "mystery" around Smithers is named "Mr. Burns"..... 🤔
Of course there's a massive monster that looks like an angler fish. 😂😂
Idc what you've seen that's scary, nothing compares to an angler. Absolute and total nightmare fuel.
smithers, lol. love the naughty weekend he has for his fellows.
Smithers is a geed friend to Seamen... 😂
I love it when old stories like this more or less outright spells it out how these manly heroes make the men around them a bit bi-curios. Of course, male social relations were a lot closer back then since segregation of the sexes made men more reliant on other men for emotionally significant friendships (a role now much more heavily resting on wives and girlfriends), but sometimes the subtext is pretty damn close to just actual text.
No
What part of the story was that?
@@kevinfogle7929 it's literally not. In the beginning they are speaking of Smithers being charming to both women and men. Meaning he doesn't evoke jealous reactions from other men, they are equally intrigued by him and want to get to know him. Nowhere did they say any men had romantic feelings for him. Nowhere.. there's just always someone trying to shoehorn something gay in where it doesn't belong. It's exhausting. And dishonest.
So he got a suit and a silk ladder😂 but didn't bring lightsources
Semen every time they say that all I can think of is Ace vein and Aquaman changing his name to semen sea man
Ukwales❤
50min
What a great and terrible tale!
Disgusting.
Ian, an incredible reading. and it felt so real. it wasn’t overly dramatic either. 🫣🙀🧟🧌🪼
you guys are in a house now, right? best wishes to your little family. :) thanks much. 🌷🌱
Thanks, Alexa! Surviving each day with the little one…!
Thanks