Fever Dreams
I was introduced to writing audio dramas when Big Finish contacted me to write a Dark Shadows audio drama. I ended up writing three.
Audio drama scripts are different from screenplays or writing graphic novels or short stories. You have to think completely differently, as this is an audio medium, not a visual one. So you have to think about what kind of sounds you can include in the script that will enhance and help you tell the story. There is a sound engineer who will add music and sounds, but as the writer, you want to make sure that you include the important sounds in your script.
It was great fun writing for Dark Shadows. I was one of those kids who ran home from school to watch the show. Then, in later years, I ended up working as a writer’s assistant for Dan Curtis. Dan, of course, created Dark Shadows. He also did the Kolchak: the Nightstalker movies, Trilogy of Terror, and other horror movies that filled my childhood and made me want to write horror. Through working for Dan, I met Lara Parker. We became fast friends and I helped her with all of her Dark Shadows novels. So Dark Shadows has been very influential throughout my life.
That brings us to Fever Dreams. Voyage Media was interested in adapting one of my stories into an audio drama. I convinced them that I should write the adaptation myself. So we chose my story, The Charnel House, which appeared in the Summer Chills Anthology. I wrote this story after my trip to Egypt which included visiting Cairo, various pyramids, the Sphynx, scuba diving in the Red Sea, and visiting St. Catherine’s Monastery.
I wrote this story at the behest of Steve Jones, one of the foremost editors in horror (along with Ellen Datlow). I always said I knew I’d made it as a horror writer if Steve ever bought one of my stories. (I still haven’t sold one to Ellen).
To have enough story for a 1-hour audio drama, I added a storyline not in the book. I think it adds dimension to the protagonist and her dilemma.
More audio dramas are in my future. I’m working with Sandy King Carpenter on a potential audio drama series under the podcast John Carpenter Presents. To say I’m excited about that is an understatement.
If you like audio dramas, give the Fever Dreams podcast a try. And don’t forget to give my episode, The Charnel House, a listen.
Deborah Daughetee
Deborah Daughetee has spent most of her career writing and producing such television shows as Murder, She Wrote; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; and Touched by an Angel. She has published short stories in magazines and anthologies. In addition, she has also written audio dramas set in the world of the 60’s classic television show, Dark Shadows, including her Scribe award nominated, The Lost Girl. Most recently, Debbie created Kymera Press, a comic book publishing company that supports women in comics. She writes the comic series, Gates of Midnight which was winner of the 2019 Irwin Award and publishes the Bram Stoker Award Winning Mary Shelley Presents Tales of the Supernatural.
