In honor of the spookiest of holidays only a few days away, here is Maeltopia, a horror and dark fiction podcast featuring interconnected series and stories set in the ever-expanding literary world, hosted by Rusty Quill.
Rusty Quill is an industry leading independent production company and podcast network. It was founded in 2015 and works to originate, find, develop, fund, produce and distribute exceptional media content around the world.
“Marvin doesn’t have a shadow? Of course not. Marvin is the shadow.”
– Helena
The Great Darkness of 1999 left enigmatic structures and artifacts known as Obscuruum in its wake, casting a grim shadow over humanity.
Years later, a mysterious organization called the Esoterium founds the Obscuary – a team of extraordinary individuals tasked with uncovering the secrets behind these sinister artifacts.
Endowed with rare abilities, the Obscuary endeavors to survive – while also navigating the haunted echoes of their turbulent pasts.
Waking is no cure for dreaming.
The Sleep/Wake Cycle is an audio drama podcast blending supernatural horror with noir and dark Fantasy.
Born during the Night Plague of 1983, the Stroud twins have been reunited after a lifetime apart, their way forward lit by dimmest foxfire.
Forced into the service of secrets older than stone, they do the cold work of their unseen masters, a faceless cabal swelling deep within the guts of the risen government.
As Reclamation Agents, the preternatural twins are tasked with returning the country to its former glory, wresting order from the kings and queens below the world—horrors slipped from nightmare and madness.
Confronting the Strouds is a world forsaken of sanity, where coffins oft become cocoons, shadows rise against the sun, and reality is just the husk that dreams have left behind.
In addition to their gifts, the twins are affected by specific neurological conditions, including Tourette’s Syndrome / tic disorder and schizoaffective disorder, among others. Though these conditions do not define the characters, they are explored in ways that provide a more positive, accurate portrayal — one that helps battle the stigma, misinformation and harm caused by much of mainstream media’s historical treatment of such issues.
Lead writers Mark Anzalone and Steve Anzalone, who also lend their voices to Isaiah and other characters, have a lifetime of experience contending with the specific conditions portrayed, giving the show an authentic voice that conveys the diverse and often individual symptoms experienced by those with mental health disorders.
Additionally, Steven lends his academic expertise to the production through his master’s degree in psychology, his work in the field of behavioural neuroscience, and his position as an Institutional Review Board Specialist for the University of Harvard. Further discussions with others affected by mental health conditions, including Maeltopia’s lead writer and editor Walker Kornfeld, have been had during the creative process to ensure additional sensitivity.
Co-founded in 2015 by brothers Mark and Steven Anzalone, Maeltopia is a multimedia dark fiction company that offers an ever-growing body of work, from interconnected novels, web serials and short stories to podcast narrations and artwork.
The team is hard at work on plans to expand into graphic novels, tabletop games, RPGs, comic books and more, all based on the world of Maeltopia.
We hope you enjoyed these episodes from the world of Maeltopia. If you wish to hear more, you can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Rusty Quill. And if it wasn’t to your liking, check out Fictional Cafe’s Audio Arts page. We have new episodes every other Friday, 7PM EST. So don’t change that dial!
