Tales from Beyond (CD)
Starring the voices of Kyle Hebert, Elizabeth McGlynn, Robert Picardo, Daniel Roebuck, Betsy Rue
Directed by Kevin Herren and Jim O’Rear
I can still recall lying in wait for 11:30 every night long ago when I was a child – my local radio station would pick up the national broadcast of “CBS Mystery Theater,” and I would throw on my headphones and listen to the creepy tones of host E.G. Marshall as he would introduce nightly tales of mystery, intrigue and terror. It turned out to be somewhat of a ritual over the course of many years, and I would fight to stay awake during the late hours, and even with my headphones firmly in place, all outside noises would permeate and combine with the ambient studio noises used to enhance the audio program, giving me that eerie sensation that there was someone… or something else… in my room while the night ticked away – and THAT’S how you roll out an auditory experience!
Many attempts have been made over the course of the years, with some emitting that live-styled theatrical resonance, while others have dropped by the wayside without a whimper – in my honest (and utterly useless) opinion, since the “CBS Mystery Theater’s” nearly 1400 re-broadcasts in 2000, no one has been able to come close to providing the chills and thrills sent through your ear canals like Himan Brown’s original creation. I’m all for giving up-and-comers an opportunity, even if it means having to suffer through an inferior product; yet, when I was offered the chance to check out Tales from Beyond, a series of three mini-tales related to strange phenomena and unexplained circumstances within our world, directed, written, and produced by Kevin Herren and Jim O’Rear, I jumped at the prospect.
Together, these two have spent countless years in the entertainment industry, and they have combined their efforts to provide a little in-ear creepiness for all of the lovers of long-lost studio on-air broadcast plays. Boosted by a five-person cast, O’Rear uses his acting talents to work alongside Daniel Roebuck (Rob Zombie’s Halloween II), Robert Picardo (“The Wonder Years”), Betsy Rue (My Bloody Valentine), and longtime voice-actors Kyle Hebert and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn – each fills a different role in the three stories, and there’s no better time to dip a quick toe into each tale than right now.
“Deadly Fortune” – a seemingly harmless visit to a carnival fortune-teller could reveal a very important future lesson for one man, whether he believes it to be true or not.
“The Attic” – A young girl comes into possession of a doll that she found in an attic where she was specifically told not to visit – is the appearance of her new “friend” simply circumstance or something more evil?
“Unbreakable” – A distant husband and wife’s bond will suffer the ultimate test when an accident befalls one of them.
All three stories have that ominous, otherworldly undercurrent to them, and while they’ll not exactly scare the pants off of you, they serve as somewhat of differing cautionary tales in their interpretation, and I unfortunately had hoped for something a bit darker in subject matter. Production-wise, I also felt as if this was lacking a bit – if you want to present me with the illusion that a couple is enjoying a night out at a carnival, perhaps a little background ambient sound would have been more appropriate – it sounded as if all three of these tales were recorded inside of a closet, leaving me wanting more to properly set each scene.
With an overall runtime of 45 minutes, each tale whisked me along like a young child being pulled through an amusement park – I can see the sights, but you’re not giving me nearly enough time to immerse myself in them, and while I’m sure these were set up with the utmost levels of preparation, I would have liked a little more depth to swim around in. Overall, it’s a valiant effort by all those involved, but I was left wanting much, much more in terms of production value and thrills, with a HUGE pat on the back for packaging: The lone audio CD comes in a flip-style folder with a book that entails the actors’ credentials and has read-along scripts for each story.
In closing, I’ll recommend these to those who are the hardcore audio story-lovers like myself, and if you’ve got a little time to kill, they are worth a listen, but don’t get too hung up on the “what-ifs” – just settle in and let the noises envelop you.
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