Reading Material for Your Ears
Hello everyone, it’s your favourite mannequin.
The lights are out in the department store once again, and you know what that means.
Time for me to deviate from my typical bullshit movie reviews and veer into something
completely alternate and self-serving.
Here at the Terror Talk discord group, we’re slamming so many horror books directly into our retinas that by the time we’re done we may be blind, but we will SEE EVERYTHING.
Sometimes it can be rather difficult to be attentive while reading.
Maybe your eyes wander.
Perhaps you read the same section repeatedly and still don’t know what you read.
Even worse, you personally are guilty of allowing, no - directing - your mind to thoughts of mannequins. I personally forgive you for that, though others will not.
Confess. I know why you’re reading this instead of those 135 unread books on your Kindle. You can’t concentrate on the task at hand. What if I told you I knew a little mannequin trick you can use to help keep your mind’s eye of Sauron always pointed directly at Frodo? *
* YMMV, no guarantees, post no bills, no parking after 3pm on Tuesdays after the closest equinox. No purchase necessary.
The secret is not in the eyes, but in the ears.
My prescription for what ails you is a liberal application of creepy instrumental music during your reading session.
Reading is a ritual. And when you’re reading with Terror Talk, it’s a dark ritual indeed.
Before we begin, you should set yourself up in the proper ritualistic environment if possible.
First, of course, choose a chair. You may already have a favourite but choose something that will be comfortable for the length of time you typically read for, say 1-2 hours. Otherwise, if it’s just for 15 mins - four fucking legs and a seat!
Next, the environment itself. You could fully commit; snuff the lights, loose those blackout curtains, raze some candles and gather your furry familiars - I recommend this highly, especially the latter. They will whisper hellish incantations and issue demonic stenches in support of your ritual. Bonus points if you have a Kindle - you can read solely by the backlight if you so choose (dark mode for extra witchcraft).
One last thing - you’ll want a smartphone or some similar device that can play YouTube videos or Spotify playlists, etc. You’ll of course want to turn the screen off while reading, and we’ll have some additional information on that later.
So now you need to select your vials of dark audio ambrosia. There are a few criteria one must consider when creating one’s personal aural formulae. Choosing poorly will result in reading interruptions. You want zero interruptions when pouring through tomes arcane and occult both. We really don’t know what the resulting demons would resemble (and we sure as hell know you don’t have the insurance coverage for this sort of unnatural disaster).
Use the following guidelines:
◦ No vocals, instrumental ambient music ONLY. Only the whispers of the damned summoned from the pages of your spell book are allowed here.
◦ Slower music works better for this ritual. Lulling you into a hypnotic state of being as you bridge the divide between your world and the world captured in the tome before you.
◦ The music needs to be dreadful and foreboding, whilst not becoming the pinnacle of the ritual. No standout melodies or solos to distract your focus.
◦ The volume should be kept to a minimum. Just loud enough for you to be aware of the dark song’s presence. Just quiet enough that it fades back into your subconscious as soon as your ritual begins. Let the tendrils and spider legs of notes reach out to you and tickle your ears but not your mind. If you are weak and they tickle your mind, you shalt be forever lost to the sands of time.
A good ritual selection will leave your skin crawling as you read the words now leaping from the pages, reaching across dimensions to force their way into your reality. Did that shadow move? Did that arcane abomination just walk out of the words and into the darkened corner over there? That is for you to investigate - but don’t break the oath.
Feel the power in the air, in the words and see the power in your mind’s eye as you absorb the written word.
And finally,
we never leave our mannequin army empty handed. I have reached across the cosmos and touched that thing without a face. I pressed my ear to its lips and for you, it decreed provide some examples for those that may lose their way that they may find themselves again.
I have compiled a youtube playlist for you. It is below. Along with instructions on how to listening with the screen off.
Should you have your own preferences - share them with me by dropping an email at terrortalkpodcast@gmail.com so I may add them to our living, breathing playlists for future mindscape travelers.
Mannequin Uprising’s Dark Ambient Reading Playlists
Yours in Mannequin Uprising,
Ice
A word on listening to YouTube with the screen off: The official YouTube app doesn’t allow you to listen with the screen off. But we have our mannequin ways.
Subscribe to YouTube Premium. It’s unfortunate that this feature is behind a paywall on the official app, but if you are already subscribed, have at it.
Browser desktop mode (the method I use). Instead of using the YouTube app, use your web browser (Chrome is recommended but it may work in others).
a. Open the link in your browser of choice and in your browser settings select the option to load as a desktop site.
b. Find the video you want to listen to and hit play on it.
c. Next, turn your screen off.
d. If the audio stops, turn your screen back on and you should have an entry for playback on your lock screen. Hit the play button and turn your screen off again.
Phone brand-specific features. Some Android phone manufacturers have added a feature that allows you to continue playing audio with the screen off. Two brands that have this feature are Xiaomi and Redmi, but there may be others.
Third party YouTube applications. I have not tried any of these, but there are various unofficial YouTube apps that can be obtained for Android. I can’t recommend any of them as I have not needed them.
If you enjoyed this article at all, please consider joining the Terror Talk Patreon. It’s less than one of your fancy coffees per month with the side benefit of getting additional content, and if you want to you get to talk and watch movies with the usual suspects on Discord while helping keep independent creators working on the things they love and that you enjoy.