If you listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, you may have heard someone mention The Twenty Percent True Podcast during a recent “what’s making us happy this week” segment. Guest Tasha Robinson spoke highly of this series of short stories about “modern monsters.” If she’d just left it at “monsters,” I might not have been interested, but she described the author as a blend between Kelly Link, who I don’t know, and Neil Gaiman. The comparison to Gaiman convinced me that I had to check it out.
By the end of the first episode, I knew that I’d been introduced to something wonderful.
If you aren’t really into horror, rest assured: these monsters are not scary. Some of them — like mermaids — aren’t what most people think of as monsters at all. But even the ones that inhabit horror films, like a vampire, aren’t particularly alarming. Author Carolyn Rahaman isn’t trying to scare us. She’s telling us engaging stories involving mythical beings in the modern world.
In some cases the story is told from the point of view of one of those beings. Other times the central character is an ordinary human who is interacting with a “monster.” In some stories, such as “Lost Your Mind,” it will take a while before you realize what you’re dealing with. Stories with titles like “Demons” make it clear from the outset what sort of creature you’ll encounter, though the shape the monster takes may surprise you. Many of the stories have an unexpected twist, and none of them are like anything I’ve read (or watched or listened to) before.
Which brings me to the comparison with Gaiman. Perhaps if I knew Link’s work, I would consider Robinson’s description accurate. I would not, however, call these stories Gaimanesque. Rahaman’s stories are uniquely her own.
The stories are easy to binge — the longest is only 21-1/2 minutes long, the shortest is under 12 minutes. I loved most of the stories, and I “merely” liked a couple of them. None of them were a waste of time. Rahaman is an inventive, masterful storyteller, and she reads her stories quite well.
I was disappointed when I ran out of episodes, but Rahaman promised more stories in a few months, so I subscribed and will dutifully await the next batch. Since the notion of “modern monsters” was the theme for the first season, I don’t expect to hear more of the same in Season Two. Whatever I encounter will be a pleasant surprise.
After listening to a few of the stories, I decided to check out Rahaman’s website. I was surprised not to find a link to published work. Hopefully Rahaman’s podcast will be popular enough to attract the attention of publishers. In the meantime, I highly recommend you indulge in these stories. They’re utterly enchanting.