The Black Cat Moan

If you haven’t heard of Limetown, the creepy new podcast created by Two-Up Productions, you’re missing out. Following on the heels of the massively successful podcast Serial, the tale of Limetown takes a similar documentary style approach, although this time to a fictional story.

The tale begins on February 8, 2004 with a nerve-racking 911 call in which a hysterical woman pleads for emergency responders to be sent to the facility (and quasi-municipality) of Limetown. Authorities arrive, only to be held back at the gates by armed security personnel who refuse to let anyone through. Smoke rises from inside the massive compound.

Days later, the security team leaves.

There is no one left inside.

All 327 men, women and children are gone. No bodies are found. In fact, no physical trace of any human presence is discovered, except one small item: the teeth of one of the members of the Limetown community. Where did all of the people go? What happened here?

The community of Limetown was made up of scientists and their families, all of them brought together to work at Limetown on a secret project under the auspice of a secretive billionaire, Mr. R.B. Villard. Mr. Villard was not at the compound when everyone disappeared, but after a contentious Congressional hearing, he too vanishes from public and is not seen again.

Limetown (only the first two of seven episodes are currently available) utilizes a documentary format, overlapping interviews and direct commentary from the story’s main character, an investigative reporter turned narrator. Throughout, a steady pulsing and thrumming soundtrack amps up the eerie tension in all the right moments. The story itself, while mysterious, isn’t particularly creepy, but the fantastic aural accompaniment puts your nerves on edge.

This is a flat-out fantastic story, well-told and gripping and marvelously inventive. I can only hope for more outstanding stories to come from Two-Up Productions in the future.

You can download Limetown or listen to it at Limetownstories.com.

Looking for something similar to Limetown…

For seven years Kenny Perkins thought he’d gotten away with his wife’s murder. Then the box arrived. And inside was her severed finger. Somebody knew…

The only sign in the dusty little town read 666. Which had to be a joke, right? There was nothing else there except an abandoned gas station and an empty road that stretched on into the distance. But getting out of Hell wasn’t nearly as easy as getting in. 

“Man, this guy can really write. Miller is top-notch.” — Bill Jenkins

“More Twilight Zone than Wes Craven. These are stories with heart and soul. Spooky and just plain good, the kind of reading that really keeps me up at night.” — Wendy Haller

The Other Side of the Door and Stranger Calls are available wherever ebooks are sold.