Hey! Welcome back to content_unavailable for yet another Thing of the Week - as promised, I've returned after just under two weeks of holidaying in the middle of the desert [not a joke]. You may think that, as a result, I haven't got much to talk about today, but you'd be sorely mistaken - during my time off, I finally found time to listen to a BUNCH of albums, podcasts and the like, one of which in particular I want to talk about today: Camp Here and There, the horror-comedy serial podcast created by Blue Wolfe!
I've known about CHaT for quite some time now, mainly due to the series' soundtrack, of all things, which was composed by Will Wood [one of my favourite artists at present, who was last mentioned here in TOTW#30]! Unfortunately, I hadn't had much time to get beyond the first few episodes - until now!
To give you the gist - CHat is, as I mentioned, a horror-comedy audio drama which lets you ''tune into the loudspeakers of a small midwestern sleep-away camp plagued by supernatural terrors and natural disasters''. It's a really interesting concept, and, as one of the first serialised podcasts I've ever listened to, a really cool medium for storytelling that's very new to me. It helps that Blue Wolfe really makes use of the medium, too, with everything you're listening to having a reason for being there [tannoy recordings, tape recordings, etc]. I'll try to keep this largely spoiler-free, but the plot revolves mostly around Sydney Sargeant, Camp Here and There's nurse and mealtime announcer, and his experiences dealing with the strange goings-on at the camp, ranging from a penguin colony to a huge blob of goo to a strange bloke in a pink elephant mask. First off, I just love the concept, and how the show starts out as a more light-hearted monster of the week type deal but quickly becomes much more deep and personal, delving into Sydney's personal feelings about what's going on around him.
Like I said, though, I'll try not to spoil the plot for you - instead, let's talk about the writing! Spoiler alert: It's really good. Not only are all of the ideas in CHaT absolutely brilliant, but the characters are amazing, too. Everyone is excellently characterised [and brought to life by their phenomenal voice actors!], with some of my favourites being Sydney [duh, protagonist], Jedidiah [duh, duertagonist] and Counsellor Juniper [duh, British].
On top of all of that, of course, the music by Will Wood is excellent, and the soundtrack album is well worth giving a listen even if you're not planning on listening to the show itself. Overall, Camp Here and There is an excellent serial podcast that I'd absolutely recommend giving a go, especially if you haven't really delved into story-focused podcasts like this before! Listening to this one has made me want to give so many others a go - so much so that I've already finished I Am In Eskew and am halfway through The Silt Verses, which you might see in a future TOTW [or even TOTM!]. I'm also really enjoying what there is of CHaT Season Two so far, and I'm excited to see where it's going!
With that said, though, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Spotify Page l Official Website
