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FinalRune Productions is proud to offer all (most) of our field-recorded radio drama stories as free MP3 downloads.

We use cutting-edge on location recording techniques, immersive sound design, complex and talented casts, and original scores to haunt, thrill, amuse, and delight. Our stories [mostly originals] question, prod, explore. We chart the demise of modern civilization, wonder what would happen if trolls lived in our midst, or open the doors on a haunted house where something dark lurks in the basement.

Our stories broadcast on the biggest screen you’ll ever have: your mind. Now sit back and enjoy the ride!

The War on Poverty

The War on Poverty Audio DramaIn a back back back door meeting in the White House, the President and his most trusted advisors discuss a new conflict which is unavoidable, absolutely essential to America (at least insofar as justifying the ballooning Department of Defense budget).

This new conflict, nay, War, will be a War fought against one of the most pervasive ills that has cursed civilization since the beginning. A War on… Poverty.

Wait. Poverty? How do you attack poverty?

This tongue in cheek 5 minute treat was produced for an audio engineering course Fred recently took with Dave Moulton (a Grammy nominated engineer) with the University of Maine in Augusta.

Voted most likely to get Fred on an FBI watch list!

finalrune · The War on Poverty

Credits:

  • Written, directed and produced by Fred Greenhalgh
  • Dave Marshall – The Man in Black
  • Bill Dufris – The President
  • Burke Brimmer – The General
  • Hannah Kramer – The Analyst
  • Johnny Speckman – The Pilot
  • Joe Duley – Co-Pilot
  • Emily Burnham – Anchorwoman
  • Philip Hobby – Anchorman
  • Original music – Barb Truex

This production was recorded in-studio at Mind’s Eye Productions for a University of Maine Augusta audio engineering class, Spring 2010.    Sound effects and additional music courtesy of Sounddogs.com and Soundrangers.com.

Special thanks to the UMA Audio 319 class for the spring of 2010.

This show is part of the open-source early works!

Access this show’s script

The Troll of Stony Brook

The Troll of Stony Brook

Killer artwork by Simon Adams

(Adventure/Fantasy)
Written, Directed and Produced by Frederick Greenhalgh

What would happen if a troll still lived in the diminishing wild around us?

To explore that question comes FinalRune’s environmental fantasy, The Troll of Stony Brook.

An awkward teenager, Jamie, is driving home one night from a party when he hits something – something big. His pushy co-worker, Rick, talks him into going back to the scene of the accident… and what they find will change them both forever.

finalrune · The Troll of Stony Brook

Download “The Troll of Stony Brook” (MP3 Download)

Cast

  • Philip Hobby as Jamie
  • Bill Dufris as the Troll
  • Hannah Kramer as Margo
  • Johnny Speckman as Rick
  • Joe Duley as angry customer and radio DJ
  • Paul Drinan as manager
  • Chris Newcomb as Officer 1
  • Emily Myshrall as Dispatch
  • Christine Marshall as TV reporter
  • Christopher Price as Sgt. Dailys
  • Charly Duley as the housewife
  • Ed Patterson as Officer 2
  • Dave Marshall as pilot
  • Janice Gardner as the trollette

Crew

  • Field recordist – Randall Farr
  • Mixing engineer – Tony Marino
  • Original musical score – Barb Truex
  • The song “Quantum Jesus” – Big Coffin Hunters
  • Additional sound effects courtesy of Mind’s Eye Productions.

Recorded on location in South Portland and Alfred, Maine the spring of 2010. Additional studio recording courtesy of Mind’s Eye Productions.

Learn more about this show (including a wacky documentary!) by seeing our accompanying Behind the Scenes page:

Behind the Scenes – The Troll of Stony Brook

Open Season: A Joe Gunther Novel

Joe Gunther Audio Drama

As Featured in the Wall Street Journal: Open Season, A Joe Gunther Novel.

An old lady tormented by lewd phone calls blasts a man with a shotgun as he walks in through the door, and Brattleboro’s everyman detective, Joe Gunther, is called out to investigate.

It’s clear that not everything is as it seems – the description of the phone calls and the dead man outside don’t match up.

And even stranger, the dead man and the old lady were jurors on the same controversial trial three years ago.

So begins “Open Season,” the inaugural Joe Gunther novel from Archer Mayor (THE PRICE OF MALICE, OCCAM’S RAZOR), an author who has earned lofty praise from The New York Times and Chicago Tribune.

Listen to the first episode of OPEN SEASON:

finalrune · Joe Gunther Pilot Mixdown (44100 Hz).WAV

Credits:

Written by Archer Mayor, audio adaptation by Fred Greenhalgh. Produced and Directed by Fred Greenhalgh.

  • Bill Dufris as Joe Gunther
  • Christopher Price as Patrol Officer, Patrolman, and JP
  • Philip Hobby as Katz and Gould
  • Burke Brimmer as Sergeant
  • Kym Dakin as Reitz
  • Christine Marshall as Mrs. Philips

Field recording by Randall Farr, original score by James Munro. Holiday music by Kevin Macleod.

Behind the Scenes of Open Season

Three Skeleton Key

Three Skeleton Key Radio Drama Retelling

Image from Dvorak Blog

(Suspense/Horror)
Written by George Toudouze, adapted for radio by James Poe

Part of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

Three men who tend the light at a reclusive island off the coast of French Guiana see a rogue ship adrift in the Atlantic. The reason for the derelict ship soon becomes obvious – it has been overrun by hundreds of thousands of ferocious ship’s rats.

The rats land on the isle and soon we are in for a claustrophobic tale of terror as the three men struggle to keep their minds from cracking under the pressure of thousands and thousands of squeaking, scratching, hungry rats.

finalrune · Three Skeleton Key

Running Time: 24 minutes

“Three Skeleton Key” is among the most famous of old time radio tales, and making something anew here was a challenge. FinalRune’s approach was to take a group of talented actors from the Mad Horse Theater Company and recording them in and around a real lighthouse to enhance the acoustic reality and physicality of the performance.

Many people have chronicled how much this story scared the bejesus out of theme when they were young. Learn much more about its history on the Escape and Suspense! Blog.

Credits:

Producer and Director: Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

  • Burke Brimmer as Jean
  • Craig Bowden as Louis
  • Philip Hobby as Auguste

Field recordist Randall Farr, Musical Score by Barb Truex.

Recorded on location at Goat Island Lighthouse off the coast of Cape Porpoise, Maine. Special thanks to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and lighthouse keepers Scott and Karen for use of the facility.

To learn more about the Mad Horse Theater Company, visit their website, www.madhorse.com

Behind the Scenes of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

Live Halloween Show 2009

audio horror story
Art by Simon Adams

In Halloween, 2009 FinalRune Productions hosted our first live radio drama at the University of Southern Maine’s Talbot Lecture Hall in Portland, Maine.

Hear this bone-chilling audio experience in its entirety:

finalrune · Halloween 2009 – Live Radio Drama

Running Time: 1 hour, 28 minutes

See photos from this production.

The Stories in the Show:

  • The Ghost Behind the Black Door by Roger Gregg
    A couple from the city moves to a mansion in the countryside only to find that things are not all as they expect… a spoof on the classic horror meme.
  • Leaving You is Hell by Fred Greenhalgh
    A dark retelling of the myth of Orpheus inspired by the classic jazz tune “St James Infirmary.” A man in New Orleans is doomed to keep falling in love with the same woman and seducing her to her death.
  • Bone Lake by Mark LaFlamme
    The ice fishing’s going well on Bone Lake, until a man comes from the winter’s night looking for a very strange catch.
  • Third Shift by Kevin Anderson
    A company will sell you very efficient workers at a bargain price. Just don’t send the living to check out their work.
  • H1NSane by Fred Greenhalgh
    It was all going so well until the zombies showed up. Don’t drink the agave nectar!

The Talented Cast:

  • Announcer – John Hickson
  • Representing WMPG – Dale Robin Lockman

Ghost Behind the Black Door:

  • Payeur – Tom Power
  • Colleen – Christine Marshall
  • Herbert – Philip Hobby
  • Ghost Man – Burke Brimmer
  • Ghost Woman – Janice Gardner

Losing You is Hell

  • Man – Burke Brimmer
  • Woman – Christine Marshall
  • Madame Genevere – Janice Gardner
  • Lost Souls – John Hickson

Bone Lake

  • Carlton – Tom Power
  • Rupert – Burke Brimmer
  • Joseph – John Hickson
  • Tony – Burke Brimmer
  • Everett – Philip Hobby

Third Shift

  • Alan – Burke Brimmer
  • Helen – Janice Gardner
  • Customer – Philip Hobby

H1NSane

  • Fred Greenhalgh – Self
  • Joe – Burke Brimmer
  • Voice from Crowd – Janice Gardner
  • Sally – Christine Marshall
  • Operator – Janice Gardner
  • SFX Person – Paul Drinan
  • Scientist – Philip Hobby
  • Zombie Kid – Burke Brimmer
  • Corporal – Burke Brimmer
  • Navy Seal – Philip Hobby

Live Sound Effects and Music

Live sound effects by Paul Drinan and “Goober,” computer FX by Michael Townsend, live music performed by Barb Truex.

Mixing: Lisa Bunker. Additional production assistance by Dianne Ballon.

Special Thanks to WMPG

WMPG, Portland, Maine’s community radio arranged for the venue and provided the live stream and radio broadcast of this show.

The show was a fundraiser for WMPG’s PowerUP! Campaign, which seeks to raise $250,000 to upgrade the signal strength of the station’s main transmitter and move it to a better location.

If you like this show, don’t miss the chance to donate to WMPG! We hope to bring this show back in 2010.

Behind the Scenes of Fred’s Live Radio Drama Horror Show 2009

This show is part of the open-source early works!

Access Fred’s Script, “Losing You is Hell”

Sorry, Wrong Number

Sorry, Wrong Number Radio Drama(Suspense/Horror)
Written by Lucille Fletcher (Who Else?)

Part of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

A retelling of the classic from Suspense!

A bedridden neurotic woman dials a number and is accidentally connected to a call between two men who are plotting a murder. She becomes increasingly frantic as no one takes her fright seriously and time begins to run out.

Prepare to be spooked all over again in this thrilling adaptation!

finalrune · Sorry, Wrong Number

Producer and Director: Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

  • Christine Marshall as Mrs. Stevenson
  • Tootie Van Reenen as Operator
  • Craig Bowden as Man 1 and Man 3
  • Philip Hobby as Man 2
  • Burke Brimmer as Chief Operator and Cop
  • Barb Truex as Information and Nurse

Field recordist Randall Farr, Musical Score by Barb Truex.

Recorded on location in the Greater Portland Maine area the summer of 2009.

To learn more about the Mad Horse Theater Company, visit their website, www.madhorse.com

Behind the Scenes of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

The Most Dangerous Game

Most Dangerous Game Radio Drama(Adventure)
Written by Richard Connell, New Audio Adaptation by Fred Greenhalgh

Part of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

Adapted anew from the short story – a retelling of the story heard in the 1940s on Escape and Suspense!

Wealthy big-game hunter Sanger Rainsford falls off his boat in the middle of the Caribbean and finds himself on a curious island. He finds the mansion of General Zaroff, a Cossack who has a taste for the hunt, and will go to any extreme to keep himself entertained.

A thrilling tale with a lot of history (thank you Wikipedia)

finalrune · The Most Dangerous Game

Producer and Director: Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

  • Burke Brimmer as Whitney
  • Craig Bowden, as Rainsford
  • Brent Askari, as General Zaroff

Field recordist Randall Farr, Musical Score by Barb Truex, Classical Music by Kevin MacLeod

Recorded on location in the Greater Portland Maine area the summer of 2009.

To learn more about the Mad Horse Theater Company, visit their website, www.madhorse.com

Behind the Scenes of the FinalRune/Mad Horse Old Time Radio on Location Project

Waiting for a Window

waiting for a window fantasy radio drama(Comedy-Drama)
Written and Produced by Frederick Greenhalgh

An unexpected storm throws Norman D. Waits off his course to… somewhere.

The island where he lands is nice enough, with old sea salts that welcome him with open arms and a bar that’s always open. But as it becomes increasingly clear that no one ever seems to leave the island, Norman finds himself in a fight to get moving to some distant shore or remain trapped in this half-baked paradise forever.

finalrune · Waiting for a Window

Cast:

  • Ed Patterson as Norman
  • Bill Dufris as Rob
  • Philip Hobby as Bob
  • Joe Duley as Davey
  • Charly Duley as Molly
  • CarlaRose Dubois as Woman
  • Kristi DeVille as Suzy
  • Chris Newcomb as Patron 1 and Man
  • Toby Paradis as Patron 2
  • Adam Ferguson as Patron 3
  • Wayne De Jagger, Rebecca Titcomb and Amy Titcomb as members of the bar

Original Music Composed by Barbara Truex

Audio Engineering by Randall Farr

Additional Production Assistance by Adam Ferguson

Sound recorded on location in and around Portland, Maine.

Special thanks

    • To Roger Gregg and Tom Lopez for inspiration and insight
    • To WMPG for use of talent and broadcast resources

To Port Harbor Marine and The Bloody Marble Collective for use of their space. To all of the other friends, family, comrades and creditors who made this production possible.

Behind the Scenes – Waiting for a Window

Dark Passenger

Dark Passenger Audio Horror Story
(Horror)
Written and Produced by Frederick Greenhalgh

Two teenage friends start scaring each other on the drive to a dismal “haunted” house on the coast of Maine. But when their innocent fun starts to become all too real, they soon realize what true terror is. A nod to Stephen King in a tale inspired by a true story too haunting to forget.

This inaugural field recorded FinalRune production still haunts today. It was recorded in the foggy, dim stretches of rural Downeast Maine where the story is set – the birthplace of creator Fred Greenhalgh. Featuring immersive sound design, and an original score, this full cast audio horror story is sure to chill to the bone.

finalrune · Dark Passenger

Cast:

  • Narrator: John Coons
  • David: Christopher Reiling
  • Matt: Philip Hobby
  • Girl: Rowan Hoyt
  • Father: Rob Hoyt
  • Boy: Gabriel Whitman
  • Mother: Stacy Ann Strang

Sound Effects:

  • Record on-location in Old Orchard Beach, Maine
  • Supplemental effects courtesy of Sounddogs.com

Music:

  • Original Music by Stu Mahan and James Munro

Special Thanks:

  • Peter and Marge Titcomb
  • WMPG
  • Roger Gregg, David Schinn, Richard Fish, and the whole crew of NATF

Behind the Scenes of Dark Passenger

This show is part of the open-source early works!

Access this show’s script

Fall of the Hero

fall of the hero - a fantasy audio drama

(Fantasy)
Written and Produced by Frederick Greenhalgh

Sir Grace was the most valiant of all knights, decked in glorious armor that glowed in the sun and a record of dragon-slaying and maiden saving on par with none. But a battle with a renowned wizard with ambiguous ambitions forces Sir Grace to consider things he never imagined, and face his greatest enemy yet: himself.

finalrune · Fall of the Hero

Cast:

  • Narrator: Ian Carlsen
  • Sir Grace: Philip Hobby
  • Squire: Fred Greenhalgh
  • Roland D’Arcanus, Imp: Corey Anderson
  • The Maiden: Mia Perron
  • Voices: Andriana Colucci

Sound Effects:

  • Record on-location
  • Supplemental effects courtesy of Sounddogs.com

Music:

  • Original Music by Michael Beaudoin

Behind the Scenes of Fall of the Hero

This show is part of the open-source early works!

Access this show’s script

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Fred’s Production Company

Dagaz Media High End Audio Drama

Looking to hire Fred for an audio drama project? See the website for his award-winning production company, Dagaz Media, co-founded with audio drama legend William Dufris.