Homeless Bodies and Other Stories is an original fiction podcast featuring audio-exclusive short stories from award-winning authors and Sunday Times best-sellers, inspired by objects & artefacts from Wellcome Collection's permanent exhibition, 'Medicine Man', in London.
Exploring themes of otherness, humanity, history, society and belief, Homeless Bodies and Other Stories brings together a gripping collection of tales that are unsettlingly eerie and provokingly current. Objects that inspired Audible's collection of stories include: a trepanned skull, drilled with holes to release trapped spirits; an iron scold's bridle, used to punish 'gossiping' women; a 19th Century fragment of tattooed skin; a phrenology skull and an 18th Century wax vanitas head.
With six original, audio-exclusive stories, the collection includes brand new writing from: Imogen Hermes Gowar, Andrew Michael Hurley, Laura Purcell, Sarah Moss, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Haroun Khan.
Homeless Bodies and Other Stories sees these six authors probe the dark and twisted corners of humanity in an attempt to better understand ourselves and our place in the world with stories crafted specifically for the spoken-word. Before their stories, listeners will hear each of the authors in conversation with Wellcome's curators as they find out more about their chosen object's history.
With original musical composition and stirring sound design by Hana Walker-Brown.
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(Audible Original, 31 October 2019, 6 hours, audiobook, @audibleuk Original Podcast, free with membership)
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I loved the idea behind this podcast, writers use artefacts from the same collection as a source of inspiration. I enjoyed every story on offer here. I was impressed by the fact the stories were so different even though some of the chosen objects were similar. The stand-out stories were The Scold's Bridle, The Master and The Student and Vanitas.
