There are many ways to tell a story. A radio drama, for example, immerses listeners in a theatrical-like production backed by music and rich audio effects. Audiobook narration, however, conveys written work another way: someone reads text to listeners so they can absorb the story.

What does the space between these two storytelling genres look like? How does each one influence the listener’s experience?

These are questions that Associate Professor Neil Verma often thinks about. As a historian who studies radio dramas, he’s also interested in the art of audio storytelling.

“They’re very different styles,” he explains. “If I’m doing a radio play, I’m not only reading a text aloud. It’s in a different space. There’s a scene of characters who perform different actions.”

For Verma, Black Mass—a horror-fantasy series produced by Erik Bauersfeld in the 1960s—is a good example of just how blurry the line between radio drama and narration can sometimes be. Black Mass reimagines existing tales from well-known authors, turning written works into radio dramas by adding soundscapes and casting voices for each character.

“When you listen to the piece, you can’t tell if it’s supposed to be a sound design of what’s being described or a sonic setting for the words being spoken,” Verma describes. “I wanted to explore what a modern version of that might sound like.”

Weirdvoice, a horror anthology, is the result of that exploration. Created by Verma and a group of Chicago-based artists known as Ice Core Collaborative, Weirdvoice was released as a podcast anthology of original monologues in 2024. The eight-episode series blends supernatural storytelling with original soundscapes. And while the script is important, there’s a critical balance between it, the music, and the sound design. Even without the words, listeners should still be able to listen and pick up on the moods and emotions of the story.

The creative minds behind Weirdvoice first came together during the pandemic to produce American Bottom for A Red Orchid Theatre. It’s a multidisciplinary art piece inspired by the geographical area of southern Illinois. After the success of that project, the same team decided to meet regularly to talk about new projects they could collaborate on—which is where the idea for Weirdvoice surfaced. The group is made up of professionals like Assistant Professor Brett Neveu, composer Matthew Muñiz, artist Rich Sparks, Foley artist Ele Matelan, Assistant Professor of Instruction Exal Iraheta, composer Aviva Jaye, Instructor Michael Gilio, and sound artist Maya Reter (Sound Arts and Industries ’24).

“We tried not to ‘plan’ Weirdvoice too much,” Verma explains. “We talk about the piece and what is most interesting about it. We bring it into the studio. We collectively decide on an actor to explore the piece with and ask them to record it. Many times, we don’t know what we want the piece to be until we hear it. Then Ele and I start sound designing it, Matthew starts composing music, and Rich starts creating promotional images. We have space to play with the sound. It doesn’t have to just illustrate events. It can be a texture associated with the story.”

Everything about Weirdvoice is original. Vocals are recorded in Louis Hall’s soundstage. The team doesn’t use sound effects libraries or canned music. Instead, all field recordings are captured specifically for the piece.

“The eighth episode has a cave scene in it, and I have a few cave recordings I took in Germany years ago,” Verma explains. “But I didn’t like them enough to use them, so I drove to the Upper Peninsula and recorded abandoned copper mines to get the sound I wanted.”

The team is already planning a second season of Weirdvoice that they plan to record at Northwestern as well. One of the advantages of creating a piece like this in a university setting, explains Verma, is having more time to create—and more time to create means better product in the world of audio.

“People are often trying to make things faster and more efficient,” he says. “But I really believe in making things slowly. That’s how different qualities emerge in a work.”

Weirdvoice was recently selected for a special March 15 Audio Buffet broadcast on WGXC Wave Farm in New York. You can also listen to it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

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