The Old Gods Waken

This month on *The Inklings Variety Hour*, we're talking about *The Old Gods Waken,* a supernatural thriller penned by Manly Wade Wellman. If you enjoy Charles Williams, and are at least interested by the idea of Appalachian Weird Fiction, I suspect you'll like this book. It's hard (at present) to find a physical copy, but Audible has a great audiobook version up that I've really enjoyed. I'm joined for this conversation by Jonathan Geltner, Connor Salter, and Aaron Irber, host of the I Might Believe in Faeries podcast, which is definitely worth checking out if you like this show. Among other things, we discuss:  01. Opening reading & guest introductions 02. 5:43 — Twelvetide sponsor break 03. 8:15 — Book overview: Appalachian folk horror 04. 17:24 — Wellman's creative philology: Bel, Baal, and "bull\*\*\** philology" 05. 29:44 — Spoiler warning & plot breakdown 06. 37:53 — Race and the three-tier spiritual hierarchy 07. 61:10 — The iron plow ending & Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal 08. 66:18 — Favorite moments: spells, moon passages, and prose style 09. 82:54 — Who was Manly Wade Wellman? 10. 89:00 — William Gilbert's *The Hurricane* and vengeful old gods I'll also be talking briefly about *Twelve Tide*, a Christmas book my wife and I are publishing with Anglican House Publishers. Even if you have our first edition (which we self-published), this new edition has some changes (appendix with Christmas carols among others) that we're really excited about. You can find it here. As always, reach out to me at [inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com](mailto:inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com) if you would like to leave feedback. Also, please do rate us and leave reviews.  Next time: *The Discarded Image*