Introducing: The Grotto

Hi folks,

Wishing you the very best for the coming week from everyone at Rusty Towers!

We are back on hiatus for both The Magnus Protocol and Neon Inkwell – thank you so much for all of  your kind and excited words about the end of Protocol’s second act and The Pit Below Paradise. As always, these breaks are pre-planned into our release schedules to avoid crunch for our production team – work continues behind the scenes on both The Magnus Protocol and Neon Inkwell!

As a quick reminder, to tide you over we will be hosting another livestream this week! Join us on Thursday 20th June at 5pm BST on twitch.tv/rusty_quill, as Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall play DLC for the game Control.

Don’t forget, there’s still time to submit questions for our AMA with the creatives behind The Pit Below Paradise, J Evelyn Gaskell, Micah Rodriguez and Stephanie Resendes. If you have any burning questions about how the show was made, what writing or directing a podcast is like, and any specific about The Pit Below Paradise, please fill in this anonymous form to submit your question to the creators. The form is open until 23rd June – after which point we’ll pass along your questions to be answered in blog here on Patreon and on our website.  

A break in our main feeds is a great opportunity to check out the other amazing audio dramas out there. You may have noticed we’ve been sharing some feedrops from our incredible RQ Network shows on The Magnus Archives/The Magnus Protocol feeds. The most recent of these is the first episode of The Sleep Wake Cycle, a dark, supernatural horror fantasy from the team behind Maeltopia. In this episode, an exopsychotics investigator has a new assignment: assessing the state of the US in the wake of the Great Darkness of 1999. You can listen to the first episode of The Sleep Wake Cycle on The Magnus Archives feed, or find the whole show wherever you find podcasts, and on the Rusty Quill website!

In more RQ Network news, today we are very excited to introduce you to The Grotto, which launches on the Network today. The Grotto is a liminal horror podcast with original music and a full cast that explores the thin line between grief, pain, mourning, and loss. Struck by the recent loss of his long term girlfriend, Matt turns to spelunking for solace. As Matt battles grief, he questions if the caves are playing tricks or if something else lurks within. 

We spoke to the creator of The Grotto, Athan, to find out more about the show.

My name is Athan. I’m a full time content creator and musician, and I’m the producer on The Grotto, a podcast with original music and a full cast that explores the thin line between grief, pain, mourning, and loss.

WHAT IS THE GROTTO

The Grotto follows the story of Matt, recently suffering from the loss of his long term girlfriend, he turns to caving for solace. As Matt battles grief, he questions if the caves are playing tricks or if something else lurks within.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT

Each episode includes a full cast, including our wonderful leads Taylor Michaels, known for his work on Woebegone and Wake of Corrosion, and Lyssa Jay, known for their work on WoeBeGone and Wake of Corrosion

WHAT GOT YOU INTO PODCASTING

Honestly, I almost accidentally fell into podcasting. I had always talked to Derek, who co-writes the show and plays Ambrose, about potentially doing something in the audio drama space, but it didn’t become a reality until I made the mistake of playing GeoGuessr on stream, and just randomly ran into Dylan who runs WOEBEGONE. We got to chatting, and it opened my eyes to a bunch of other wonderful shows and a storytelling medium that I wasn’t familiar with at all.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF

Is it cheesy to say the cast? I think there are some incredibly talented people working on this show, and the delivery and professionalism of everyone involved has been inspiring. If I can’t pick people, I think what really sets us apart is the music. While not a musical, each episode contains an original song as well as a cover, with an arrangement that matches the tone and current story elements. It’s a cool way to give a break between sections while driving the story forward.

You can listen to The Grotto wherever you find podcasts, and on the Rusty Quill website. Please consider leaving a rating or review if you enjoy the show!

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team