The Magnus Protocol

Hi folks,

A very happy Hallowe’en from all of us at Rusty Quill! As well as being the ghostliest time of year, the clocks have also changed here in the UK, so please be aware that things may be releasing at a different time in your location.

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our stream yesterday and to everyone who has supported our Kickstarter campaign so far by signing up to the pre-launch!

If you missed the stream don’t worry – the VOD is currently available on Twitch, and we will be uploading it onto YouTube tomorrow. During the stream, Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims, co-creators of The Magnus Archives 2, started to give some hints and clues as to what the series may be like. Perhaps most importantly of these, is an official title: The Magnus Protocol. In the summer of 2020, Jonny played through the video game, Control, on his Twitch Channel. A long, long time later, Alex also played Control… and an idea was born. The Magnus Protocol will feature two, new protagonists who work for the British Civil Service, although there will also be some familiar and returning voices, yet to be revealed.

Alex also discussed a few of the stretch goals for the Kickstarter. These will start simple, to cover the basics for the show, then move into augmented and additional content, such as holiday specials and doubling the length for certain episodes. More of these stretch goals will be announced as we go through the process of running a crowdfunding campaign. However, if every stretch goal is smashed, and every possible bonus episode is funded, Alex revealed that the final stretch goal will be for him and Jonny to go Ghost Hunting together, and for the experience to be documented on the Rusty Quill YouTube channel.

Alex, Jonny, Helen, Sam, Sasha and Alasdair also participated in an AMA featuring questions submitted by Patreons, which goes into some really interesting discussions about the original show, – we’ll let you catch up with these in the VOD yourselves but keep an eye out for Alex’s very controversial takes on who is the hottest character in the original series, and what he believes the Admiral looks like.

We finished the evening by reaching 5000 sign-ups on our Kickstarter pre-launch page, and as of writing this number is now over 6500, exceeding even our most hoped for expectations. We are so grateful and so humbled by the support we’ve received so far. We will be sharing more information, as well as the date for the full launch of the campaign soon. We have also shared an update specific to our Patreons about Kickstarter on Saturday, which goes over the extra options for Patreons that we’re currently exploring.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of non-Magnus things happening here at Rusty Towers. Firstly, to celebrate Hallowe’en, Harlan Guthrie, creator of Malevolent, presents Nine To Midnight: a horror podcast crossover like you’ve never seen before! On the eve of Hallowe’en, nine storytellers make their way to an abandoned asylum to share their terrifying truths about the darkness that exists around them. This collaboration features the talented creators behind Hell Gate City, Malevolent, Nowhere, On Air, Out of the Ashes, Parkdale Haunt, The Cellar Letters, The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio, The Night Post, The Storage Papers, The Town Whispers, Wake of Corrosion, and WOE.BEGONE. There’s also a cameo from our very own Alexander J Newall in the prologue. We’ll be sharing Nine To Midnighton The Magnus Archives feed now, but it is also available to listen to across all participant’s feeds already.

In keeping with our Hallowe’en theme, we’re also delighted to announce that Afflicted, one of our newest RQ Network members, launched today with its first episode. Written by the creator of NIGHTLIGHT, Tonia Ransom, Afflicted follows a small East Texas town suffering from supernatural disasters caused by a demonic book. This horror-thriller audio drama blends eldritch horror with southern folklore. You can listen to Afflicted wherever you find podcasts, or on the Rusty Quill website.

We spoke with Tonia Ransom, creator, writer and producer of the show.

Tell us who you are and a bit about Afflicted?

I’m a horror writer and an award-winning podcast producer. I’ve been writing horror since the second grade, when I wrote Michael Myers fan fiction for a school assignment. I scared my teacher, though not in the way I intended, and got hooked on that feeling.

Afflicted is the show I wanted to make from the start. It’s a full-cast audio drama, and we were fortunate enough to raise more than USD$19K for production. Mike Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) is my favourite director, and he even pitched in! It’s a love letter to my heritage and upbringing. It features hoodoo, which my grandmother practiced, though she never called it that. It wasn’t until after she and my dad both passed that I began to research some of their beliefs and discovered it wasn’t just superstition. Many of the characters are named after loved ones I’ve lost, so this production is near and dear to me. I’m excited and scared to share it with the world, and counting down the days to Halloween.

What got you into podcasting?

Many years ago, before iPods were a thing, we had iTunes radio stations. I’d heard of old time radio before, and even listened to a show with my great aunt once, but I didn’t know what was really out there, especially in regards to horror. I can’t listen to music with lyrics when I work because I tend to zone out, but podcasts are perfect (don’t ask me why—it still doesn’t make sense to me either!), so I’d start up an old time radio station on iTunes and get to work. I realized shortly after that I wanted to revive that type of storytelling, but since podcasts weren’t yet a thing, I knew I’d need buy-in from a radio station to make it happen. Then podcasts arrived and I realized I could do it myself. I procrastinated for a decade after that—waiting for the right circumstances to align, before I came to the conclusion that there would never be a “right” time, and that I needed to either do it or not. So I started NIGHTLIGHT.

What are you most proud about Afflicted?

I’m most proud of telling a story that is centred around my heritage. Vodou is well-known, but hoodoo isn’t so much. They’re close, but not quite the same thing, and people often assume the two belief systems are interchangeable. I love being able to share that aspect of my culture with listeners, and I love that we have an incredibly diverse cast that are amazing at bringing all that to life.

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Lastly, in Trice Forgotten this week, the crew of the Netaoansom are back on familiar ground. While Siva is busy making a new friend, Alestes is busy with an old foe…

We’d also like to give you a heads up that, due to some technical difficulties, we’ve had to shift the schedule slightly for upcoming Trice Forgotten episodes. Unfortunately there was an issue with one of the recordings for the finale so, to give us time to re-record the lost lines, we will have two back-to-back Below Decks episodes before episode 9 releases on 22nd November. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we get things back on track ahead of the season finale in December.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Monday 31st October

SEAS 08 – A Rigged Game (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Nine to Midnight – Prologue (Public, MAG feed) (4pm GMT)

Nine to Midnight – Episode 1 (Public, MAG feed) (4pm GMT)

Nine to Midnight – Episode 2 (Public, MAG feed) (4pm GMT)

Tuesday 1st November

SEAS 08 – A Rigged Game (Public) (4pm GMT)

Livestream VOD – The Magnus Protocol Kickstarter Prelaunch (Public, YouTube) (5pm GMT)

Friday 4th November

NOBLES bonus – Martin Blackwood Poetry (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team