TWL 1111: "In a Palace of Absent Shadows", by Christopher Long

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Welcome to The Wicked Library for our season of Sci-Fi Themed Horror.
Author: Christopher Long
Storyteller: Denise Michelle Johnson
Host: Mitch Gerads
Featuring a custom score by Nico Vettese, of We Talk of Dreams.
Story Summary:
Job Report.

A Locus Senior Field Engineer with full diagnostic equipment is required urgently.

Unknown male’s Cicero Mnemograph device is major reporting issues. Technology is locked into a spiralling recall feedback loop. Severe shutdown imminent. All memory stabilisation is failing. Subject’s Palace floorplan design is now locked into full sleep mode to maintain his mental and physical well-being.

Please respond. Status pending.

This job has been awaiting attention for over maximum wait times set by Locus Company parameters.

Please respond.

Warning: The Wicked Library is a horror fiction podcast created for a mature audience. Our stories contain graphic descriptions of pain, murder, violence, blood, betrayal, and inhumanity; monsters win, people die, and hope is often shattered. There is also beauty, heart, catharsis, and raw emotion. Fear may be deeply personal, but we all share it.

If at any time a story takes you to a place too dark, turn on the lights, press pause, or press stop. And always remember, that unlike in the real world, these nightmares, and your participation in them, are under your control.

Producer & Showrunner: Daniel Foytik
Producer: Meg Williams

Lead Editor & Executive Producer: Scarlett R. Algee
Creative Director & Executive Producer: Jeanette Andromeda
Resident Composer & Executive Producer: Nico Vettese, of We Talk of Dreams

Artwork: Jeanette Andromeda
Score & Incidental Music: Nico Vettese
Main Theme: “The Library Awakens” Nico Vettese
Final Audio Mix: Daniel Foytik, 9th Story Studios LLC

Get your copy of The Wicked Library Presents: 13 Wicked Tales on Kindle, or in print. Visit thewickedlibrary.com/read to get your copy today.

Get your copy of The Lift, 9 Stories of Transformation Volume One on Kindle, or in print. Visit victoriaslift.com/read to get your copy today.

The Wicked Library is created by 9th Story Studios LLC: www.9thstory.com
Audio program ©2022 – 9th Story Studios LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of 9th Story Studios LLC. The copyrights for stories are held by the respective authors.

The Wicked Library is created by 9th Story Studios LLC: www.9thstory.com

Audio program ©2025 – 9th Story Studios LLC.

All Rights Reserved.No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of 9th Story Studios LLC. The copyrights for stories are held by the respective authors.

Main Theme: “The Library Awakens” Nico Vettese
Final Audio Mix: Daniel Foytik, 9th Story Studios LLCz

FX: freesound.org

Produced by: Daniel Foytik
Hosted by: Daniel Foytik