The Double Shadow: A Clark Ashton Smith Podcast

Episode #14: Au Revoir, Averoigne

This week is our last in Averoigne. We talk about the three major synopses from the Eldritch Dark and a little biographical and critical information. Synopses: “Queen of the Sabbat,” “The Werewolf of Averoigne,” and “The Sorceress of Averoigne | The Tower of Istarelle.”

The essay Phil referenced is “Into the Woods: The Human Geography of Averoigne” by Stefan Dziemianowicz, in The Freedom of Fantastic Things: Selected Criticism on Clark Ashton Smith ed. by Scott Connors. Tim quoted from “Eblis in Bakelite” by James Blish, “James Blish versus Ashton Smith; to Wit, the Young Turk Syndrome” by Donald Sidney-Fryer, and “Who Discovered Clark Ashton Smith?” by Scott Connors, all published in the Lost Worlds journal.

So–what did we have in Averoigne?

  • 1 cathedral
  • 1 convent
  • 2 monasteries
  • 14 Necromancers
  • 1 demon
  • 1 alien
  • 1 evil statue
  • 11 mentions of werewolves
  • 1 actual werewolf
  • 2 sorceresses, unaligned
  • 1 witch, batrachian
  • 2 vampires, lazy
  • 1 staff of household vampire servants
  • 2 lamias, unconfirmed
  • 1 art-loving archbishop
  • 7 gargoyles
  • 1 corpse giant
  • 2 epidemics of murder
  • 16 dead monks

Next week, we’ll be doing our first Poseidonis story: “The Last Incantation.”

Music thanks to: Kevin MacLeod.

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  1. Odilius Vlak says:

    I’ll miss Averoigne, especially «The Colossus of Ylourgne», the more zothiquean of the whole cycle.

  2. Tim Scurr says:

    Love the wrap-up notes. Sure somebody’s going to have a crack at singing it ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ style. Really enjoying the show, can’t wait to hear the latest episode.

    PS you forgot ‘a whole bunch of monk boners’ from ‘The Disinterment of Venus’.

  3. Andrew Scully says:

    Awesome podcast! Just wanted to say hello and I’ve been listening.

  4. Fred Kiesche says:

    Anybody come across a good map of Averoigne? I’m thinking it might be a good setting for a F-RPG, maybe a crossover b/t Call of Cthulhu and Pendragon.

  5. Fred Kiesche says:

    Thanks, I also found a slightly better image of the Tim Kirk map that Wiki has and a couple of others.

    Looking forward to the next journey!

  6. Kevin Koehler says:

    In regard to possibly seeming inspired by Averoigne I would recommend viewing of Jean Rollin’s Fascination (1979) or Strange Things Happen at Night (1971) since I’ve seen only a few of Rollin’s films, I can’t say if any have ressembled CAS any more than the the first one I’ve mentioned, found on YouTube. Thanks for the fine works here on The Double Shadow.

  7. Kevin Koehler says:

    Oops – I meant comparatively – the second one – Strange Things Happen at Night (1971) aka The Shiver of the Vampires

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