Hi folks,
Wishing you the very best for the coming week from everyone at Rusty Towers!
Today, we are very excited to say that Rez High, the next Neon Inkwell short series, will releasing very soon! You’ll get your first taster of this British dystopia next week, with the trailer on 25th June (23rd June for folks with early access), followed by the rest of the show releasing weekly from 26th June (24th June for early access).
High school drama is the absolute end of the world.
In a distant future, a band of scavenging kids find a vintage VR system that becomes a gateway to a gamified recreation of an alien world: a 1970s British Comprehensive School.
All Jo-C, Reflex and Dogwood know is the wild, unrecognisable landscape of the far future, where they must fend for themselves and get by on their wits. To them, playing through the immersive levels of Rez High, stopping bullies, snogging behind the bike sheds, or outsmarting the headmaster, are completely surreal.
Rez High is populated by virtual characters and NPCs – but not all of the people they meet are controlled by a computer. Just who are the mysterious other players of the game, and what, exactly, do they want? And, perhaps more importantly, what exactly happened in the distant past that led to the brutal reality of the future?
Rez High is written by Brendon Connelly and directed by Lucy Wray. We cannot wait for you to hear it.
Meanwhile, in news from the RQ Network, we’re very excited to let you know about a new show coming soon! Beck’s End is a new atmospheric folk horror audio drama, written and created by Mark Nixon, whose previous work includes the award-winning podcast, Shadows at the Door.
When floodwaters swallow an idyllic English Lake District village, a stranded journalist finds herself trapped in a rising tide of fear. Cut off from the outside world, she begins to uncover something horrifying…
Beck’s End is currently funding on Kickstarter – if this intrigues you, please consider visiting their page at becksend.com to support the creation of this show.
Exclusive for our paid members, we spoke to Mark to find out more about the show.
Tell us who you, and introduce us to Beck's End?
I’m Mark Nixon, and I run Shadows at the Door Productions— an indie audio drama company. Beck’s End is an idea that I’ve been developing for nearly ten years: a folk horror audio drama set in a tiny hamlet tucked away in a corner of the English Lake District. It’s besieged by floodwaters and a trapped journalist is about to uncover the dark secrets lurking beneath the surface.
How did you get into podcasting?
Years ago, I started off writing short horror stories and publishing them as a blog. I’d always loved audio drama and so, as the stories found more readers it wasn’t long before I started adapting them into audio drama. I taught myself how to produce immersive audio drama and created the podcast Shadows at the Door. I also wanted to share horror stories from the public realm that I think everyone deserves to hear, so I began adapting my favourite classics too. Shadows at the Door has gone from strength to strength and I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside many writers and actors I really admire. One of our highlights so far was working with the great Jamie Flanagan (one of the writers of Netflix series such as Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Bly Manor) on the episode ‘Bruiser’. In that same season we also created a feature length production ‘To the Flame’ a story about Mothman set in Point Pleasant with a cast of over 30 — real Twin Peaks vibes. I’m always looking for new ways to use the medium of Audio Drama to give the audience an interesting experience, so running Shadows at the Door is basically my dream job!
What are you personally most excited for about Beck’s End?
I’m really excited to explore the themes of Beck’s End. Over the past ten years we’ve all seen the world become a darker place, communities are more polarised than ever and I often think about what drives people down their darker paths, can we reach them once they’re gone? Do they deserve to be reached? What is the correct response to violence? Is there a correct response? This is what we put under the microscope in Beck’s End, with a supernatural edge… I’m also so proud to be representing the North of England, so much of the North is working class and it’s important to me that we represent these voices not only with casting but in the story itself. We explore class divide, queerness and how they affect each other. Of course, I can’t say too much, but what I can say is that it’s an amazing story and I’m so thrilled to be bringing it to life for listeners with an incredible cast and team.
Have a good week all!
The Rusty Quill team