The Enigma

EDWARD OCTOBER

by Nic Calavera

Sometime after midnight on October 3, 1979, a skeletal figure wearing a dark suit was spotted in the broadcast booth of a small town radio station in Kansas. According to the night crew, the figure ran its fingers along the broadcast microphone and appeared to say a few words before stepping into the shadows and disappearing. A subsequent police investigation found no evidence of an intruder or forced entry, although the police report noted there was a strong scent of damp earth in the broadcast booth.

At approximately 1:38 AM on October 22, 1982, AM radio listeners in Iowa were baffled when their radios suddenly emitted a burst a static, followed by a hauntingly familiar voice announcing, “This is Edward October.” Although no records of this broadcast are known to exist, an investigation by the FCC concluded that a series of freak electrical storms had caused the broadcast to become distorted.

By the late 1980s, strange recordings of a phantom broadcast began circulating in the tape trading community. These recordings came to be known collectively as the “Octoberpod” due to the repetition of the phrase in the static that often preceded the broadcasts.

Throughout the 90s and the 2000s, night shift employees at small town television stations across the United States began to report sightings of a skeletal figure whose presence caused equipment to malfunction and broadcast strange video transmissions on the airwaves.

In 2017, folklorists began compiling every known recording of the Octoberpod and uploading them to YouTube in an effort to determine the origin of the phantom broadcast. One unnerved researcher/ archivist wrote:

"There’s something strange about the broadcast that i can’t put my finger on. It’s weird in a way that i can’t really explain. Whenever I listen, I wonder if I’ve missed something. Sometimes, as the reception starts to fade, I think I can hear a voice in the static.”

Can you help solve the mystery of the Octoberpod?

Found Footage. Lost Broadcasts.

DRACULETTA LeNOIR

Dead Media.

Draculetta LeNoir is the fetid husk of an undead woman once known for her exquisite beauty. Folklore stretching from rural Tennessee to coastal North Carolina (and parts in between!) feature her, a ghostly temptress, luring unsuspecting travelers into the woods to become her prey.

Now she sits (alone and hideous!) in a locked cellar—a spider at the center of a web of cables and recording equipment. She edits the audio and video of each Octoberpod broadcast, so that she might atone for her sins and one day be reunited with her Great Love.

Graphic Design

THE FACE OF FEAR

Contributing Artists

JESSICA GOOD
(Logo/Banner Design, Contributing Artist, Story Consultant)

Jessica Good is a print composer, graphic designer, and freelance artist from the Pennsyltucky area. Follow her on Twitter (@jessiegood82) or visit her blog, 3 A.M. Art.

NIC CALAVERA
(Contributing Artist, “Hop Frog” Illustrator)

Nic Calavera is a skeleton that draws comics using a mixture of traditional and digital mediums. Nic’s work first appeared as a front page feature on the subversive entertainment website Newgrounds in 2009.

His first comic zine, Delirium, made its debut in 2012 and told stories about alternate dimensions, death cults, and cybernetic angels. Currently, Nic does freelance work with upcoming brands and creators and his publishing company Kokoro is collaborating with other artists to produce stories about phantom broadcasts and cursed books.

Follow him on Twitter (@nic_calavera) or visit him at the Kingdom of Monsters.