Darker Musings Anthology:

Muse of Madness

Angus Danford, a janitor with dreams of becoming a playwright, is ridiculed by the legendary radio producer Oscar Bell. But when he discovers a mysterious ancient clay pot buried beneath the lake near his family’s cottage, everything changes. What lurks within infects his mind, hijacks his will, and compels him to write a script unlike any other—one so dark, so powerful, that it promises to awaken something best left forgotten.

Dark Musings: Episode #3 – Muse of Madness – A Descent into Nightmarish Horror

Jack J. Ward’s Dark Musings audio drama series has always been a great romp in the realm of psychological horror, but Episode #3 – Muse of Madness takes things to a whole new level of unsettling. This episode is a chilling meditation on creativity, obsession, and the unknowable horrors lurking in the fringes of the mind.

At its core, Muse of Madness follows Angus Danford, a janitor with dreams of becoming a playwright. Desperate for recognition, he submits his scripts to the renowned radio producer Oscar Bell—only to be met with scorn and rejection. But when Angus stumbles upon a mysterious ancient artifact at his family’s lakeside cottage, his fate takes a dark turn. The artifact, a sealed clay pot of eerie origin, unleashes something unspeakable—something that embeds itself in his mind, distorting his reality and warping his will.

Angus soon finds himself writing a script, but not of his own volition. His hands move on their own, pounding out a chilling tale titled The Coming. When Oscar Bell reads it, he is immediately enthralled, declaring it a masterpiece and setting it for broadcast.

Dark Musings: Muse of Madness is a blend of Lovecraftian horror and psychological suspense. It asks a chilling question: What if inspiration itself was a malevolent force, a parasite feeding on human ambition? And after you hear it, you might just think twice before picking up a pen—or turning on the radio.