The Magnus Archives
Make your statement, face your fear.
“Join new Head Archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Individually, they are unsettling. Together they begin to form a picture that is truly horrifying, because as they look into the depths of the archives, something starts to look back…”
Launched in March 2016, The Magnus Archives marked Rusty Quill’s first foray into audio drama podcasting. Written by Jonathan Sims, who also starred as the Archivist, the series began to take shape when Rusty Quill founder Alexander J Newall asked Jonathan what he wanted to write, and he answered: a horror anthology.
The setting for this anthology became the Magnus Institute, an academic institution dedicated to researching the mysterious and paranormal, where Jonathan Sims (the Archivist) has newly taken up the role of head archivist. Working with Jonathan to build this new series, Alexander encouraged the addition of an overarching narrative, which led to the creation of the Fears: worldly phobias and fears made manifest. This concept of the Fears introduced a deeper interwoven meta-plot structure, told primarily through the statements that were the central point of each episode.
The production for The Magnus Archives was very DIY to start with, utilising the resources that Rusty Quill and Jonathan had to hand at the time – namely friends and family providing voice acting, or recording spaces. Even so, with its compelling writing, voice acting, and dynamic character relationships, The Magnus Archives kept audiences enthralled, each episode dropping cryptic hints of a larger conspiracy that unravelled across five seasons.
The Magnus Archives steadily grew in popularity, gaining a dedicated cult fanbase as more and more listeners became captivated by its masterfully crafted horror and intricate meta-narrative, quickly becoming the most popular audio drama in the world. By the time the series reached its climactic finale in March 2021, meticulously planned from the very beginning, it had cemented itself as a true standout in modern horror fiction.
Interesting Facts
- Jonathan and Alexander met at an office job, but started working together after Alexander went to see a show performed by The Mechanisms, a “mythic space pirate musical cabaret” band Jonathan was a member of at the time.
- While writing and recording The Magnus Archives, Alexander’s house was, fittingly, if not hauntingly, plagued by spiders. (Patrons can listen to a spider-themed mockumentary, Rusty Quill: Into the Spider Curse)
- During work on The Magnus Archives episodes 193 and 200, sound designer Elizabeth Moffatt hid some visual secrets within the soundscaping. You may be able to find them if you do a spectrograph analysis.
- The statements in episode 100 were only loosely scripted, and much of the dialogue was improvised including Martin giving Lynne Hammond his spare change for a coffee.
Reviews
The Magnus Archives is the total package – great writing with interesting stories and characters (and some beautiful wordcraft at times), quality production and performances, and an eerie atmosphere that inspires its own sort of wonder. - Rowan Rook - Beware The Rook
The Magnus Archives, produced by Rusty Quill, is chock-full of terrible things: flesh-eating worms, doors leading to endless twisting hallways, and the fear that wherever you hide, someone is watching… [but] Right now, listening to The Magnus Archives feels good. And by good, I mean it feels bad in a simultaneously abstract and relatable way, which apparently is just what I need.” - Kait Sanchez - The Verge
The head archivist is quick to state—in scathingly dismissive terms—that the vast majority of so-called supernatural phenomena are absolutely nonsense, most likely the product of unwell or intoxicated minds, or overactive imaginations, or too much credulity from people who really ought to know better. One might be forgiven for thinking, during the early episodes, that this is the full breadth of the story: sceptical academics, unfortunate eyewitnesses, and disparate horrors that can never be explained. But appearances, like everything else, can be very deceiving.
The unveiling of the central story in The Magnus Archives is gradual, but it doesn’t take all that many episodes for it to become obvious that everything is connected in some awful, hidden way. And, to be absolutely clear, by “everything is connected,” I don’t mean “mostly monster-of-the-week with occasional arc episodes.” I mean everything.
- Kali Wallace - Tor.com
Merchandise
Find out more about The Magnus Archives and listen on the Rusty Quill Website.