On November 11th 2004, 14-year-old Conrad Cliff jackhammered into the water main at The Royal Galleria near Belmont, California. Twenty-three people drowned. Three people were electrocuted in the arcade. Two people were fatally bitten by a hammerhead shark that escaped from the mall's aquarium. And the teenager responsible was never found. No body. No trace. Blair Van Auken was with Conrad at the mall that day but refused to speak about the incident for 18 years. Until now. This is a 6 part series on madness, machines, and melancholy in the MallScape of America. This is MallWalk.
Escalator Down
The now dead mall once known as The Royal Galleria occupies the whole of Blair Van Auken’s memory. He strives through the fog of years to recall the start of that November day when he and his best friend, Conrad Cliff, came down from the K-Mart on the long escalator toward the carousel. Signs of Conrad’s deteriorating mental state were evident from the beginning, but Blair ignored these warnings and turned his focus on a girl who smiled at them. Conrad and Blair’s mutual melancholic exercise carried them through the mock Medieval mall, down the North Hallway, toward fate.
Featuring the voices of Celia Maddux, Blair Van Auken, and Wes Barker. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
I can’t see straight, but the savings are so clear by Power PCME
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Mall’s Closed by Harry Gibbons
Ann Taylor by Harry Gibbons
Mom Clothes by Harry Gibbons
The Crucible of Creation
Having successfully evaded security, our tragedians arrive at the mall’s central fountain, which is mocked up with lights to look like fire. There they brave a multi-character convergence with an old man mid-flashback, a mischievous set of bowlers, and Blair’s crush from the escalator. Chaos looms by the food court, and in the dust out back, just shy of the megaplex, where wicked beacons call.
Featuring the voices of Celia Maddux, Blair Van Auken, and Jackie Polvere. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Mall’s Closed by Harry Gibbons
Ann Taylor by Harry Gibbons
Sword of Fury main theme by Brian Schmidt
Otranto theme 1 by Trevor Brandt
Otranto
The dark of the movie theater, the light of the arcade, our two boys’ melancholic quest bifurcates into love and death, romance and oblivion. Blair navigates the sudden fortune of teenage affection as Conrad obsesses over an arcade cabinet from the 80’s. Little is known of the lost game Otranto, but our research presents some clues to its content. Dark dungeons, living paintings, giant knights, and an ill-fated tragedian who shares a name with ours. Moments before madness, before finding further depths into which we might descend.
Featuring the voices of Celia Maddux, Blair Van Auken, Dmitri Severny, Professor Charlotte Harrington, Jane Forrester, and Wes Barker. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
Otranto theme 1 by Trevor Brandt
Black Knight main theme by Brian Schmidt, Dan Forden and Steve Ritchie
Otranto theme 2 by Trevor Brandt
Sword of Fury main theme by Brian Schmidt
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Ann Taylor by Harry Gibbons
Mall’s Closed by Harry Gibbons
Grown Folks by Harry Gibbons
The Trap Door
Conrad finds himself within the body of the mall, at the bottom of the strange portal. Is it delusion or epiphany? Either way, he emerges from a cloud of smoke and chooses his weapon for the final deluge. Multiple witnesses tell of that moment; the whir of the jackhammer, the burst of the pipe, the wall of water. Details seem spurious but accounts rarely differ. Meanwhile, Blair tries to seize the moment, against the nature of his flighty mind, until the moment drops from the sky and seizes him.
Featuring the voices of Celia Maddux, Maurice Reid, Blair Van Auken, Dmitri Severny, Jane Forrester, and Wes Barker. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
Grown Folks by Harry Gibbons
Otranto theme 2 by Trevor Brandt
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Sword of Fury main theme by Brian Schmidt
Mall’s Closed by Harry Gibbons
Ann Taylor by Harry Gibbons
The Hammerhead
Confused animals thrash in the flood waters. We try our best, as Dr. Peter Kimley suggests, to tell the story from the shark’s perspective, among many others. No matter our angle, the scene is wet confusion, horror, and death. Is God watching from above, as His waters prevail over the mall? Or is that just the eye of another survivor, clinging to life in the false sky? And when Conrad finally reaches the dead avenue from which he began, what is his plan? Or was there ever a plan? For any of us?
Featuring the voices of Celia Maddux, Blair Van Auken, Dr. Peter Kimley, Wes Barker, Dmitri Severny,and Maurice Reid. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Grown Folks by Harry Gibbons
Negative Space
After the flood, Blair shouts Conrad’s name into the void and befriends the silence that answers.
Featuring the voices of Wes Barker, Blair Van Auken, Celia Maddux. Original artwork by Harry Nordlinger.
Episode Soundtrack
Limited Too by Harry Gibbons
Grown Folks by Harry Gibbons