Mercury's Wake

About Mercury's Wake

Every story has an alternate reality. A white Cadillac stands like a sentinel in the New Mexico desert. Inside it lies a book about an astronaut’s first mission to Mars. How that book becomes a bestseller is bewildering; how it transforms those who read it is a mystery yet to be unravelled. Mercury’s Wake Before Chaos is the original novella that inspired the series — a high-concept indie audio drama that blends sharp sci-fi, psychological mystery, and reality-bending speculative fiction. Set in a landscape reshaped by loss and sudden change, the narrative follows ordinary people discovering extraordinary internal power, rebuilding their lives and themselves through defiant acts of courage that ripple outward in unexpected ways. This is indie storytelling at its boldest: raw, character-driven, and unapologetically strange. Blending atmospheric sound design with an intimate, slow-burn mystery, this series explores a world where found family is a means of survival, and kindness is a radical, aggressive force against chaos. Perfect for fans of Wolf 359, The Far Meridian, Starship Iris, and Midnight Burger. In this universe, hope isn’t naïve — it’s steel. Themes: • Hope — Gothic grit & resilience • Defiant connection & found family • High-concept mystery with psychological depth • Atmospheric, reality-bending sci-fi • Rebuilding after global disruption • Intense, character-first storytelling If you love razor-sharp speculative fiction, atmospheric weirdness, and stories where ordinary people refuse to break, you’ll find your home in Mercury’s Wake. This podcast captures the raw, foundational groundwork recorded during the isolation of Lockdown, when the world tilted and never quite slid back. Parallel universe? Decide for yourself. For the definitive, fully updated exploration of these themes, look out for the upcoming book, THE SNAKE EATS ITS TAIL, releasing soon.

Publisher

Stephanie Vlahos

Category

fiction · fiction

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Oct 2022

Latest episode

26 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

12 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Dec 2025

   Am I Alone

   “I am a motorcyclist in a hailstorm, recklessly speeding by the grace of a slipstream.” — John K. Mercury John K. Mercury — the first astronaut chosen for humanity’s journey to Mars — vanished before the mission could be completed. No signal. No wreckage. No answers. Decades later, his mission journal is rediscovered in the New Mexico desert. A printed book that should not exist. A text that appears older than the mission itself. And yet, inside its pages, John K.’s voice feels impossibly alive. What begins as a mystery becomes something far more compelling. The journal describes not just the silence of deep space, but the wonder he found there. Not just isolation, but connection. Not just fear, but a fierce, unexpected hope for the future of humanity. As scientists, archivists, sceptics, and believers examine the rediscovered text, each voice finds something different in its pages — a warning, a prophecy, a confession, or a promise. And slowly, a picture emerges of a man who may not have been alone after all. A derelict rover buried in Martian dust. A manuscript encoded into telemetry. A four‑day stretch of writing where reality seems to bend toward possibility. Premonitions. Quantum echoes. Unexplained signals. And through it all, a message that feels like it was written for us. This multicast audio drama weaves together John K.’s rediscovered journal with the voices of those who study it, argue over it, and are changed by it. A mystery, yes — but also a reminder: Even at the edge of the unknown, hope survives.

2. 

   12 Dec 2025

   Vegas for opportunists

   Music industry maverick Rhea Quackenheimer arrives for a “Weirdo Cool” event. But as reality fractures, she must ask: is she alive, or already dead? Vegas is for opportunists—but opportunity has a price.

3. 

   11 Dec 2025

   What Drama

   Behind the bar at Caesars, Bozzy encounters Joe—a man with eyes as black as locusts, writing a screenplay about a horrific Vegas event. Is Joe a prophet, or something far darker? The storm is coming.

4. 

   10 Dec 2025

   That’s mine

   Luck-junky Bozzy O’Reilly races to Vegas chasing fortune. But when he meets Imani Cosmos in a pop-up Keno room that may be an interdimensional rift, his luck takes a dangerous turn. Every journey has a left turn.

5. 

   9 Dec 2025

   Trust me

   Eight strangers cross paths in Las Vegas. It begins with a Cadillac, a mysterious book, and a road trip to Mars. The journey begins.

6. 

   8 Dec 2025

   John K: Am I Alone?

   "I am a motorcyclist in a hailstorm, recklessly speeding by the grace of a slipstream." – John K Mercury JOHN K. The book that started it all. A Cadillac abandoned in the desert. A mysterious manuscript. Eight strangers drawn into a four-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas. Premonitions. High-stakes gambling. UFOs. Parallel universes. An alien prophecy. Ordinary people collide with extraordinary forces as the world tilts toward chaos. This is Mercury’s Wake – Before Chaos — an indie fiction drama podcast by Stephanie Vlahos. The journey continues…

7. 

   16 Jun 2024

   John K I am on a road trip to Mars

   "I am a motorcyclist in a hailstorm, recklessly speeding by the grace of a slipstream." –John K Mercury JOHN K, the book that started it all. The journey continues...

8. 

   18 Oct 2022

   Room Service

   It's a sweaty night in Vegas for a range of reasons. Stuff's kicking up in Vegas. Bozzy can feel it, but what he doesn't now is what he's headed toward: his end or his beginning, a karmic dance or just another night of chance? When Bozzy makes a room service delivery to a Mafioso's suite in Caesars, it's just the end of the beginning of the story, Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend. Every Journey has a left turn. Before Chaos is an original podcast written by Stephanie Vlahos, based on the sci-fi novel Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend now available in Kindle and paperback. at Amazon. Wanna get a sneak peek of what happens next? Here's a quick grab from Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend: The paths of eight strangers cross on a 4-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas that is headed toward a diabolical event at the Pompeii Amphitheater, and it all begins with a Cadillac and a book entitled, JOHN K – I'm on a Road Trip to Mars. The Journey Continues

9. 

   18 Oct 2022

   Vegas is for opportunists - The Book of Rhea

   Music Biz whiz Rhea Quackenheimer is living on the edge, she just won't admit it. She's in Vegas for a Weirdo Cool event. She knows that much. But what she doesn't know is, is she alive or dead? Every Journey has a left turn. Before Chaos is an original podcast written by Stephanie Vlahos, based on the sci-fi novel Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend now available in Kindle and paperback. at Amazon. Wanna get a sneak peek of what happens next? Here's a quick grab from Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend: The paths of eight strangers cross on a 4-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas that is headed toward a diabolical event at the Pompeii Amphitheater, and it all begins with a Cadillac and a book entitled, JOHN K – I'm on a Road Trip to Mars. The Journey Continues

10. 

    18 Oct 2022

    What Drama May Come - The Book of Bozzy

    While bartending at the Barge Bar at Caesars, Bozzy meets a strange customer named Joe who is writing a screenplay about a horrible event that takes place in Vegas. His eyes are black like locusts... nothing in them. Every Journey has a left turn. Before Chaos is an original podcast written by Stephanie Vlahos, based on the sci-fi novel Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend now available in Kindle and paperback. at Amazon. Wanna get a sneak peek of what happens next? Here's a quick grab from Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend: The paths of eight strangers cross on a 4-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas that is headed toward a diabolical event at the Pompeii Amphitheater, and it all begins with a Cadillac and a book entitled, JOHN K – I'm on a Road Trip to Mars. The Journey Continues

11. 

    18 Oct 2022

    That’s mine by the way – The Book of Bozzy

    Luck-junky, Bozzy O’Reilly hightails it to Vegas to try his luck. But he gets more than he anticipated. His world tips after he meets Imani Cosmos in a pop-up Keno room that might be an inter-dimensional hole in Caesars. Every Journey has a left turn. Before Chaos is an original podcast written by Stephanie Vlahos, based on the sci-fi novel Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend now available in Kindle and paperback. at Amazon. Wanna a sneak peek of what happens next? Here's a quick grab from Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend: The paths of eight strangers cross on a 4-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas that is headed toward a diabolical event at the Pompeii Amphitheater, and it all begins with a Cadillac and a book entitled, JOHN K – I'm on a Road Trip to Mars. The Journey Continues

12. 

    18 Oct 2022

    Trust me, it'll all just get weirder

    Friday, the beginning of a crazy long weekend Imani Cosmos takes a short flight out of a bad relationship to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where alternate realities begin to seize control of her future. Every Journey has a left turn. Before Chaos is an original podcast written by Stephanie Vlahos, based on the sci-fi novel Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend now available in Kindle and paperback. at Amazon. Wanna get a sneak peek of what happens next? Here's a quick grab from Mercury's Wake – The Long Weekend: The paths of eight strangers cross on a 4-day reality-bending weekend in Las Vegas that is headed toward a diabolical event at the Pompeii Amphitheater, and it all begins with a Cadillac and a book entitled, JOHN K – I'm on a Road Trip to Mars. The Journey Continues

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