A blind protagonist, Miranda Griffin, runs through a maze while a vicious werewolf chases her in episode 6 of Simon Machin’s audio drama, The Black Veil.
Out of everything he’s done to produce the drama’s 13 episodes, this scene sticks out to Machin because he invented his own werewolf sound effect by modifying a dog’s bark.
An ear-y tale
All 13 episodes of The Black Veil are available to purchase for $14.99 on theblackveilaudio.com. Search for the series on Spotify, Apple Books, and Audible. For behind-the-scenes looks, follow @theblackveilaudio on Instagram.
“If you’re wearing headphones, it would pan from one side to the other, get louder and quieter, and there’s footsteps and all that,” Machin told the Sun. “It was the most fun [scene] to make. I think it’s also probably my favorite to listen to.”
The Black Veil is set in Victorian-era London with mythical and supernatural themes. Through the audio medium, listeners are immersed in the mind of the protagonist, who’s blind and invisible. In each episode she tackles horrific mysteries as Jack the Ripper unleashes terror and sets out on murderous hunts.
Machin, a Santa Maria resident, has edited podcasts and audio dramas since high school. He wrote The Black Veil during his sophomore year at DePaul University. He then spent another year casting, producing, and editing before releasing the series in August this year.
When he was writing The Black Veil script, Machin remembered wondering, “What story would make sense if you can’t see anything?”
His answer was creating a protagonist who doesn’t have vision. Machin consulted the National Federation of the Blind on how to portray a blind character. Through that research he discovered the irony in most representations, which rely on visual cues of blindness like glasses or a white cane.
However, in the audio medium, listeners can’t see anything either. Machin added the layer of invisibility to the protagonist to enhance some of the dramatic horror scenes.
“There’s a dynamic between people can’t see her, but she can’t see anything else either,” Machin said.
Audio dramas are more akin to audio books than podcasts, Machin described, because they contain scripts, actors, and music.
“It’s quite literally a TV show, but it’s audio only,” he said. “There’s a history that goes back to the 1930s. Radio dramas used to be the way any form of entertainment was broadcasted at all.”
After the pandemic, audio dramas had a “resurrection.” The medium allows everyone to work from home, and it’s relatively cheap to produce.
“It’s within my ability to actually afford to hire these people and do this and then put in the work myself to edit it and produce it and direct it,” he said.
Though Machin has worked on other projects, The Black Veil was the first series he took on by himself. He hired a musician to score the story and an artist to create the cover art.
To recruit actors, Machin posted casting calls on the online platform Backstage. Hundreds of actors submitted their auditions, and Machin spent weeks combing through them all.
At the end of the process, the cast was international. Actors recorded from the U.S., Brazil, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. There were around 15 characters, but a few of the actors played multiple small roles. Some were new to voice acting. Others were well established in the industry, he said, including Marta da Silva who plays the protagonist.
After the actors sent Machin their takes, he analyzed every single line and strung them together in postproduction.
“[The actors] did it independently, and I think that speaks to their talents. … No one else was in the room, they did all their lines just on their own,” Machin said. “It was on me to then take the correct takes and put them together to make conversations, but that’s all fake. That’s movie magic.”
While working with an international group was fun, Machin anticipates a local project on his horizon next. He’s thought about working with local theaters to adapt one of their productions into an audio drama.
“There’s a lot of space to just have more things to listen to, and audio dramas are a unique experience that you can’t really find anywhere else,” Machin said. “If you’re a book person, if you’re an audio person, if you just need something to listen to, it’s a really great alternative.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White with her earbuds in at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 6 – Nov 13, 2025.