THE WILD WIND | Chapter 1

THE WILD WIND | Chapter 1

Author: Cory Zimmerman August 27, 2024 Duration: 11:20

When SARAH, an isolated old woman, awakes to see a spider in the corner drop down not once but three times, she knows she will die in the same old farmhouse where she was born. Sarah intends to kill herself by consuming a bottle of pills, leaving behind a peculiar manuscript addressed to a man named SAM. In a reverse chronology, an account of a long and often macabre life spanning the entirety of the twentieth century begins. Sarah, having been born and raised on the grounds of the Hilltop State Hospital—not as a psychiatric patient, but as the daughter of the asylum’s farmer on the cusp of her own death, expresses what she has learned over a lifetime of love and loss at the very crossroads of life and death. All the while, Sarah continually grapples with the existential question of what it means to be 'sane' when insanity is the norm, declaring, “Sanity is but paper in a world consumed by fire.”

Dedicated to Dr. George Anthony Zeller (1858-1938 ), whose vision and journals inspired this tale.

Written & Narrated by Cory Zim

Produced by Radio Verté

Executive Producer, Cory Zim

https://radioverte.works

Cor Zim is the executive producer of Radio Verté and the author of two fiction novels, THE WILD WIND and AHOOGA!, each of which has been adapted into an audio podcast series. He is the author of two nonfiction novels, SPOON RIVER GOTHIC: Narrative of a Double Homicide and DEATH RIDES THE HIGHWAY: A Thrill Ride Fueled by Murder & Terror, both of which have also been adapted into audio podcast series produced by Radio Verté.


In THE WILD WIND | An American Gothic Tale by Cor Zim, author Cory Zimmerman crafts a haunting fiction podcast rooted in a uniquely American landscape. The story follows Sarah, now over a hundred years old, as she writes her memories of a childhood spent entirely within the confines of a remote psychiatric asylum. Her father was not a doctor but the institution’s farmer, placing their family in a strange, liminal space between the keepers and the kept. From this isolated vantage point, Sarah’s world was defined by the rhythms of the land and the unsettling proximity to lives deemed insane. The narrative unfolds as a deep, atmospheric reflection on love, profound loss, and the fragile line between sanity and madness when one is raised in its shadow. The central, haunting refrain-“What’s to be sane in the garden of madness?”-guides this intimate audio tale. Listeners will hear Sarah’s voice, rich with age and recollection, pulling them into a past where the wild wind carries whispers from the asylum wards, the scent of turned earth, and the weight of a lifetime’s secrets. This is a character-driven gothic exploration, less about supernatural horror and more about the psychological terrain of a woman who learned everything about human nature from the edges of its breaking point. Each episode of this podcast builds a layered, sensory portrait of a forgotten place and a life shaped by its stark, beautiful, and terrifying truths.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 21

THE WILD WIND | An American Gothic Tale by Cor Zim
Podcast Episodes
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 20 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:25
The circus arrives at the Hilltop. After BIG BEN escapes in search of blueberry pie, the commissioner leads a lynch mob to the doors of the Bronson Building in the dead of night. The day brightens with a loony game of Do…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 19 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:03
Sarah feels safe amongst the insane and learns the simple joy of walking in circles, marching in place, spinning around, skipping, hopping, crying, lying, and laughing. She meets footloose patient Fannie in the rose gard…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 18 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:00
Doctor Zola commemorates a new monument and has a standoff with the COMMISSIONER over his progressive management of the Hilltop and the shocking amount of freedom he provides his insane patients. As reporters flock to th…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 17 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:05
The circus brings a drunken Wild One to the Hilltop, and he gets a job trimming rose bushes in the garden. Meanwhile, Fannie finally surrenders to Dr. Zola, calling the Hilltop home, where she spends time in the rose gar…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 16 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:57
During a blizzard on the first day of Spring in 1900, Momma goes into labor. Meanwhile, Pa’s down the road chopping wood for a widow he has fallen for, so Sam, a patient of the Hilltop, personal cook for the family, and…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 15 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:23
Pa teaches Sarah to barrel race. When she returns home after a competition, eager to show off her prize to Sam, a chasm forms—not only between the two but also in her mind as she hops off his knee. A darkness isolates Sa…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 14 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:43
Fannie comes down with a case of tuberculosis before disappearing into the night. Her antics inspire other patients to seek escapades of their own. A shy and mysterious traveling nurse named AMY arrives, challenging Dr.…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 13 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:20
Fannie arrives at the Hilltop State Hospital, where she receives a warm yet warning welcome from Dr. Zolla himself. Nonetheless, Fannie wastes no time taking advantage of the open-door policy and escapes with an itchy pa…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 12 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:37
Fannie is sent off to the inescapable confines of the penitentiary--a "Puritan vision of hell" --where she suffers starvation and abuse at the hands of sadistic GUARD LEWIS. As despondent the circumstance presents itself…
THE WILD WIND | Chapter 11 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:26
Meet FANNIE, a whiskey-guzzling swindler who is not your typical widow. She takes advantage of men for survival, who, in turn, attempt to take advantage of her. Fannie, the greatest escape artist the Midwest has ever kno…