Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick Episode #91

Philip K. Dick | August 25, 2023

Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick Episode #91
Philip K. Dick

OF WITHERED APPLES

Episode #91 · Written by Philip K. Dick · Narrated by Scott Miller

A young woman feels an irresistible pull toward a ruined, lifeless orchard—drawn back again and again by something she can’t explain. What she thinks is only a strange obsession slowly reveals a far darker bond between the living and the dead.

The tapping at the window is only a dead leaf—but Lori knows better. Something in the wind is calling her back to the ruined orchard in the hills, where a single apple tree still clings to life among rows of rotting, lifeless trunks. Her husband doesn’t understand, her father-in-law doesn’t care, and even Lori can’t explain why she feels summoned there year after year. But the bond between her and the tree is no illusion—something waits for her in the cold mists, something hungry, something patient.

“Of Withered Apples” is a slow, creeping descent into a kind of horror that doesn’t announce itself with violence, but with familiarity—almost comfort—until it’s too late to recognize the danger. Dick uses ordinary elements: autumn leaves, a decaying farm, a quiet rural home, and turns them into a haunting story about connection, possession, and the price of ignoring your instincts. The orchard is dead. The tree is alive. And the question becomes: why?

This story stands out in Philip K. Dick’s early work because of its subtle, atmospheric dread rather than his usual explorations of altered consciousness or authoritarian worlds. It shows a different side of the author—a side comfortable with folklore-like unease, uncanny nature, and the chilling thought that something ancient may still be listening when the wind shifts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Philip K. Dick wrote more than 120 short stories and 44 novels, becoming one of the most studied science fiction writers in history. His stories inspired major films and series including Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly, Total Recall, The Adjustment Bureau, and The Man in the High Castle. But before Hollywood adapted his visions of androids and broken futures, Dick published short tales in small magazines—sharp, eerie, imaginative pieces like this one that prove his genius didn’t depend on technology or space travel. Even in a forgotten orchard, he could show how fragile our world really is.

“Of Withered Apples” reminds us that not every haunting comes from the supernatural—sometimes it comes from something that still remembers us, even when we try to walk away.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick — a vintage science fiction tale of eerie obsession and unseen forces rooted in an abandoned orchard. A haunting classic sci-fi story.