Liminal

 

This is Liminal, a recently released podcast from Ann Arbor–based Acorn Arts & Entertainment, a multimedia production company founded by Josie Herman and co-led with her husband Michael. The four-episode horror/science fiction audio drama tells the story of three brothers fighting for their lives inside of a dreamscape. 

Josie says they wanted to tell a story about “how brother relationships are both, like, you hate them and you love them and you’d do anything for them, but also they drive you crazy. Both of us have lots of siblings, and we love sibling stories.”

The term “liminal” refers to a transitional time or space, either in the mind or a literal place, like an airport, corridor, waiting room or, in the case of Liminal, a deserted pool.

“There’s a very weird kind of comforting and also kind of eerie feeling about those spaces, so we wanted to dive into that feeling specifically,” says Michael.

Set in Jackson, the story is deeply rooted in Michigan, with references including University Hospital, Mackinac Island, and blue moon ice cream.

The podcast was released weekly from November 27 through December 18. It’s the third series in Acorn Arts’ larger “Void Verse” of scripted sci-fi audio dramas, which also includes the original The Call of the Void and last year’s Silvertongues. The collection of podcasts, including the separate The Inn at the End of Things, has garnered 1.7 million downloads across 160 countries and received more than twenty awards or nominations. 

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Both Michael and Josie are actors and studied theater at Eastern Michigan University. Josie is also a director, and Michael is a screenwriter—he cowrote James Franco’s film The Mad Whale. The couple worked together in The Woman in Black with the Penny Seats Theatre Company in October, with Josie directing and Michael starring. Josie has also acted in lead roles with Theatre NOVA, including 2025’s Kairos and 2024’s Fortune. Liminal features a cast of thirteen Michigan actors, many of whom the couple met through the Ann Arbor theater community. 

Liminal stars Daniel Santillana as Caleb, Isaac Jay as Dominic, and Malcolm London as Aiden—the three brothers—Princess Beyonce Jones as Dominic’s wife, Lexi. 

Santillana, who lives in Ferndale, worked with the couple previously on Silvertongues. He trained as an improv and Shakespearean actor but grew up listening to old radio shows with his family, and is a fan of science fiction shows like The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. As Caleb, the middle brother, Santillana portrays a man who coped with family trauma through substance abuse. 

“I love Caleb, because I think that a lot of us have something in common with him,” says Santillana. “He carries his trauma with him, like we all do.”

Jones, based in Rochester, plays a supportive grounding force as Lexi, whom she described as having an energy that people gravitate to when feeling surrounded by nonstop darkness. She trained mostly as a theater actress, and Liminal was her first foray into podcasting. She says she loved the mechanisms and ideas of voice acting and evoking emotion only through words.

“With voice acting, I don’t have to be too physical, or I don’t have to be too hands-on with my body, but all of that energy and all of those circumstances can be played into my mind and voice,” she says.

Production took about a year, starting last January. The couple said they spent about six months writing the script before casting, recording, and editing. They record their podcasts in person from a soundproof room in their home, where Josie directs actors individually, instead of in a group. 

“We found that when we can really just focus on one character and record with them individually, we can get the best out of that particular actor,” says Michael.

After recording the dialogue, the couple incorporated Foley, creating and inserting sound effects—a process Josie says can take just as long as writing. 

“For science fiction, there’s a lot of crazy sounds [like] monster sounds, all sorts of interesting, dreamy sounds, ethereal sounds, music and everything,” she says.

Slicing a cantaloupe yielded a “fleshy” sound for one of the show’s gorier moments. Pool sounds were created by bringing the microphone to the bathroom and splashing water around the sink. 

One of the trickier effects was capturing the sounds of the story’s night terror, a fast, wiry creature as opposed to a huge, clomping monster. Michael says he started by making a laughing noise, which they lowered in pitch and distorted.

“A big stomping noise is pretty easy, but faster, lean noises were challenging,” he says.

Next up for the Hermans is a feature film. House of Ka—a supernatural gothic mystery written by the couple and directed by Josie—will premiere on AppleTV January 27. They’re also working on a podcast script for Amaryllis, which will further expand the Void Verse.

“Our shows tend to be geared toward the edgier crowds,” says Josie. “But with that, we always want to create a message of hope and just something that people can resonate with and be inspired by.”

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An abridged version of this article was published in the February 2026 issue of the Ann Arbor Observer.