
The Dark Country
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.38
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dennis Etchison
-
Stefan Rudnicki
-
Gabrielle de Cuir
About this listen
Etchison's fiction is justly famous for its creepy ambience, and explores the terrain mapped out by Philip K. Dick, Thomas Harris, and any number of black and white horror movies. This is his legendary first collection, carefully corrected by the author for this new edition. The title story won both the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award in 1982, the first time a single work received both major awards.
Contents include 16 groundbreaking stories and an introduction by Ramsey Campbell.
- "It Only Comes Out at Night"
- "Sitting in the Corner, Whimpering Quietly"
- "The Walking Man"
- "We Have All Been Here Before"
- "Daughter of the Golden West"
- "The Pitch"
- "You Can Go Now"
- "Today's Special"
- "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice"
- "Calling All Monsters"
- "The Dead Line"
- "The Late Shift"
- "The Nighthawk"
- "It Will Be Here Soon"
- "Deathtracks"
- "The Dark Country"
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies
- By: John Langan
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of twenty-first century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.
-
-
Finally more John Langan in audiobook form
- By Anonymous User on 09-10-23
By: John Langan
-
The Hungry Moon
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isolated on the moors of northern England, the town of Moonwell has remained faithful to their Druid traditions and kept their old rituals alive. Right-wing evangelist Godwin Mann isn’t about to let that continue, and his intolerant brand of fundamentalism has struck a chord with the residents.
-
-
Creeping, Deranged, Cosmic
- By Michael on 08-02-19
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
The Best of Richard Matheson
- By: Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle - editor/introduction
- Narrated by: Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
-
-
Rich and thrilling storytelling
- By Arthur on 10-24-17
By: Richard Matheson, and others
-
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
-
-
Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
-
Ghost Story
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder. Peter Straub's classic best seller is a work of "superb horror" ( Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time - and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.
-
-
Great Story! The Best of Peter Straub
- By Jaimie on 07-17-12
By: Peter Straub
-
Haunted Nights
- A Horror Writers Association Anthology
- By: Ellen Datlow - editor, Garth Nix, Kelley Armstrong, and others
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Erin Spencer, James Patrick Cronin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are 16 chilling, never-before-published tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, coedited by Ellen Datlow, one of the most successful and respected genre editors, and Lisa Morton, a leading authority on Halloween. Included are stories about scheming jack-o'-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick-or-treating in the future.
-
-
Slow burn stories
- By Alex Sumner on 03-05-22
By: Ellen Datlow - editor, and others
-
Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies
- By: John Langan
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of twenty-first century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.
-
-
Finally more John Langan in audiobook form
- By Anonymous User on 09-10-23
By: John Langan
-
The Hungry Moon
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isolated on the moors of northern England, the town of Moonwell has remained faithful to their Druid traditions and kept their old rituals alive. Right-wing evangelist Godwin Mann isn’t about to let that continue, and his intolerant brand of fundamentalism has struck a chord with the residents.
-
-
Creeping, Deranged, Cosmic
- By Michael on 08-02-19
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
The Best of Richard Matheson
- By: Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle - editor/introduction
- Narrated by: Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
-
-
Rich and thrilling storytelling
- By Arthur on 10-24-17
By: Richard Matheson, and others
-
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
-
-
Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
-
Ghost Story
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder. Peter Straub's classic best seller is a work of "superb horror" ( Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time - and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.
-
-
Great Story! The Best of Peter Straub
- By Jaimie on 07-17-12
By: Peter Straub
-
Haunted Nights
- A Horror Writers Association Anthology
- By: Ellen Datlow - editor, Garth Nix, Kelley Armstrong, and others
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Erin Spencer, James Patrick Cronin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are 16 chilling, never-before-published tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, coedited by Ellen Datlow, one of the most successful and respected genre editors, and Lisa Morton, a leading authority on Halloween. Included are stories about scheming jack-o'-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick-or-treating in the future.
-
-
Slow burn stories
- By Alex Sumner on 03-05-22
By: Ellen Datlow - editor, and others
-
Skeleton Crew
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Matthew Broderick, Michael C. Hall, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The master at his scarifying best! From heart-pounding terror to the eeriest of whimsy - tales from the outer limits of one of the greatest imaginations of our time! Trucks that punish and beautiful teen demons who seduce a young man to massacre; curses whose malevolence grows through the years; obscene presences and angels of grace - here, indeed, is a night-blooming bouquet of chills and thrills.
-
-
Excellent narrators for classic King collection
- By Sheryl McCallister on 04-07-20
By: Stephen King
-
Hell House
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.
But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.
-
-
Hell House is like Hill House, but fiercer
- By Phebe on 08-13-12
By: Richard Matheson
-
When Things Get Dark
- Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson
- By: Ellen Datlow - editor
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Cassandra Campbell, Erin Moon, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and listeners. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.
-
-
Come for the Oates, stay for the rest!
- By Rebecca Rowland, author on 12-23-21
-
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws listeners into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.
-
-
Highly recommend
- By Amazon Customer on 07-23-18
By: Haruki Murakami
-
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe
- By: Thomas Ligotti, Jeff VanderMeer - foreword
- Narrated by: Jon Padgett, Linda Jones
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Ligotti’s debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti eschews cheap, gory thrills for his own brand of horror, which shocks at the deepest, existential, levels.
-
-
Incredible!
- By Erik McHatton on 02-27-23
By: Thomas Ligotti, and others
-
The Voice of the Night with Short Story, "Silence"
- By: Dean Koontz
- Narrated by: Pavi Proczko, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day, Roy asked his timid friend: “You ever killed anything?” From that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine - and too irresistible to stop.
-
-
can not believe dean koontz wrote this book
- By Anonymous User on 10-05-21
By: Dean Koontz
-
The Pram
- Creature Feature Collection
- By: Joe Hill
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old baby stroller to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. So do the sweet coos of a baby Willy knows can’t be real. Can it? In this twisted thicket, wishes come true—with a price.
-
-
Freaking Brilliant!
- By Wysh on 03-19-24
By: Joe Hill
-
Oryx and Crake
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly?
-
-
Brilliant Science Fiction
- By Michael on 05-20-03
By: Margaret Atwood
-
The Lioness
- A Novel
- By: Chris Bohjalian
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Grace Experience, Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. Their glamorous guests—including Katie’s best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film Tender Madness—will spend their days taking photos.
-
-
AMAZING!
- By Julie Linker on 05-18-22
By: Chris Bohjalian
-
Iron Lake
- Cork O'Connor, Book 1
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger crafts this riveting tale about a small Minnesota town’s ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge. Cork O’Connor loses his job after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. But he must set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the same day a judge commits suicide—and no one but O’Connor suspects foul play.
-
-
Great New Series
- By Lia on 06-01-18
-
The Templar Legacy
- A Novel
- By: Steve Berry
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts—and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.
-
-
Dan Brown... eat your heart out
- By Bonnie-Ann on 07-22-12
By: Steve Berry
-
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
-
-
Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
Related to this topic
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Nemo71 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
-
-
The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
-
Say No More
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Anna Skellern
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.
-
-
Seriously, that was the ending?
- By alicia in athens on 02-13-25
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Nemo71 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
-
-
The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
-
Say No More
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Anna Skellern
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.
-
-
Seriously, that was the ending?
- By alicia in athens on 02-13-25
-
He Who Fights with Monsters 2
- A LitRPG Adventure (He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 2)
- By: Shirtaloon, Travis Deverell
- Narrated by: Heath Miller
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
But Jason Asano is settling into his new life. Now, a contest draws young elites to the city of Greenstone to compete for a grand prize. Jason must gather a band of companions if he is to stand a chance against the best the world has to offer. While the young adventurers are caught up in competition, the city leaders deal with revelations of betrayal as a vast and terrible enemy is revealed. Although Jason seems uninvolved, he has unknowingly crossed the enemy’s path before.
-
-
Contrary to common reviews
- By Karen on 05-21-21
By: Shirtaloon, and others
-
Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
-
-
Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
-
Brain Damage
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
-
-
Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
- By Jennifer Chichester on 09-16-22
By: Freida McFadden
-
The Pearl and the Onion
- By: Brittany K. Allen
- Narrated by: Anna Chlumsky, Jasmine Cephas-Jones
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When our story begins, Julia Child is an eager but inexperienced codebreaker longing to prove herself in the male-dominated world of intelligence, and Josephine Baker is, well, Josephine Baker—a world-famous entertainer who is now leading a double life as a spy for the French Resistance. When a golden opportunity arises to infiltrate a high-stakes Nazi gala in Vichy France, Julia must put aside her by-the-book mentality to assist her unorthodox new partner.
-
-
Delightful entertainment!
- By Ann on 03-27-25
-
The House on the Water
- A Novella
- By: Margot Hunt
- Narrated by: Taylor Schilling
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.
-
-
Wonderful Story
- By David M. Wilcox on 12-04-20
By: Margot Hunt
-
Mary Jane
- By: Amy Herzog
- Narrated by: Rachel McAdams, April Matthis, Brenda Wehle, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams stars in Mary Jane, a poignant and intimate drama following a single mother’s journey caring for her chronically ill young son. Set in New York City, the play unfolds in two parts—Mary Jane's small Queens apartment and a pediatric hospital. With unflinching honesty and unexpected humor, we witness Mary Jane's tireless devotion, her interactions with medical professionals, and her struggle to maintain her sense of self.
-
-
Amazing performance
- By Andrew Reynolds on 12-28-24
By: Amy Herzog
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Hungry Moon
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isolated on the moors of northern England, the town of Moonwell has remained faithful to their Druid traditions and kept their old rituals alive. Right-wing evangelist Godwin Mann isn’t about to let that continue, and his intolerant brand of fundamentalism has struck a chord with the residents.
-
-
Creeping, Deranged, Cosmic
- By Michael on 08-02-19
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
Out of the Ruins
- By: Preston Grassmann, China Miéville, Emily St. John Mandel, and others
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles, Chelsea Stephens, Heath Miller, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fresh post-apocalyptic anthology: the end of the world seen through the salvage and ruins, featuring Emily St. John Mandel, Carmen Maria Machado, and more.
-
-
More misses than hits.
- By Jimmyjoejangles on 04-30-22
By: Preston Grassmann, and others
-
In That Endlessness, Our End
- By: Gemma Files
- Narrated by: Deanna Anthony, Neil Hellegers, Steven Jay Cohen, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award–winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares—a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.
-
-
Solid collection, if a bit repetitive
- By DP on 08-13-24
By: Gemma Files
-
Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach (Fiction Without Frontiers)
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Daniel Millar
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's Ray and Sandra's first family holiday in Greece, on the island of Vasilema. The skies are cloudier than anywhere else in Greece, and the family is intrigued by local eccentricities -the lack of mirrors, the outsize beach umbrellas, the saint's day celebrated with an odd nocturnal ritual. Why are there islanders who seem to follow the family wherever they go? Why do Sandra and the teenage grandchildren have strangely similar dreams? Has Sandra been granted a wish she didn't know she made?
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
-
-
Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
-
Man with No Name
- The Nanashi Series, Book 1
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nanashi was born into a life of violence. Delivered from the mean streets by the Heron Clan, he mastered the way of the gun and knife and swiftly ascended through yakuza ranks to become a dreaded enforcer. His latest task? He and an entourage of expert killers are commanded to kidnap Muzaki, a retired world-renowned wrestler under protection of the rival Dragon Syndicate. It should be business as bloody usual for Nanashi and his ruthless brothers-in-arms.
-
-
I like this
- By Vermillion on 09-10-20
By: Laird Barron
-
The Hungry Moon
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isolated on the moors of northern England, the town of Moonwell has remained faithful to their Druid traditions and kept their old rituals alive. Right-wing evangelist Godwin Mann isn’t about to let that continue, and his intolerant brand of fundamentalism has struck a chord with the residents.
-
-
Creeping, Deranged, Cosmic
- By Michael on 08-02-19
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
Out of the Ruins
- By: Preston Grassmann, China Miéville, Emily St. John Mandel, and others
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles, Chelsea Stephens, Heath Miller, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fresh post-apocalyptic anthology: the end of the world seen through the salvage and ruins, featuring Emily St. John Mandel, Carmen Maria Machado, and more.
-
-
More misses than hits.
- By Jimmyjoejangles on 04-30-22
By: Preston Grassmann, and others
-
In That Endlessness, Our End
- By: Gemma Files
- Narrated by: Deanna Anthony, Neil Hellegers, Steven Jay Cohen, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award–winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares—a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.
-
-
Solid collection, if a bit repetitive
- By DP on 08-13-24
By: Gemma Files
-
Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach (Fiction Without Frontiers)
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Daniel Millar
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's Ray and Sandra's first family holiday in Greece, on the island of Vasilema. The skies are cloudier than anywhere else in Greece, and the family is intrigued by local eccentricities -the lack of mirrors, the outsize beach umbrellas, the saint's day celebrated with an odd nocturnal ritual. Why are there islanders who seem to follow the family wherever they go? Why do Sandra and the teenage grandchildren have strangely similar dreams? Has Sandra been granted a wish she didn't know she made?
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
-
-
Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
-
Man with No Name
- The Nanashi Series, Book 1
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nanashi was born into a life of violence. Delivered from the mean streets by the Heron Clan, he mastered the way of the gun and knife and swiftly ascended through yakuza ranks to become a dreaded enforcer. His latest task? He and an entourage of expert killers are commanded to kidnap Muzaki, a retired world-renowned wrestler under protection of the rival Dragon Syndicate. It should be business as bloody usual for Nanashi and his ruthless brothers-in-arms.
-
-
I like this
- By Vermillion on 09-10-20
By: Laird Barron
-
The Wise Friend
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Geoff Cummings
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Patrick Torrington’s aunt Thelma was a successful artist whose late work turned towards the occult. While staying with her in his teens, he found evidence that she used to visit magical sites. As an adult, he discovers her journal of her explorations, and his teenage son Roy becomes fascinated, too. His experiences at the sites scare Patrick away from them, but Roy carries on the search, together with his new girlfriend. Can Patrick convince his son that his increasingly terrible suspicions are real, or will what they’ve helped to rouse take a new hold on the world?
-
-
Worth a Credit
- By wisconsinclark on 06-28-20
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
The Shadowkiller
- A Novel
- By: Matthew Scott Hansen
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bigfoot wants revenge! Just as Jaws terrified people right out of the water, The Shadowkiller will keep readers out of the woods...for good.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Nathan on 10-04-10
-
Hark! The Herald Angels Scream
- By: Christopher Golden - editor, Joe R. Lansdale, Scott Smith, and others
- Narrated by: Charles Constant, Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. The hideous children - Want and Ignorance - beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Best-selling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.
-
-
Some good, some clunkers. Some fun, none scary.
- By Max Trivial on 12-24-18
By: Christopher Golden - editor, and others
-
Dark Screams
- Volume One
- By: Kelley Armstrong, Bill Pronzini, Ramsey Campbell, and others
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weeds by Stephen King: When a meteorite lands on his property, Jordy Verrill envisions an easy payday. Unfortunately for Jordy, this is no ordinary rock - and the uncompromising force inside has found its first target.
-
-
WISH IN ONE HAND, SPIT IN THE OTHER
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 03-14-16
By: Kelley Armstrong, and others
-
Relics
- By: Tim Lebbon
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tiger bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures. When her fiance Vince goes missing, Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers he was a part of this secretive trade. It's a big-money business-shadowy, brutal, and sometimes fatal. As the trail leads her deeper into London's dark side, she crosses paths with a crime lord whose life is dedicated to collecting such relics.
-
-
Two dimensional characters
- By Katrin on 06-21-19
By: Tim Lebbon
-
Kissing Carrion
- Stories
- By: Gemma Files
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers, Xe Sands, Natasha Soudek, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These seventeen tales take listeners into the uniquely twisted mind of “one of Canada’s most promising new horror writers” (Publishers Weekly). From a live necrophilia show starring reanimated corpses to a confrontation between a security guard and inhuman squatters, from who can be found at an all-night laundromat to what lies in wait at the bottom of the sea, from undead addictions to all-consuming obsessions, Kissing Carrion is “a journey through some of the most beautifully rendered visions of darkness and death to be published this past year."
-
-
Horror that leaves a residue
- By Amazon Customer on 07-08-23
By: Gemma Files
-
Shadow on the Sun
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Southwest Arizona, a century ago: an uneasy truce exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There’s a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men’s clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human.
-
-
Matheson Western Horror Novel
- By William on 04-15-12
By: Richard Matheson
-
The Bookshop from Hell
- By: David Haynes
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Horror is what Dan Law enjoys. He loves to read horror novels as a way to escape from his teaching job, from his loneliness, from the everyday dullness of life in Silver Lake. That’s what Dan lives for. When a new bookstore opens in town, every visitor receives a free book of their own. A book that tells their own personal story...a story they have to follow to the brutal end. As Silver Lake’s population descends into violent savagery, Dan finds he is no longer living for horror novels - he’s living inside one.
-
-
good book!
- By Craig specht on 04-17-24
By: David Haynes
-
Agents of Dreamland
- Tinfoil Dossier, Book 1
- By: Caitlin R. Kiernan
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell, Chelsea Stephens
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A government special agent known only as the Signalman gets off a train on a stunningly hot morning in Winslow, Arizona. Later that day he meets a woman in a diner to exchange information about an event that happened a week earlier for which neither has an explanation but which haunts the Signalman. In a ranch house near the shore of the Salton Sea, a cult leader gathers up the weak and susceptible - the Children of the Next Level - and offers them something to believe in and a chance for transcendence. The future is coming, and they will help to usher it in.
-
-
I Really Enjoyed It
- By KC Miller on 10-22-20
-
The Croning
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults, and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us.... Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly 80 years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge.
-
-
Great Writer - Good story - VERY Wrong Reader,
- By Old Man Parker on 10-17-12
By: Laird Barron
-
The Influence
- Fiction Without Frontiers
- By: Ramsey Campbell
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Queenie is the aging matriarch of the Faraday family, and even death can’t break her hold over her 11-year-old granddaughter, Rowan. She’s buried with a locket that contains a lock of Rowan’s hair, and soon afterwards, Rowan is befriended by a mysterious, uncannily intelligent girl of her own age. Only her aunt Hermione suspects how sinister this is, but will retrieving the locket save her niece? By the time anyone sees what effect the ghostly influence on Rowan is having, it may be too late for her.
-
-
it was ok.
- By latasha on 02-24-20
By: Ramsey Campbell
-
American Elsewhere
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....
-
-
You are entering the twighlight zone
- By Lisa on 07-29-13
What listeners say about The Dark Country
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- desiree
- 10-21-20
Boring
Listen to the whole thing and found it rather bland and uninteresting. I feel like I didn't really understand the point of most of the stories and they left me with questions.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert Crosby
- 12-30-24
One of the best
I had read this book and others by Etchison a long time. As with a number of old favorites it tales a new even more enjoyable significance when read well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diane McCormick
- 11-20-20
great stories
found all the stories great. listened to some of them twice. my only complaint is the man with the bass voice was hard for me to understand sometimes. being older, some tones are hard to understand clearly. bass being one of them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nikolas P. Robinson
- 02-20-22
A Strange Collection of Strange Tales
The Dark Country collects sixteen short stories from Dennis Etchison's career, some particularly short, and all of them brimming with imagination. Unfortunately, many of the stories in this collection end without any conclusion, needlessly terminating in cliff-hangers that left me less than satisfied. The style of writing and the quality of the storytelling were both great. It was the lack of any real ending to many of the stories that limited my enjoyment at times.
In most cases, I take the time to provide some manner of synopsis for each story included in a collection like this, but I will instead focus on a few of the stories that stood out to me as being the best of those included. In all honesty, some of the more surreal and peculiar tales would be impossible to review without giving everything away.
It Only Comes Out At Night is an excellent way to kick off the collection, as we join a husband and wife on a road trip through the desert. A lonely rest area is transformed into a sinister and horrific place where unknown threats lurk and unwary travelers might never leave. Etchison captures the eeriness and isolation of late-night travel on empty stretches of highway, as well as the almost sinister ambiance of those out-of-the-way oases we find ourselves stopping at against our better judgment. Whether it's because we're exhausted, we require fuel, or we're desperately in need of a restroom, long-distance travel has forced all of us to stop at one of those rest areas or convenience stores arising seemingly from nothing as they appear in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately for the couple at the center of Etchison's tale, this rest area might live up to those nightmare scenarios we imagine.
The cruel and monstrous twist awaiting readers at the end of The Pitch is both darkly comedic and altogether too plausible. A random gentleman offers to perform the sales pitch for a variety of kitchen gadgets in a shopping center, displaying the ease with which any slicing and dicing needs might be completed, with a special focus on the safety mechanisms. Buyer beware. Always check your purchases before use.
The Late Shift builds an atmosphere of mystery and confusion as two young men stop at an all-night convenience store where they swear they recognize the attendant behind the counter. Something isn't right, and their attempts to uncover the truth might just provide an unsettling first-hand understanding of why overnight workers seem a little unusual.
Finally, the collection closes with The Dark Country, a story of a Mexican vacation and horrible mistakes made in response to a series of thefts. This final story showcases both the inherent bigotry of the Americans and the in-group vs. out-group thinking that emerges within the collected tourists as they begin perceiving the locals as predatory outsiders.
The various narrators brought different qualities to light within the stories they performed. It seems as if some thought went into the distribution of stories, to pair each tale with the voice best suited for the narrative in question.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Justin Goldstein
- 02-15-22
Story good... Book bad
To put it shortly I must have misunderstood the extent at which this title would focus on a dystopian ideal of what medical death could be like..... more than a horror story or rather less than; this collection-cum novel (i say based on its continuity of theme) cannot seem to get beyond the fact and further the ideal of a negative impact to post death donation. Flesh peddling in the age of DNR to this Johnny One Note creation seems to have an interest in brainwashing everybody into believing there is absolute zero value in post-death Exploration which is in fact the evolution of most Medical Science to this date; even some of the horrific trials which were regrettable; by painting an image that no one can die and donate them selves or even their cells without coming under some horrific fate. Said fates, coincidentally in a great many of these stories, seem to rely very heavily on the trope / ideal of Johnny got his gun, the One video by Metallica, and many other Twilight Zone / Creepshow type tropes of the very outdated post death autopsy mythos.....
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jerry the artist
- 12-06-20
Totally worth the listen.
My only complaint is the overly long intro, another scary story could have been included.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tiffiany
- 08-19-21
Bait and switch author tag.
The stories were alright, but honestly, why is Ramsey Campbell tagged as the author of this book? It's misleading and need to be refiled under the the true author's name.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Angel Flukes
- 09-09-20
So boring
I feel bad not giving it it’s full chance by not listening to the entire 7h but one hour in and I had to remove from library. Not gripping, at all, poorly read, and just plain dull, there’s so much better on audible. Just my opinion but I’d keep searching if I were you :/
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joshua Kempton
- 11-27-21
Solid stories
I guess it's the author himself whose narration I find unbearable. His reading cadence is like William Shatner falling down drunk. The other two are fine and, overall, I can recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mrmcc17
- 12-10-24
Etchison, a genius of horror.
An unappreciated short story horror genius. I was thrilled that this title was on Audible since its been thirty years since I read it. Brought back memories and still holds up. I hope his other books will make it to Audible as well. Definitely worth your time. RIP Etchison.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!