Hazel M.

Loved It! Surprisingly Moving Horror

Revisado: 06-18-24

Really, really enjoyed this. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was surprised to find that these stories were really quite deep and more than one was pretty emotionally engaging. The author really managed to capture the creepiness of the small town and also to create characters that felt well-rounded and that one could relate to. Not all of the horror was supernatural, as broken homes and small town Midwest inertia are just as much a lurking danger in some of these. Chaney’s wonderful use of language and Halloween/autumnal settings, as well as his overall themes, really evoke the works of Ray Bradbury in the best possible way. I very much look forward to reading the next volume!

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Hokey Blast From The Past

Revisado: 03-29-24

Read this book as a young person in the 90s, loved hearing it again as an Audible. It was definitely fun and brought up some spooky Halloween feelings. A lot of it has not aged well at all, from the completely inappropriate and creepy guidance counselor hanging out with the students to the author’s weird insinuation that the stepbrother isn’t a real relative and thus the obvious flirtation is okay. As others have pointed out, the main character is totally useless and helpless and doesn’t do anything but run around having to be rescued while screaming “Caww..nnnerr!!!???” endlessly. At some points it’s almost comical how often the poor narrator has to stretch out that word and try to perform. The narration itself is OK although again, this is the equivalent of a modern penny dreadful. I’m not trying to make it sound like it’s not fun, because it is, just that it’s easy listening for a spooky fall day. The ending is surprisingly gruesome, though, and more or less redeems the empty jump scares that come before.

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Wonderful Book, Really Bad Narration

Revisado: 02-10-21

This is a classic in occult literature, which is why it’s especially strange that they chose a man to read a book by a famous WOMAN occultist. Even worse, as others have pointed out, the narration is bizarrely robotic, and the narrator very frequently mispronounces even relatively basic words (the most egregious being the use of a soft “c” in Hecate.) It sounds as if he’s reading football plays, and it doesn’t match up at all with Fortune’s commentaries about being an employee in an Edwardian-era school and the like. It’s so bad I’m not even going to be able to finish it. This excellent book, and Dion Fortune, deserve better.

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