Stolen Tongues

By: Felix Blackwell

Narrated by: J.S. Arquin

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

A romantic cabin getaway doesn't go exactly as planned.

High up on the windswept cliffs of Pale Peak, Faye and Felix celebrate their new engagement. But soon, a chorus of ghastly noises erupts from the nearby woods: the screams of animals, the cries of children, and the mad babble of a hundred mournful voices. A dark figure looms near the windows in the dead of night, whispering to Faye. As the weather turns deadly, Felix discovers that his terrified fiancée isn't just mumbling in her sleep—she's whispering back.

©2017 Felix Blackwell (P)2022 Tantor

Good book

The book is really good but the last chapter the author Gordon and on about why he chose native Americans in his story… I personally thinks it’s long winded and unnecessary.

Good story, disappointing ending

heard it first from creepypasta, thought I'd use a credit to listen to the real and full thing. overall the story was creepy and interesting, but the ending was pretty disappointing and I really thought it would be more climactic.

Will be sleeping with the light on

As I write this, I’m genuinely afraid to go outside to walk my dog. This was one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. My only complaint is that the narration could have been a fair bit better in some parts.

Good in the beginning then too repetitive

I liked where the story was going. I liked the characters. But it never went anywhere. Very repetitive. Halfway through I realized I wanted the creature to take Faye just for there to be something different.

Good listen!

Was skeptical at first, however it held my interest from start to finish. Narration was great.

Scary! Love it

Wish it was a movie!! Loved every bit of it! Pretty creepy. I'm definitely going to re read again

The reviews

It was definitely a nerve wracking, hair standing novel that made me watch my back

Don't answer calls in the night

This is one of the few recent horror books to give me genuine chills multiple times. The characters were likeable and you find yourself rooting for them and also wondering how you would react in a similar situation. If you live with a partner/roommate/etc, Stolen tongues will definitely give you some eerie feelings in the middle of the night.

Tongues Bites

With 'Stolen Tongues', Felix Blackwell presents a dark and fearful tale from beginning to end. The entire novel is told in a (present day) gothic gloom with several points that are hair raising, even to a veteran horror reader. Blackwell's writing style is superb, here he crafts and maintains a frightful atmosphere for the duration of the novel, which at times feels like a marathon. Just when you think its about end, some other plot string is pulled and it jumps up a level.

The themes, like the monsters, in Stolen Tongues are stitched together from parts of haunted house stories, urban legends, native mythologies, and Japanese horror. It all aligns into a very good spooky story. Probably one of the best. At the end there are a number of mysteries left unanswered, which I think adds to the creepiness.

I have a few minor critiques which are hard to discuss without revealing TMI to anyone who hasn't read it. Suffice to say, I felt at times that the main characters waited too long to take logical action and sometimes set plans in motion without being at all prepared for what they knew they would likely face. This added to the claustrophobic atmosphere and was probably necessary to keep things tense but I kept thinking, wouldn't they ask for help? These are issues can be easily forgiven given the excellent writing throughout.

Blackwell seems concerned about how native people are depicted in the story and writes about it in the afterward. He does a very good job humanizing the native characters & culture so there is no issue there. They are three dimensional and interesting. The only twitchy element in this regard is that certain maladies befall them while white characters are spared (when it seems like they would be more likely to suffer these attentions). The situation with the natives just seems to be there for shock value, which it is, but it stands out.

All in all a great and scary read and highly recommended. JS Arquin does a great job bringing the characters to life in the Audible version.

Irritation

This was a good book but the narrator drove me crazy. He had a good voice but he constantly went from a whisper to a shout. He had a normal voice and then would whisper so I had to turn up the volume and then all of a sudden loudly hollered hurting my ears and I would turn the volume back down as quickly as possible. This was continual. I’ve heard a few books like this and they irritate me!!!!!! I’m getting irritated just writing this. Also don’t need to hear the names of God and Jesus Christ being abused.