The Creeper

By: A.M. Shine

Narrated by: Aidan Kelly

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Superstitions only survive if people believe in them...

Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen—until they arrive...

The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown. A nameless fear stalks the streets...

Nobody will talk—nobody except one little girl. Her story strikes dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer...

That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away...

The Creeper is a masterful tale of horror and suspense, by one of Ireland's most talented emerging authors.

©2022 A.M. Shine (P)2022 W F Howes

First half is stronger than the second, IMO

I found the first half (maybe even 3/4) of the book pretty good... but I didn't care for the ending, and it just started feeling a little too... rinse and repeat the further it went.I preferred 'The Watchers'. Still, a decent enough horror novel.

Atmospheric and Eerie!!

Fantastic job ingratiating the characters, to their audience! Knowing who you truly root for, versus who you despise, and why, makes for a more immersive experience! Most importantly, truly imagining…what would you do…if it were truly you…in such a predicament!? The palpable fear, filth and desperation, were visceral, and enhanced by an adept narrator!

Narrator made it great!!

The story was pretty good. It kept me hooked and definitely gave me a bit of spooky vibes. Loved that there was no unnecessary explicit gore or sex, yet the author was able to get his story across perfectly! At times the two main characters got in my nerves for how naive they could be, we are talking Master students here…well educated…yet at times they behaved like immature teenagers. Thankfully that was very minimal and still the story was good. I do think that the reason I really enjoyed the story was because the narrator did such a fantastic job. We all know a bad narrator can ruin even the best of books but this guy made a pretty good book into an EXCELLENT listen.

Another Solid Entry from Shine

A.M. Shine has written two books that I’ve read, and definitely works with a theme. Those books are this one, and The Watchers. That theme is: there’s some weeeeeiiirrrddd stuff if you go deep enough into Ireland. It’s not redundant, though, as each book is a unique play on that theme.
This is a good read from end to end. Yes, it takes some setup, but most books worth your time do that.
Side note: One reviewer said they weren’t sure what the Creeper was by the end. This is strange to me, as the author spells it out pretty clearly.

solid, purposefully ambiguous.

I truly enjoyed this, and the characters written.
really hit the nail on the head with the early interviews, about the banshee, just for the little town to have you convinced otherwise, just to snatch it back at the end, and then once more when revisiting the professor.

as others have said, I wouldn't call it scary, but I don't know if an audio book could truly be scary. but it was spooky, and the ending for our main characters was pretty bleak and surprising.

Non formulaic - Good Creepy Story

The story has a good starting hook and I appreciate the unique story. I listen to audio books to be entertained. I like a creepy vibe without graphic gore or sex. This book was very near a perfect listen. It had some likable, relatable, real characters. There’s no animal abuse. Narration was very good. I’d listened to more from author and/or narrator.

The Creeper

A little confused as to what "the creeper" was at the end. I'm still unsure. No spoilers. I think I'll have to give it another listen which i have no problem with doing. It's a great story! Likeable, realistic characters. They had faults but they did their best. The Creeper, as a character, was truly scary. Albeit confusing. Another great piece of writing like The Watchers. The narrators of both books were pitch perfect.

Wicked awesome

This is really good. I'm looking forward to reading more from A.M. Shine.
That's it!

Not at all what I excepted

I enjoyed this book overall. I especially like the thought provoking relation to the male protagonist and the overall plot. It could maybe come off as a bit too on the nose, but I suspend my belief for the paranormal on a regular basis, so why not this too?

Suspenseful and definitely creepy

Generally my tastes in horror lean toward monsters, both supernatural monsters like zombies and real world monsters like, well, humans. I love my zombies and I love me some extreme horror and splatterpunk. Give me all the gore!

However, every once in a while I pick up a book or one by an author I’ve seen highly recommended in one of the many bookish online communities that I follow. Something thematically different than my usual favorites. A.M. Shine is one such author. You may recognize him from his earlier work, The Watchers, which is also on my staggeringly long TBR.

This one took me a minute to get into, as it is somewhat of a slow burner and I tend to prefer a faster pace. But much like that children’s tale of the tortoise and the rabbit, slow and steady wins the race. This is the story of a pair of researchers, Ben and Chloe, who are hired by an old eccentric to visit the village from which the superstition of a monster called the creeper originates. They make the trip and are warned off, but allowed to stay for one day on the condition that they conclude interviews by dark and leave the following morning. Ben makes an earnest attempt at learning the origins of the story from the village folk and feels like he’s failed due to the villagers’ unwillingness to talk, until he and Chloe are visited by a child as they’re getting ready to settle in for the night before leaving in the morning.

The author was really good about including little details, both about the legend and events as they are happening, to tie everything together. He left no big glaring loose ends. And if you’re a skeptic like Ben and myself, the ending and epilogue are quite satisfying. My one gripe is that maybe the build up was a bit too slow burning. There were some slightly creepy things early on, but it didn’t get truly terrifying for Ben and Chloe until about halfway through the book. By then I was definitely on the edge of my seat, right up until we get to the twist. And at that point, the reader is resigned to their fate same as Ben is resigned to his.

Solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Before the twist, it would have been one star lower. It is well written, but there are some things my brain just isn’t frightened by. So the ending was pretty satisfying. Was it scary? I didn’t think so. But it was suspenseful and had lots of creepy parts that kept me engaged and rooting for the unlucky researchers. Highly recommend adding it to your spooky season reading list.