The Elementals

De: Michael McDowell

Narrado por: R. C. Bray

After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand. But though long uninhabited, the third house is not empty. Inside, something deadly lies in wait. Something that has terrified Dauphin Savage and Luker McCray since they were boys, and which still haunts their nightmares. Something horrific that may be responsible for several terrible and unexplained deaths years earlier–and is now ready to kill again....

A haunted house story unlike any other, Michael McDowell's The Elementals (1981) was one of the finest novels to come out of the horror publishing explosion of the 1970s and '80s. Though best known for his screenplays for Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas, McDowell is now being rediscovered as one of the best modern horror writers and a master of Southern Gothic literature.

©1981, 2016 Estate of Michael McDowell (P)2016 Valancourt Books LLC

summer southern gothic

this recording is missing the prologue but the reader is great and this southern gothic is scary and well written.

scarrey

Really scarey with out being gorey.Nice haunted house subject inter
esting family characters with good interacting

Absolutely amazing

One of my favorite books. Characters are excellent and Bray absolutely slays the accents.

Wish it was longer. I love the idea of the summer homes. I could really imagine what it all looked like.

Genuinely scary southern Gothic family drama

I live a couple blocks way from beach in Southern Califormia and thanks to this dang book, I can add sand to the list of things that can kill me.

things I loved--realistic family dynamics. really scary big bad. cool, loving and supportive dad. a believably terrifying situatiom. things that are problematic--there some artifacts from the 70s that wouldn't fly in 2024 like a magical black character, an extremely closeted gay person, and a dad who shares quaaludes with his sassy 7th grade daughter, but it's all done with love so don't through the baby out with the bathwater.

very unique southern Gothic ghost story

I liked the story, especially the way they described the elementals... the book had some pacing issues but other than that it was an enjoyable read.

wow

there is nothing like a scary story set in the south! I stayed up most of the night listening!

Complex and intriguing

Even though The Elementals came out over 40 years ago, it still holds up as an interesting haunted house story. I didn’t feel scared reading it but I was intrigued. The setting on a beach in Alabama was brought to life and I was able to picture the environment.

The two main families in the story are peculiar and much of the plot focuses on their family dynamics and doesn’t have anything to do with the supernatural forces. It would be a suspenseful story even without the paranormal subplot because the human characters are complex.

I listened to the book on Audible and the narration was excellent. The narrator was believable in both the Northern and Southern accents.

Perfect Horror Story!!!

The story and performance were excellent! I was hooked immediately and couldn’t stop listening!
This was my first book by Michael McDowell and enjoyed it immensely! Have already bought 3 more titles by him.
I was sorry to read he passed on in 1999. What a tragic loss.

Pretty good Southern Horror

I read a lot of horror books and this one was pretty good...I wouldn't say GREAT, but good. The ending comes quickly and I was surprised to get the closing detailed information in the Epilogue. Not the best I've read but certainly not the worst.

The narration, love the voice

Great book , sorta scary ,it could happen. my favorite author and narrator together ,who could ask for better!