The Willows

De: Algernon Blackwood

Narrado por: Graham Mack

Enjoy a classic horror story that begins with a hair-raising "Canadian canoe" trip down the flooded Danube. The float trip lands two adventurers on a willow-covered island in the stream, amid sharp shale, rapids, rain, and howling winds. Disastrous erosion and danger soon engulfs the two men. But the campers survive a murderous attempt to secretly scuttle their canoe and steal their food supplies.

When they hide from the perpetrators amid the heavy storm on their small, fast-disintegrating island, the campers also hear voices and gong-like dronings over the willows. Then they try to dodge detection from the aliens seeking to obliterate them, but it soon becomes apparent the outsiders are searching to make a human sacrifice.

It goes from bad to worse, though, as the willows themselves seem to draw ever closer after dark, until one of the Ancient Ones actually locates these terrified, menaced campers and rushes forward to seize and destroy them. But how can they escape without a paddle for their canoe, or food, or fuel, and with nothing ahead for the next 50 miles but willow and rapids?

©2022 Gary Adkins (P)2022 Gary Adkins

An intriguing saga told in a captivating manner

Suspicion, mistrust, deception, potential sabotage, - the text has no shortage of mystifying sentiments in this fascinating saga. “There’s a tear in the bottom of the boat... only one”. There is mystery, horror and supernatural activity in this exciting story.

The narrator does a wonderful job with the voices to make the story come alive. “Don’t think, for what you think happens”. The imaginative, beautiful imagery and the narration take you on a journey of constant expectation, anticipating the next occurrence – really captivating.

A Suspenseful Drama

A gripping mystery and an air of doom are what this book creates from beginning to end. A camping adventure is plagued by dark sightings and unexplained events. They make their way through both perceived and real danger. Senses are teased and minds are racing in this suspenseful book that surely will entertain any listener.

Scary horror story

Well narrated audiobook. Two friends land on an island during a canoe trip on the Danube river. They find that the willows on the island are alive and malevolent. If they think of them, the willows will attack. The hero of the story wakes one morning to find that his friend is not there. He hears a torrent of humming and his breathing was difficult. He saw his friend was trying to drown himself in the river. He saved his friend, but he became the target. They saw a Black object in river, and collided against a corpse. The ending left me hanging, wanting more.

A New Format

I was not familiar with this chat-type format and at first, wasn't sure I was going to like it. But it grew on me, and I began to realize it's actually quite a great format, as it compacts the most important parts. Now the story itself is quite interesting too. Two friends go on a canoe trip and where they landed, things began to happen to around them. One continued to try to justify what was happening, the boat scraped, the paddle damaged, strange ground markings, etc. The Swede, was figuring out what was going on... And I won't tell the rest of the story because I'm not going to be a spoiler.

This is a short and entertaining audiobook that you will enjoy as it will keep you wanting to listen to the end. The narration was excellent as well. Well done!

Horror!

This was a good horror story. I love the way the author created this story it was very good. It sounded like a movie and it would be a good one. Thank you for entertaining us with this audible. I would recommend this book to all horror lovers.

Thrilling!

A page turner that I could not stop listening too, great narration that really pulled the book together. I really enjoyed the plot and the descriptive wording that really captivated me and created vivid images in my head as I listened, wonderfully written. I highly recommend those who love thrillers! You will not regret it.

Entertaining

Usually I am not good at listening at horror books but this book got me listening till the end and I will not hesitate listening to any book from this author. I could envisage and paint the narrations and descriptions. It brought out the important of certain things in life like food and fluel.

This great horror is adapted expressly for audio!

Imagine taking a rugged camping trip of hundreds of miles and stumbling upon some incomprehensively alien beings. It happens on a small willow island during a canoe trip down the Danube at flood. Are the otherworldly visitors elder gods, spirits of the dead, or merely montstrous entities? Whatever, these alien beings clearly are not up to any good, and are bent on killing the campers. Deadly sabotage, strange sights and sounds, and inexplicable developments abound as our humans are hunted and the willows close in on them. At last they are located and one giant swoops in for the kill.... No less an expert on horror stories than H.P. Lovecraft called this story the best supernatural tale in the English language. Listen to what the book's narrator, Graham Mack, and story editor Gary Adkins have to say about it here: https://youtu.be/maundyNXc9c

Too Old Fashioned for Me

This early twentieth century novella had the aurora of being written by an author who undoubtedly thought he was quite clever, but would likely only bore most modern readers.
The plot revolved around a two man canoe trip. One man was the suspicious one, warning his companion about the dangers of the supernatural, while the other was comparatively the voice of reason (the “it’s just the wind” friend).
One part that annoyed me was when the suspicious man warned his companion against speaking or even thinking about the supposed supernatural elements alert in the forest. He said it would give them power, make them more deadly. And yet, both men continued as they were, talking away about these forces.
The best parts of this story were it was short (I could have only dealt with so much of this) and the ending was not terrible. The men were, for the time being, saved, because the powers chose, instead, a peasant as a victim (I guess only so many victims were needed at any one time).
I like to imagine this as an allegory for insanity. Perhaps, these men were not meant for the great outdoors and began to imagine things. Perhaps, nature’s wonders played tricks with their minds. The Willows scare factor may have been minimal, but at least it can be viewed outside the straight and narrow.