Blackwater: The Complete Saga

By: Michael McDowell

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 30 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Blackwater is the saga of a small town, Perdido, Alabama, and Elinor Dammert, the stranger who arrives there under mysterious circumstances on Easter Sunday, 1919. On the surface, Elinor is gracious, charming, anxious to belong in Perdido, and eager to marry Oscar Caskey, the eldest son of Perdido's first family. But her beautiful exterior hides a shocking secret. Beneath the waters of the Perdido River, she turns into something terrifying, a creature whispered about in stories that have chilled the residents of Perdido for generations. Some of those who observe her rituals in the river will never be seen again....

Originally published as a series of six volumes in 1983, Blackwater is the crowning achievement of Michael McDowell, author of the Southern Gothic classics Cold Moon Over Babylon and The Elementals and screenwriter of Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This first-ever one-volume edition will allow a new generation of listeners to discover this modern horror classic.

©1983, 2017 Michael McDowell (P)2017 Valancourt Books LLC

Charming Horror Story

At first I thought "oh no, another dud" but I stuck with this book and I'm glad I did. I got to know this generational, crazy, eccentric, southern family. It was like visiting my distant relatives that I had never met before. I laughed, cried and dined with them (dinner is the formal-proverbial family meeting for them). The author writes clearly and with a positive tone. Good detailed descriptions. The characters grow on you, seduces and intrigues you. It has humor, mystery, family drama and little bit of horror thrown in. All the characters are entertaining. Some you feel sorry for, some you get mad at, some you want to slap upside the head. Even though there is some ghostly figures and river monsters, this is by no means a horror story. It's about a rich eccentric southern family with some weird and quite unusual secrets. So if you like southern Gothic (or not) don't pass this one up. The narrator did a great job. It's been a week since I finished this book and I miss the family as if I really did have a long visit to Perdido Alabama.
This was my first book by Michael McDowell, and now I'm off to discover more by this wonderful author.

Very Mild Pace, but Worth It

The work itself was slow paced, but it gave time for the audience to really care about the characters. And I tell you, nearly every character was incredibly believable. Lifelike.

And the narrator did marvelously. Most of the characters in the book are female, and somehow this male narrator nails them each with a distinct and unique voice.

The horror is subtle and spaced enough to almost fool you into a sense of security. Then, just as the family drama draws you in back in full dive, the author reminds you that you are still holding a book of horror.

A Southern Family Drama with a Horror Twist

This is not primarily a horror book. This is a Southern family drama about a family that just so happens to have a river monster as an in-law. This is not a bad thing.

Needless to say, I was not expecting the story I heard, but I'm glad I stuck through the 30 hours. The Caskey family is fully realized, not merely characters in a story, but characters whose lives extend beyond the pages of the story being told about them. It's a saga that spans generations, and by the time last member of the original family passes away, there's a real sense of loss. McDowell created a family history that would have stood on its own, even if the darkest secret of all – that some of them aren't really human – wasn't a part of it.

But it is, and that quirk creates an undercurrent of doubt in the listener throughout. While it's established almost immediately that Eleanor is not what she appears (and the opening scenes are quite tense), her intentions remain largely unclear for most of the book. Her attacks on the family are an exercise in expert political maneuvering – and many of her maneuvers have positive effects. She absolutely does do terrible things, but then again, so do many of the people in the family. Like I said, it's a family drama.

Matt Godfrey's reading of the story is very well done, especially considering the sheer number of family members this saga covers, and there's no drop off in the women's voices. The one obvious note is that his voice for James Caskey (whose homosexuality is hinted at but never outright defined) gets a more pronounced lisp as the book goes on. It was impossible not to notice, but also the only real mark on a well-read story.

Blackwater is a long listen, especially since I kept waiting for the scary stuff to happen. But once I realized that this was a family drama first and a horror story second, I settled in to enjoy the Caskey family anthology.

Love it

I love everything about this audiobook. The story is captivating, the narrator's voice is perfect for this book, and you never want it to end. I just finished listening to it for the second time and I know I will listen to it again and again.

A tearjerker in the end

I cried in the end. This was such a wonderfully written book with beautiful narration. I love it.

Reminds me of Stephen King's work.

I liked this book because it had a Stephen King air to it. Mary Love and Eleanor at the root of all the trouble. Oscar going along with all the women until he could not any longer. All the characters in the book seemed to have something strange about them..
Well worth the credit. A long book that held my interest until the very end.

Wow!

Excellent story. Superbly read! Couldn't stop listening, felt as though I was there. Emotions aplenty!

Brilliant and beautiful

I don’t know why I’ve missed this before, but it was a wonderful listen ,and I would recommend it highly, especially to Stephen King followers.

The Blackwater Saga

I remembered this series from when I was young. I still have the books in my library. I listened to them this time with my husband and this 30 something years later, we both loved them. A timeless read, still held my interest and imagination.

Exciting

very interesting story. good characters. very enjoyable. excellent narration. I was very happy with the book