Carnacki the Ghost-Finder

By: William Hope Hodgson

Narrated by: Dan Starkey, Joseph Kloska

Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Dan Starkey takes on the mantle of William Hope Hodgson's supernatural detective, Thomas Carnacki, in this collection of enhanced audiobook readings: 'The Gateway of the Monster', 'The House Among the Laurels', 'The Whistling Room', 'The Horse of the Invisible', 'The Searcher of the End House' and 'The Thing Invisible'.

Directed by Scott Handcock.

Public Domain (P)2016 Big Finish Productions

Critic reviews

"This is a straight, very faithful rendition of the original stories by William Hope Hodgson, and very well produced. No unnecessary updating, no loss of Hodgson's period language or descriptions. Spot on." (Grey Dog Tales)

"Neil Gardner and Tanja Glittenberg, the collection's sound designers, are to be congratulated. They've outdone themselves with this release." (Occult Detective Quarterly, Issue 1)

A Disappointment Due To 'Atmospheric' Music

I waited for some time for this to hit release, having had a longtime familiarity with Hodgson's stories and others subsequently written, using these central characters.

Unfortunately, I did not realize that there was music added in the background to 'enhance' the reading. This ruined the read for me. I want a straight reading on an audio book, and frankly the addition of music to any degree within the body of the text is distracting for me and (inn this case) completely breaks the mood.

I have a number of Big Finish recordings in my library, and this isn't as large an issue as it is on these more atmospheric stories. To be fair, I've had similar issues with a couple of collections of M.R; James' work from another publisher -- though in that case it's an insistence of bridging the gaps between the stories with 'mood' music.

While it is good to finally see a collection of Carnacki tales in release, this one did not work for me. I lasted approximately six minutes into the initial story before I was so vexed that I gave up and switched my player to a historical test.

Flimsy Fun

These are fun, creepy, but somewhat predictable mysteries. Hodgson does an amazing job with atmosphere, tapping into upper-class anxieties, but the plots are repetitive and often offer Scooby Doo endings that only disappoint.

I'd love to hear the same narrators and producers tackle one of his more weighty works, like The Night Lands, or House on the Borderland.

Wonder filled!

Hodgson's Carnacki tales are wonderful, a look back at a classical method of tale-telling. Many of the stories are absolutely chilling. I just wish this collection had included all of the Carnacki stories, as "The Hog" is truly one of the best, and this collection is diminished by it's absence.

100 year old ghost stories

Thomas Carnacki, voiced by Dan Starkey, is an occult detective. The premise of the stories is that Carnacki invites his friends, which includes Dodgson (played by Joseph Kloska), to come and listen to his recent investigations into the supernatural. There are six such stories.

98% of each story is the single voice of Dan Starkey with Joseph Kloska’s character, Dodgson, interjecting at the beginning and end.

Written over 100 years ago, they are rather mild horror stories, similar to that written by M.R.James. And for me that’s their main weakness, just not scary enough. Though I would listen to more just for Dan Starkey who is a fantastic voice actor.

I couldn't recommend this I'm afraid

The stories are OK if nothing stunning but I like MR James and EF Benson so I'd thought I'd enjoy another slice of gothic ghost mysteries. The real problem is the narraters. They are both very clear read but not for a minute did I believe they were ghost hunters from around the year 1900, their elocution lacked the precision I would have expected for this period. I'm sure they'd be fine with modern day works but as for this, they failed to elevate mediocre tales, in fact, they made them worse.

The best narration yet of WHH

I already have these stories narrated by various people ,but these are the best versions by far.The atmosphere is set almost immediately.Everything is right about this production from the two protagonists to the great music which never overpowers the narration but adds another dimension to the feeling of eeriness.First class all around - I hope there is more William Hope Hodgson to come from this fine team.

Very stylish.

Dan Starkey is brilliant in these stories which work much better as drama, in my opinion. Sound production and music are also faultless, another classy production from Big Finish.