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The Horror at Red Hook  By  cover art

The Horror at Red Hook

By: H. P. Lovecraft
Narrated by: Jim Donaldson
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Publisher's summary

Lovecraft’s gothic horror masterpiece. During an investigation in Red Hook, Detective Thomas F. Malone, and discovers horrors that he never imagined. A horror classic.

Public Domain (P)2013 Trout Lake Media

What listeners say about The Horror at Red Hook

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just a Bit of a Warning

I had no idea when I bought this that some genius had made the decision to add a background sound every few minutes to the narration. I could just picture some college kid they had paid in burritos in the sound booth, pressing various sound effect buttons and high fiving himself for his totally righteous editing skills.

But still! It's cheap and you could do worse.

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43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too noisy

The story is alright, but I couldn't finish as there was too much background noise/sound effects/music overpowering the narrator's voice.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Worth a listen, but not one of Lovecraft's best.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Horror at Red Hook to be better than the print version?

I feel for any narrator who has to read Lovecraft's wonderful but archaic prose. Jim Donaldson did a great job with it, though! I enjoyed his reading, and appreciated the addition of some musical touches and sound effects of moans and shrieks during dramatic moments. It really made listening to the story a better experience than reading it would have been. I will be looking for other horror works done by Mr. Donaldson.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

From what I've read, this was one of Lovecraft's early works, and I think that shows. The story seemed to go on longer than needed. I thought that HPL's xenophobia was showcased more than usual in this tale, which was off-putting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are some good creepy scenes in the story, which I enjoyed.

Any additional comments?

After the end of the story, there is a short piece giving some background on Lovecraft and his influence on modern-day writers. I thought this was nicely done and appreciate the effort to show the significance of HPL's works.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Felt like watching TV commercials

The story isn't that bad, since it was written almost 100 years ago and kick started the modern horror genre. What really killed it were the sound effects that drowned out the words and the reading of the credits between each chapter. Audible should really be able to equalize the audio for the listener, instead of having us turn the volume up for the story and down for the sound effects and "commercial breaks". In the end, it felt like watching TV with way too many/loud commercials

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not great.

I actually listened twice. It just didn't stick. I tried to concentrate on the story. Just wouldn't grab me at any point in time. Therefore I can neither agree it's a horror story nor can I recommend it.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent Recording

The sound effects added to the story, but were sometimes louder than the narrator. Otherwise, a good story, well read.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Way overproduced, get ready for some noise

Far too much overuse of background noise, what could setup scenes if done in moderation is instead flooded with such loud stock sound effects as it floods out the narration, virtually ruining the tale.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Immersive story and performance

A new favorite in the horror genre.

The narrator's voice perfectly matches the books story and creates an atmosphere of authenticity.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very good very interesting enjoy the story

very very very good the voice kept me interested the voice was nice and smooth everything went very well and it sounds in the background keep you into the story I really enjoyed the book

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Old School Horror

A great police procedural that discovers a horror beyond their imagination. This is a dated story with a fear of xenophobia noted, since the late author noted this in his writing. Great production and the narration is superb. The essay about the author’s life at the end was great as well.

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1 person found this helpful