Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies

By: John Langan

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's summary

A family's Halloween haunted house becomes a conduit to something ancient and uncanny; a young man's effigy of a movie monster becomes instrumental in his defense against a bully; a family diminishes while visiting a seaside town, leaving only one to remember what changed; a father explores a mysterious tower, and the monster imprisoned within; a man mourning the death of his father travels to his father's hometown, seeking closure, but finds himself beset by dreams of mythic bargains and a primeval, corpse-eating titan.

John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of twenty-first century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.

©2022 Word Horde (P)2023 Tantor

Solid collection of short horror

I am a big fan of John Langan’s work & this title did not disappoint. Excellent narration that really captured the author’s vulnerability throughout the personal narratives of these stories.

Great storytelling, horror not so much

This is well written and well narrated. And I did thoroughly enjoy the Corpsemouth story itself, oh yes and Mirror Fishing. But too often this title felt like the Family Channel, and that is not what I signed up for. I got a little bit of horror but not nearly enough.And to this day I am still no fan of Lovecraft’s works by and large. So when I see that a story leans into the world of Lovecraft I know not to expect too much. If this book had been bilked as as anything other than horror, I could have given it four stars overall. But I feel that I got shafted on the horror element.

Distracting narrator

The narrator pronounces of as , awv and woman as woe man it doesn’t sound terrible on the surface, but it is , when every character in every story has the same weird affect , it really detracts from an otherwise excellent collection.

Another Great Langan Collection

A very good collection of stories. Well-performed as well. You’ll take a few trips to Scotland as well as New York as you listen!

"Grifing my father's death stories that have nothing to do with edgy Corpsemouth title"

The bad:
- All (!) stories are related or mention griefing due to relative passing. Almost all of them - griefing for farther's death.
- Corpsemouth story that supposed to be the star is pretty blank and uninspired.
- Most if the stories are forced and not polished. Like you are reading boring list of events that have no hook for emotions.
- Jonh Langan still tries to be political - enforcing or raising agendas. Like England vs Ireland or East vs West. Though less direct and more enforcing emotions kind of way.
- An American dedicating whole book to England. Literally all stories happen in UK and plug Ireland and Scotland. Talk about political agenda.
- Most of the stories have no taste and substance.

The good:
+ Mirror fishing and Suppliment stories are good.

Finally more John Langan in audiobook form

I hope his other short story collections get the audiobook treatment as well. I’m dyslexic so it’s very helpful.

Well worth the time!!

Very entertaining and enthralling stories. This artist is from where I grew up in the Hudson valley New York, which makes it even more enthralling when he mentions local places in his stories, and really enjoy him, and for his success, this book is worth every minute of listening to, as was his other short story collection very good

Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I’ve listened to another collection of his, The Wide Carnivorous Sky, and I liked that as well. Definitely for fans of cosmic horror. I really liked the story titled ‘The Supplement’ I’m still thinking about it!

From a fanatic of the genre:

This collection hits the sweet spot for the brackish genre of dark, weird fiction. It leans more on the side of fantasy over science fiction but never fully commits to either. While the stories are dark, they're not gruesome or distasteful by any means. They exist solely on the value of their unique and creative concepts. It's not the best collection I've ever read but it's certainly in the top tier. The narrator, I feel, was poorly chosen. He's fine at what he does but he doesn't generate any dread or mystery. It changes the tone of every story to a more mundane level.

Horrible Narrator

The narrator is unbearable with the childish tone and pronunciation of the word “of”.
Seeking refund.