Dark Ripple: When Lovecraft Met Crowley

By: Brian Barr

Narrated by: Rick Gregory

Length: 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

H.P. Lovecraft is a starving, skeptical American writer of the weird and horrific, struggling to make ends meet in Connecticut.

Aleister Crowley is a famous British occultist focused on running his own magic organization, the O.T.O.

Though Crowley and Lovecraft's lives differ to a high degree, neither man is aware of the fate they share.

They’ll soon find out, in Dark Ripple.

©2017 Brian Barr (P)2018 Brian Barr

Very Cool Premise

The story is about what you would expect, H.P. Lovecraft and Alistair Crowley. These two men are linked, and later introduced, in this clever tale. Brian Barr spins the Cthulhu legend to include a plot by The Old Ones to uses the two men to unwittingly do their bidding. Too late, the men discover the ruse.

I really enjoyed the novelty of this story. It was only disappointing in that it is so short. This could easily be expanded into a novella of two or three times its current length. That said, it is quite entertaining as is.

This performance from Rick Gregory seems better than some of his other work. I would like to hear him continue to improve.

I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The TRUTH about the Mythos!

This is a great little short story that adds some new depth and dimension to the Cthulu mythos, the life of HP Lovecraft, and Aleister Crowley. Though the pair are seperated by time, their meeting is preordained, just not in the way one might expect. Barr nails the characterizations of the authors, and plays the mythos deftly, easily incorporating it into his own version of the way of the Old Ones.

The only downside, and I say this with the knowledge that not all narrators do voices, was that Rick Gregory didn't even attempt an accent. When one of the MAIN players in the tale is from India, and he speaks in a very clearly American accent it takes away from the tale. Even when he said he was raised in a British controlled area I would have accepted him talking like a limey aristocrat. Furthermore, I really could not tell Crowley from Lovecraft when they were speaking. This pulled me right out of the story. I know I am spoiled, but that counts a lot in my eyes. That being said, he does a fine job narrating the story, it just lacked a little more life than I generally expect.

Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

This is a pretty slick cthulu concept, and shoud not be overlooked by any fan of the mythos

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Odd conversation between odd people

I got this book just because it was narrated by Rick Gregory and I have yet to find one of his books I didn't like. Never heard of Crowley and don't care for Lovecraft because I just couldn't get into him so I knew this book would be a tough one for me. Honestly I don't know what to say about it. I didn't dislike anything about it and it is very unique as it seemed more like a few conversations versus a full story. This really is just one of those books that you should dive into and decide if you love it or hate it. Pretty sure those are the only two responses to this.

Rick as always did a great job.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

A thrilling tale!

This was a speedy, enjoyable read, with some very neat metaphysics and a conclusion that is totally mind-bending. The tale centers around the two titular monumental figures that appear here both as their larger than life, and flawed, selves, brought together through space and time. The story makes some rather fun nods to the OTO thelema and the oeuvre of Lovecraft, but also adds to them, and in doing so, creates a new, fun mythos lineage all of it's own. Great story, recommended to anyone that's a fan of Lovecraft's work (but not his opinions) and people who have listened to the Oh No, Ross and Carrie! podcast multiple times through.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The End Comes!

The warning has been given! The end is near and salvation is not promised. You’ve been warned.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Odd story

I was intrigued Lovecraft, a writer, Crowley, an occultist, and an Indian working together. The story was so short it left you wanting a more defined story. A very unique story. The narrator did a good job with what he was given. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Dark Ripple

Dark Ripple is an odd story about two famous people from both history and occultism having discussions with another odd and a tad bit out-of-place character whose intentions may be less altruistic than sinister. I loved how the story made everything dark; real. It was odd, no doubt, but it was fun to suspend reality and be a fly on the wall for the conversations as they unfolded. I thought Rick Gregory did a fine job narrating this tale as well.

This book was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting mix of fact and fiction

The writing was decent enough. What really interested me though were the biographical details of Lovecraft and Crowley. I feel ambivalence about using historical figures as fictional characters, but I can't deny that it makes for compelling reading when you know something about them.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

An Interesting Way to Overcome a Writer's Block

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

It is a strange tale, but one that many writers or aspiring ones have met at least once in their careers. The very much dreaded writer's block has a way of staring you in the face and it is horror at its purest. So if the protagonist reaches out to a Master of horror and has Lovecraft to thank for getting over this bump, who are we to criticize? It is a different angle that the author explores in this short tale but still with enough pathos. A quick read in a pleasant writing style.
The narration was also pleasant but it could have been improved if different voices had been given to the various characters. This way, you had to really pay attention to the switch between characters to keep the story into perspective.
As it is a brief story however, you will still enjoy it just the same.

Fearfully awaiting October 21, 2057

Great bit of eldritch horror. I appreciated it more being a HP Lovecraft fan. It was a dual story over time, through the lives of HP and Crowley. The story is set in the regular world where Cthulhu is just a story to most, yet deep in the darkest corner of sunken R'lyeh he there awaits to be summoned to our world again. Well, anyways, very good short story and another addition to the mythos.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Dark Ripple

I’ve really enjoyed all I’ve heard from Brian and Rick so far and whilst their is definitely nothing wrong with this book and it’s definitely worth a read, I just didn’t gel with it like I did the others and found myself a little lost at times.
Rick does another good job, although I’m not sure how I feel about the Indian character just having a regular accent..
This is an honest review of a free review copy.