I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream and Other Works

By: Harlan Ellison

Narrated by: Luis Moreno

Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The following books are included: Paingod and Other Delusions, I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, and From the Land of Fear.

©2021 Harlan Ellison (P)2021 Recorded Books

The unbridled imagination of a cantankerous mind

Harlan Ellison (1934-2018) was a loudmouth. He was combative (or call it outspoken) - about just about everything. His attack-mode seems to have been the default (and sometimes that also led to physical altercations). Call him brutally honest, or garrulous, or stuck-up, or abrasive or cantankerous … he was all of that and more and, from what I’ve read and seen, I think all of that friction actually supercharged him into writing, according to his own calculation, around 1’800 stories, essays and scripts.

When you look up the word ‘prolific’ you’ll likely find a picture of Harlan Ellison next to it. Well, you’ll probably see a picture of Isaac Asimov first - but Harlan Ellison would be right there with him. Ellison is not as known as Asimov (who is currently introduced to a new generation with Apple TV’s awesome Foundation series) … but if you’ve never heard of him, he’s definitely worth discovering.

This collection of short stories attest to Ellison’s exuberant - and dark - imagination. Not all stories will equally grab you - but they are all truly rich in creative power, insight and language. No doubt among the most famous ones are ‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’ (a nightmarish trip if ever there was one) and ‘Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman’ (a dystopian future story about time, control and freedom). He wrote stories about a god whose job is to deliver pain and suffering (Paingod), about crazy peple who are actually geniuses (The Crackpots), the end of humanity (Bright Eyes), genetically deformed humans exiled on a spaceship (The Discarded), a world where surgery is exclusively done by machines (Wanted in Surgery), about a ghost in a Vegas slot machine (Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes) and ever so much more. The width and breadth of the man’s imagination was staggering - for us readers/listeners, it's often mind-expanding.

Exquisite set of weird & Science Fiction stories

I did not know the works by Harlan Ellison but now I want to know more.
Stories contained within this publication are strange, yet captivating and memorable.
Titular I have no mouth is a classic, though also Paingod, Soldier, We mourn for anyone... all are great.
The narrator also did a great job here.
I recommend this publication.

A sample of a legend

I've always heard of Harlan Ellison and haven't really taken any time to check out his work but my gosh it is so painfully obvious how much of an influence this man had on science fiction. I highly recommend checking this out, all the stories aren't hits but they all left me thinking a little bit. He does such an amazing job of mixing horror, science fiction, grounded reality and the nastiness that shows what it means to be human. The narrator was also fantastic.

A fantastic collection.

Some of Ellison's best work, thoroughly recommended.

Delusions for a Dragon Slayer is a personal favorite

The Harcissist Marches On, Tick, Tock

Brilliant stories from an angry voice who tells you so much about his own feelings and superiority that it's hard to take. Ellison is like a noisy person in the audience at a theater that's playing his movie. He'll give it a standing ovation. He'll yell fire. He'll fight the usher. He'll fart. And he'll start talking about how he was the right-hand man of Dr. Martin Luther King. Was the guy bipolar, or borderline personality? (Ellison, not Dr. King.) He was the Don Rickles of dark fantasy, the Nietzsche of speculative fiction. I had my Ellison phase in my teens, same for Vonnegut. I can still read Harlan, but I just don't buy what he was selling.

good but..

the same reason I will not buy a brave New world on audible I've heard at the very least I have no mouth and I must scream being narrated by the original author I thought the original was a far better edition not to say that this narrator was bad by any means but they're simply something lost when you compared to each other

Great stories, great narration. Poor format.

So why 3 stars? Because each tale has a preamble by Harlan Ellison which is NOT separated into its own chapter. These preambles may or may not interest the reader (personally I just wanted to hear the stories) and all these being in the same chapters as the stories they introduce, with varying lengths of 2 - 5 minutes, means blindly skipping ahead for a bit to get to the story. For every story.

The narrator, Luis Moreno, has a rich tone and put in a great performance.

Imaginative

14/15 wish the stories were longer I can’t find any sci-fi books that grip my imagination like this. Great to hear before bed.

horror sci-fi

great writing, very much horror. the big idea of what a consciousness without a body is very unique however it is slow at times and gruesome.

overrated

I wanted to hear "I have no mouth and I must scream", as it was discussed by a few friends recently and it sounded intriguing. I listened to that one, and "Sam was my friend" while both stories were ok, and at least somewhat entertaining, they weren't anything amazing.