Locke & Key

By: Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez

Narrated by: Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew, full cast

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Original Work, 2016

Based on the best-selling, award-winning graphic novel series Locke & Key - written by acclaimed suspense novelist Joe Hill (NOS4A2, Horns) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez - this multicast, fully dramatized audio production brings the images and words to life. 

A brutal and tragic event drives the Locke family from their home in California to the relative safety of their ancestral estate in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, an old house with powerful keys and fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them. As siblings Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke discover the secrets of the old house, they also find that it's home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all.... 

Featuring performances by Haley Joel Osment (Entourage, The Sixth Sense), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Kate Mulgrew (Orange Is the New Black, Star Trek: Voyager), Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Stephen King (The Stand, 11-22-63), as well as a cast of more than 50 voice actors, this audio production preserves the heart-stopping impact of the graphic novel's astounding artwork through the use of richly imagined sound design and a powerful original score. 

*Locke & Key contains explicit language and adult situations. 

Experience this title in immersive 3D audio by setting your download quality to High within the app. Headphones recommended. For more, browse our entire collection of 3D audio listens. 

©2014 Joe Hill (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"The concepts in this production, based on a graphic novel, are perfectly executed by a full cast.... Kate Mulgrew leads the way with her perfect portrayal of an ancient grandmother with an evil streak." (AudioFile)

Very intriguing

Not sure what all the bad reviews are about... I guess you really need that twisted mindset of years of Stephen King to understand Joe Hill. I will say it does require a lot of focus and imagination to keep up with the different references, times, and situations. I though the story was very fun and the way audible performed this was fantastic...it really put me in a theater watching a movie...

Folks, this is an audio play.

Dismiss all the negative reviews from people complaining they couldn't follow the narration.

Why? Because it's not narrated. This is an audio play, much like what people used to listen to on the radio a hundred years ago or so. Yes, there are many different voice actors, and yes you do have to pay attention to follow the plot. But it's worth it.

I enjoyed the hell out of this and want to find more audiobooks in this vein. It's one thing for a narrator to describe a scream, it's quite another to hear the actual terror and pain.

this has become my favorite book

I read through the graphic novel along with audible book which just magnified everything. It's a really great story and very suspenseful! Do not pass this up!

Something got me...

Something about this story grabbed me. It was hokey, but just the right kind of hokey. Lovecraft fans delight.

Foreshadowing Under Locke and Key

This is my first fictional audiobook.

The story was an enjoyable kind of easy to follow given all that was going on.

Whereas the answers behind essential questions unfolded quite neatly, I found my ears invested in the motivations behind the actions that drove this story onward. The youthful innocence was palatable even when that is something I am usually not a fan of. The music helped play up the suspense in a fashion that was not too jarring from the proceeding events. The voice actors helped lots in making the characters come into their own individuality. And the sound direction for the action scenes helped play up the dread, joy, or other emotions that were meant to be played.

I sought an audiobook out in part to replace the presence of shows by radio, which I caught glimpses of in my youth through media without the saturation or incentives to tune in. Originally, with all that took place in the first book, I later realized that I mistakenly started playing this than the three hour book instead for a part of my road trip. Since then, I decided to see the rest of it through to a satisfying conclusion for me.

I would recommend anyone who has patience for a series of plays and an ear for an audience ought to check this out. Supposing that is all I have to say immediately after my first listen, I look forward to other stories to keep me occupied while being my busy self that is at least as entertaining as this.

Loved it!!!!

I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill and loved this! It's brilliantly performed and the story is enthralling!

great story

I got this as a gift wasnt sure I'd like it but boy the store me had me really invested. I'm going to listen to it again it was good.

Great Story! Lots of Twists and Turns!

I really love this story and go back every once in a while to listen again! There is never a boring or predictable moment!

Slow start w/ lots of violence

Glad I stuck with it although I felt lost for much of the first part. Creative plot line & good performances by all.

Poor execution

I hate giving low reviews. I'm thinking the story might be good if done in a normal format where someone reads you the book. This is done as more of a live-play type production. It left me clueless as to who is who, what the heck is going on and what just happened. I got this free, which is about what it's worth in my opinion.

Absolutely incredible

I was unsure how this would work (being a graphic novel) and haven't listened to a book with so many voice actors for years but it worked amazing well. Occasionally, clearly, extra dialogue had been added as this would not usually be needed in the original format but it was never forced. Really interesting story and loveable characters, it worked really well as an audio book. Good pace and a little different. The reason it lost a star was there is a character who has Downs Syndrome and is both impacted by his condition as expected but is also very insightful to it (in a negative way) and a little extra sensory which I dislike in books, I like to see such people normalised as everyone else is and I didn't like this combination. That said it was really good to see such a character included as there is a real lack of 'different' characters existing in books I just would have liked him to just be.

Like Listening to a High Budget Film

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook but there was little in way of actual storytelling, more of characters speaking with high drama and lots of special effects. The result was dramatic and engrossing. I'm not sure I would always go for this type of audiobook, as it lacks the intimacy of a one narrator tell. But it certainly gave me an idea of what can be done with sound.

DNF

This is one of the few audiobooks I haven't been able to finish. I struggled on as far as I could, then realised I wasn't even halfway through and there was still what seemed like 20 hours to go.

The premise is fascinating and trying to audio-adapt a visual medium like graphic novels is ambitious, but I felt it failed in the execution. I rapidly got fatigued by the endless screaming, sobbing and shouting that comprises most of the dialogue, by trying to guess what was going on from the characters' largely non-verbal reactions, and by wishing the darn thing had subtitles because I couldn't make out what was being said. I found the characters unlikeable and the plot insane, but not in a good way. Maybe I should have read the comic first.

An emotional rollercoaster.

Locke and Key is bought to life by a superb cast and there's also ambient noise to really put you as a fly on the wall as your mind constructs the image.

I thoroughly enjoyed the listen, it was a turbulent rollercoaster of emotions all the way through. Picture this, I'm a 6'4, 33 year old, gym loving male, I'm also foreman where I work and after 10 clock tea break, most of my delegation and other duties are pretty much done. So its around this time I pop my head phones on and work preying I won't get disturbed ( fat chance).

Now, three times this audio comic has had me fighting back tears. Its not exactly the look you wanna go for when you've 9 men to look after.

Our hero, Tyler, is a level headed young man for an 18 year old, looking after his mum and siblings in the abscense of his father, as past events spiral their life out of control in the magical Locke household that belongs to their Uncle Duncan.

The story twists and turns and comes to a conclusion you find yourself asking how you never saw it coming.

10/10. Now to treat my lovely lady to a new graphic novel I know she is gonna love.

Amazing!

A great twisted tale. Enjoyed this brilliant story from story from start to finish. Highly recommended to anyone who likes graphic comic audio books.

A bit of a muddle

Action scenes without descriptive narration or dialogue just dont work in audio alone. This story was a bit of a mess and most of the time I struggled to follow what was actually going on.

Good stuff

Very well put together . great story line and would recommend to anyone . will be listening to more of Joe hills books .

OH MY GOSH! Amazing! Just BRILLIANT! I LOVE IT!

What made the experience of listening to FREE: Locke & Key the most enjoyable?

The full cast. The audio book lifted audio experience to a new level.

What was one of the most memorable moments of FREE: Locke & Key?

Can't say...a few great memorable moments playing in my head.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Audio drama performed by full cast, only thing I will say is that I'm going to listen to it AGAIN!

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Emotional rollercoaster indeed! I really feel for the Mother as much as the other main characters.

Any additional comments?

A great fantasy horror thrill for me.

what a FANTASTIC book !

why can't we have more fully dramatised books like that? I work on site most of the time...this book brought me to tears at the end...not a good look on site :)

Excellent, amazing and original!!

Loved the plot with twists and turns and incredibly absorbing. There are some books which have captivated me and meant I would read and read and read as desperate to reach the end of it. This is the first audio book that is equally compelling! Loved the cast and dramatic presentation. The only negative found was that sometimes I struggled to understand who was who mainly because it packs so much in and jumps a little plot wise. STILL AMAZING!