Memorials

De: Richard Chizmar

Narrado por: Michael Crouch, Jonathan Todd Ross

The New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller about a group of college students encountering supernatural terror while on a road trip through Appalachia—an unforgettable, chilling novel that is “scary and hard to put down. You might be advised not to read it at night” (Stephen King).

1983: Three students from a small college embark on a weeklong road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure, with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another.

But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight, and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Michael Crouch and Jonathan Todd Ross narrate an atmospheric horror story that draws upon the power of grief. In 1983, three college students set out on a road trip to film a documentary on the varied roadside memorials dotting America’s roadsides. What starts out as an adventure morphs slowly and painfully into terror. Crouch and Ross alternate narrating, and both maintain an ear-catching level of suspense. As the students notice a recurring mysterious symbol, Crouch and Ross inject the narration with a balance of gravitas and earnestness. While the three characters are likable, they have challenging moments, and Crouch and Ross imbue them with appropriate drama. Their narration complements the characters’ terror as they encounter a supernatural force in the Appalachian wilderness."

Great Read

Kept me on the edge of my seat the entire read. Before I knew it I was finished wanting more

Good Story, Too Slow Paced

I enjoyed the story but the story was taking too long to build tension.

Good Tension and Paranoia Builder - With Some Stumbles

I enjoyed this story, especially the performance of the narrator. What the novel does best is build tension and paranoia where a series of unsettling events makes you feel like you can't trust anyone.

The concept is really unique and the eventual payoff is pretty decent. I think it does a particularly good job about illustrating how isolated communities and regions could be in the United States in the pre-internet age. Something I find myself forgetting more and more is how true this was and that younger generations would have a hard time even understanding!

My main complaint is that I never really got a sense of scale of the region they are traveling. It feels massive but everyone they meet seems to be in on the same secrets, which feels unrealistic? I also can't really understand the motivation for some of the people in on the secret it's like there's a reason somewhere but it's frustratingly not there.

I also think it takes a little too long to reveal what's going on and is a bit too slow of a burn for my taste. In fact, it takes so long that you almost forget who certain characters are during the final act, because they had so little "screentime." There are also alternating chapters describing video footage that are interesting at first but start to wear thin after awhile when you realize none of those sections actually reveal anything (with only one exception).

I was a bit disappointed by the end as I felt like it needed either another chapter or some cuts earlier in the story to better flesh out the epilogue. There's also a character that basically gets written off at the end, which felt odd considering they seemed to be a big part of the protagonists life. It just seems to end too abruptly as well.

If the pacing had been accelerated and it didn't rely on a too few many horror tropes about doing things to the point of it being illogical (*cough, annoying found footage tropes, cough*), it would be more like a 4.5 star for me.

I sound pretty hard on this one, but I think it's because I just liked the concept so much I wanted it to be a bit sharper and better address some loose threads on characters that seemed pretty important. Even the backstory that you get told at the end seems a bit vague and could have used some sharpening. Funnily enough, it seems to go against the meta writing advice the story gives itself at the end!

This one is still worth a listen, especially if you grew up in a small town. It's also very original, which can be hard to find in horror. If you go in knowing it's going to be a slow burn and some character actions will strain credulity, you should have a good time.

Chizmar did it again and kept me guessing.

Twists and turns you won't see coming. When you think you've figured it out, think again. Go Chiz!

Slow

This has to be the most boring audio book I've had the misfortune to waste a credit on.