Monster 1983

An Audible Original Drama

By: Ivar Leon Menger, Anette Strohmeyer, Raimon Weber

Narrated by: Marc Warren, Callum Blue, Anastasia Griffith, Lorelei King, Stuart Milligan

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

AUDIBLE DEBUTS CHILLING NEW SCI-FI FROM BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WINNER IVAR LEON MENGER.

Callum Blue (Dead Like Me), Anastasia Griffith (Damages) and Marc Warren (Hustle) star in new audio-drama from Germany's master of thriller.

Catalysing the surge of interest in classic 70s and 80s sci-fi thrillers, and just in time for Halloween, Audible today exclusively debuts Monster 1983, an original audio-drama from Berlinale-winning director Ivan Leon Menger. Directed by multiple-Audie and RPA winner Cherry Cookson, the chilling tale stars Callum Blue (Dead Like Me), Anastasia Griffith (Damages) and Marc Warren (Hustle) amongst others.

Drawing influences from Poltergeist, Stand By Me and E.T. and other Spielberg classics, the story unfolds in the small coastal town of Harmony Bay, Oregon. Still reeling from a sudden and profound family tragedy, Sheriff Cody uproots his elder son Michael, and younger daughter Amy, from the chaos of Orlando to begin a new, more relaxed life in the Beaver State. Soon after their arrival however, this new-found tranquillity is disturbed by a succession of brutal but mysterious deaths. As the plot twists and turns its way through small-town secrecy, psychiatry wards and the supernatural, Cody comes under increasing pressure to solve each new case whilst keeping his family safe from harm.

Ivar Leon Menger, author of Monster 1983, said: 'Having been raised on Spielberg, King and Kubrick I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't watching some kind of horror, sci-fi or psychological thriller. I think the legacy of 70s and 80s horror cinema runs quite strongly through Monster 1983, and that's part of the reason I decided to create an audio-only story, it emphasises both the nostalgia and suspense for listeners.'

Steve Carsey, Director of Original Programming at Audible, said: 'After the enormous success of Alien, Out of the Shadows we knew there was a huge appetite for compelling sci-fi audio fiction. Ivar's stories have been immensely successful in Germany so we're really excited to introduce his work to UK listeners.'

Monster 1983 is a Wireless Theatre production for Audible Studios. Written by Ivar Leon Menger, translated by Guy Meredith and directed by Cherry Cookson with music scoring by Ynie Ray.

Monster 1983 Cast:

Callum Blue (Sheriff Cody), Anastasia Griffith (Deputy Taylor Dunford), Marc Warren (Deputy Landers), Rachel Atkins, Barbara Barnes, Andrea Browne, Nicholas Boulton, Philip Bulcock, Sophie Cartman, Amy Cash, Lobo Chan, Charlotte Christie, Trevor Cuthbertson, Stephen Critchlow, Sean Delaney, Jessica Dennis,Tom Gregory, Adam Hall, Will Howard, Gerran Howell, Nicky Henson, Madeleine Kasson, Lorelei King, Stuart Milligan, Harry Myers, Nathan Osgood, Chris Rogers, Martin T Sherman, Thomas Stroppell and Trevor White.

©2015 Ivar Leon Menger (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

narrators

great cast. excellent narration. one of the best audio presentations I have heard on audible

Give a better heads up for the listener

Had I been told this was an incomplete story I would have left with less frustration. There were so many sub plots that not only had seemingly nothing to do with the main story itself but which were also never resolved in the slightest. 1. The fortune teller 2. Baby sitter 3. Toby acting like a sociopath 4. The WC club and cave 5. The dead mom's ghost? 6. Gibsons disappearance 7. The KGB agent etc.. I thought the actors did great with a German translated script but beyond that prepare to be frustrated.🙄

Nostalgic, fun and engaging

I saw this pop up for preorder shortly after finishing the 'Stranger Things' season on Netflix and being a tremendous fan of audio dramatizations as well as being an '80's kid, I had to jump on it.

The story, performances and production are all quite well done. I've listened to it a couple of times now and it's very enjoyable.

If you dig dramatizations in general, if you enjoy spooky mysteries, if you like a bit of nostalgia then you should definitely check this out.

Will there be a book 2 in english?

I really enjoyed this book. Ended as a “to be continued…”. However the only book 2 & 3 are not in english?! Hopefully audible originals will fix this, please.

confusing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

eeehhh, I hate to give this a bad review - because I think the narration was pretty excellent on it - I just got confused about what was going on and when it was going on. Maybe if you had a long car trip and could listen to this all at once instead of start/stop that I was doing - it'd be better. I got to chapter 91 (almost halfway) and I still wasn't sure if it's a monster book or an alien book or government agents gone bad kinda book. I found it to be really confusing and it didn't inspire me to keep listening to it.

Has Monster 1983 turned you off from other books in this genre?

no, I love the audible drama's

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

no opinion on this

Did Monster 1983 inspire you to do anything?

no

Any additional comments?

The dramatization/voice actors were really good.

German adults writing dialogue for American teenagers

I’m always disappointed when a potentially great story is poorly written.
There may be a considerable amount lost in translation here. It’s possible that Europeans would be less distracted by things like the radio announcer telling the temperature in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, calling the mail the post, ringing someone on the phone instead of calling. There was just no attempt to use American dialect. It was most noticeable in the dialogue of the teenage characters. It makes me wonder why it was set in an American town.
But I struggled through poor performances (again, particularly in the younger characters, but really all of them) because I was interested in the story. And then my reward was a “to be continued”? I don’t even know if a sequel is available yet but I don’t think I can sit through another seven hours (felt like more) to find out what happens.

Well paced

It’s clear from the first chapter this book is acted well and It doesn’t disappoint!

Fun of monsters

I wasn’t sure at first, but I really got into it. It does require you to suspend reality, but that is the fun of monsters. I could really visualize the story. Enjoyed it.

A must read for mystery fans

Loved the old radio style production. The music, background effects, multiple different voices, and many unusual twists.

Very short

Very short and entertaining story , it will keep you on the edge from part one to two . I will be looking for more if more if the add on more series.