Shingles Audio Collection Volume 1

Shingles Series, Volume 1

By: Robert Bevan, Rick Gualtieri, Steve Wetherell, Drew Hayes, John G. Hartness, Authors and Dragons

Narrated by: Cassandra Myles, Cal Wembly

Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Tantor Audio presents six must-listen stories from the horror comedy series Shingles.  

The collection begins with "The Ghost of Hooker Alley," which introduces listeners to 10-year-old Sarah and six-year-old Tommy. After a quick bus ride into town to buy a gun, Sarah and Tommy think their problems are all but solved. That is, until a creepy weirdo follows them into an alley. But they aren't the only ones in that alley....

"The Monkey's Penis" features Chris, a teenage boy who receives a birthday gift unlike any other. In "Gary's Children," a man's quest for stress relief leads to terror, and an unexpected kidnapping takes place in "Aliens Wrecked Our Kegger."   

"Zombies Ate My Homework" is set in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Todd, his brother, Andy, his best friend, Tarik, and their tomboy friend, Mikayla are forced to take shelter in the first place they can find - an adult novelty store.   

In the final story, "The Legend of Jimmy Headshot," the zombie apocalypse is upon us. The dead have risen from their graves to feed upon the flesh of the living, and 12-year-old Jimmy couldn't be happier about it.   

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Robert Bevan (“The Ghost of Hooker Alley”); copyright 2017 by Steve Wetherell (“The Monkey’s Penis”); copyright 2018 by Rick Gualtieri (“Gary’s Children”); copyright 2018 by Drew Hayes (“Aliens Wrecked Our Kegger”); copyright 2018 by John G. Hartness (“Zombies Ate My Homework”); copyright 2018 by Rick Gualtieri (“The Legend of Jimmy Headshot”) (P)2018 Tantor

Good collection of fun shorts if a bit raunchy

I am a fan of robert bevan and if you know his work on the critical failures series you know he can be a little raunchy in his work these stories go well past this and in more ways then you can imagine. Only exception is aliens crashed my Keger by drew hayes. This book honestly feels out of place it's good but it doesn't have any raunchy elements and does not contain the adult store that plays an element in all the stories.

So wrong...

All of these stories are the most messed up things I have ever heard amd I couldnt stop laughing. I am going to buy vol 2 as soon as I finish this post

Overall solid with one or two shortfalls.

I honestly skipped a chunk if Gary's Children as it's the kind of sci-fi/horror story that always got on my nerves back when I used to watch the Twilight Zone. Someone is cursed/goes mad for no apparent reason, or possibly an insufficiently justified one, other than a random encounter with a mysterious individual. There is no pay off, no resolution, and despite the character's best efforts to rectify the percieved moral deficiencies that led to their downfall, continues to suffer to the end of the story and beyond. These stories always leave me wondering what the goddamn point was. Sure, it's awful to imagine being subjected to torment without hope of explanation or reprieve. That's the point of Kafka's, "The Trial." But so many horror stories are essentially that, but instead of an oppressive, totalitarian regime, it's ghosts, which, due to their inexplicable nature, feels like it robs the tale of any gravity or meaning because it's magic of some kind and you can't really analyze or ask questions about it because it's goddamn magic and there's no reasoning with it by definition.

That said, I enjoyed the rest of the book overall, with "Aliens Ruined Our Kegger" (or was it "Crashed Our Kegger?") being a personal favorite. Hayes has a way of writing solid antagonists that can, in the right context, be highly sympathetic, and when the way in which that dynamic can be reframed in a moment can have a powerful impact on the listener, contextualizing previous events and undermining the reader's assumptions. I won't go into any more detail than that in order to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say I had a GREAT time listening to that story.

Bottom line, if you like any of the authors presented here, you should pick up this collection.

great set of stories

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a book in my life a highly recommended

Good for some laughs but…

Definitely not for children. Found this series because of the Caverns and Creatures author because that series is hilarious. This is more along the lines of teenage crude humor and as long as you take it as that and not expect anything deep or thought provoking. We turn this on here and there to take breaks from more serious or educational books.

Disturbingly funny!

Loved it! It was great to hear an audiobook from a lot of my favorite authors! The Ghost of Hooker Alley was hilarious and very messed up! Monkey Penis is just how it sounds! All the stories were funny as hell! If you're sensitive and take offense easily to adult humor, you'll want to avoid, but if you're a man-child like me, then this is the perfect audiobook for you! Volume 2 better come out soon!

More fun than you want to admit it is

Bottom line: I laughed and laughed and laughed, and if you can appreciate edgy humor that's sometimes gross, but often clever, you'll like it to. Not for the faint of heart or easily offended.

Bawdy, a bit twisted, sometimes shocking, often surprising, constantly fascinating and truly satisfying, Shingles turned out to be everything I was hoping it would be. Each of the authors displays his own style and even manages to play off the others from time to time. Robert Bevan will keep you wide eyed with disbelief wondering if it's okay that you laughed at that. Steve Wetherell takes a twisted spin around a classic theme. Rick Gualtieri serves up absurd action and hilariously hapless "heroes". John G. Hartness delivers my favorite story of the group with a classic sense of slightly desperate adventure. And the inimitable Drew Hayes proves he can't write unlikable characters even when they're beer stealing aliens.

This is good, solid fun, cringe when you need to, it helps you relax.

So good!

Not for the squeamish or those uncomfortable with anything sexual. This collection of stories are unique, humorous, and thoroughly enjoyable for horror fans. Very entertaining.

Hits and misses

Some of the stories are better than the others, with those by Gualtieri being particularly annoying to my taste. The narration is solid, except for the story before last when the narrator chose a mocking tone in situations inappropriate fir that. 3.5/5 stars overall, rounded up.

Bizarre for sure !

This is the strangest most weird stories I've ever heard. I can't say I really liked them or even understand wth was going on!
I am glad I didn't have to use a credit for it . Its like someone on drugs wrote it! 🤷🤦
It didn't even come across as scary or horror.