The Nameless Dark

By: T.E. Grau, Nathan Ballingrud

Narrated by: Armen Taylor

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The Nameless Dark debuts a major new voice in contemporary weird fiction. Within these minutes, you'll find whispers of the familiar ghosts of the classic pulps - Lovecraft, Bradbury, Smith - blended with Grau's uniquely macabre, witty storytelling, securing his place at the table amid this current Renaissance of literary horror.

©2015 T.E. Grau (P)2016 Lethe Press

absolute gem

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes. this being a debut collection sometimes you are unsure...but do not be unsure of this one. great story telling through and through.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Nameless Dark?

the whole thing is great

What does Armen Taylor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

some of the pacing is ever so slightly off putting but he is capable and does always bring you back.

Any additional comments?

get this. get it now.

The Nameless Dark

This is possibly the best collection I've read all year. The audio book version is phenomenal. The narrator does a wonderful job providing multiple voices to fit each character. The highlight for me was Mr. Lupus. The voices were believable and well-acted. I can't give enough stars for The Nameless Dark. I would highly recommend it to anyone enamoured with the darker side life. Other stories include the haunting, Transmission, the incredibly sad Tubby's Big Swim, and so many more. If I could suggest one audio book this year, it would be this one, without a doubt.

A Unique Collection of Dark Fiction

This is a strong audio collection of horror stories, highlighting the talents of one of the strongest new voices in the genre. Grau pulls you into his stories, giving you the creeps as you try to guess where he's going, and then shocking or surprising you and taking you into the unexpected. His characters touch on the damaged, the broken, and the damned. These are people on the fringe, experiencing cosmic horror (without falling into the tropes of Lovecraftian pastiche) and horrified wonder. When I originally read his collection I would turn pages as fast as possible, gulping down the stories to answer the eternal reader's question, "What happens next?" But with this audio book I was on the journey of each story at the narrator's speed, and even though I knew the destination, it was delivered to me masterfully.

I love audio books of anthologies and collections, and this one absolutely does NOT disappoint. More than once I spent those extra few minutes in the car after arriving at my destination so I could finish a story, and then I'd look forward to the next drive so I could start another. I TORE through all 12+ hours of this, and I'm delighted to say that quite a few of these deserve another listen.

Highly recommended!

Some truely gruesome stories! Does Lovecraft proud

And some are kind of meh, but definetly not bad just seem to be not fully developed where theyre heavy in the development of character surrounding relationships etc but then once the climax of the story is underway it gets glossed over. That being said there were only 2 and were still very worth while listen.

That being said there are also some hellishly monstorious stories that would make Lovecraft shudder perhaps, tho i prefer classic horror being that in some stories the eluding to the kids mom smoking meth being a whore her boyfriends package waving around under his boxers and shit like that just repels me back to the prosaic and vulgar.

That being said i dont want to say anything about the context of the stories and ruin them, but if your a fan lovecraft of clarck ashton smith or the horror stories of robert e howard youll love this just an absolute must listen.

Also it must be said the narrator does a great job in this.

mehh

I wasn't impressed. Struggled to finish. narration was okay, not a book I would recommend.

Definitely NOT worth the Credit...

What was most disappointing about T.E. Grau and Nathan Ballingrud ’s story?

The stories were unremarkable. My expectation, based upon the reviews listed, was engaging dark stories. Only one of the stories was fit for a listen. Most were quite boring and quite capable of putting me to sleep while driving me home on my commute.

How could the performance have been better?

Armen Taylor surpassed my expectations in monotone delivery. Coupled with authors' soul crushingly lackluster plots, "The Nameless Dark" was the perfect storm of a waste of my time and my money.

Good Collection & Narrator

This is one of the better horror anthologies I've read. It's definitely for fans of H.P. Lovecraft as the many of the stories presuppose you've read his work.

Taylor was a good narrator, and his werewolf voice in one of the stories was especially scary.

My only issue with this audiobook is that Nathan Ballingrud's introduction is not included. The description and icon both advertise it, so I was expecting it.

Outstanding Collection of Short Stories

Diverse set of well-written stories that have some twists and turns. Good read! I'm going to get their other books.

Shows promise, but needs polish

While I enjoy the premise of several stories in this collection, the writing seems too disjointed to follow easily and the endings didn't seem appropriate. For instance, "Tubby's Big Swim" - just kind of stopped. It suggested the probability of retribution, but I would have liked a bit more definition.
Similarly, "The Return of the Prodigy" had potential, but took too long and went out with an inarticulate 'and they all died in a giant tsunami' (not the actual text.)
I liked "Clean" quite a bit, but I wanted more description about Billy's sister, the most interesting character in the story. At least tell me about her wet suit...
"Beer and Worms" could have been great, but after a gruesome reveal, it fizzled. You could have ended by giving Dale ideas about resolving his own marital/relationship problems.

Don't take this criticism too harshly. I like your ideas, and the narrator did a fine job. I just think the book needs a bit more polish.

great first story

the first story is great! the rest is tooooooo Lovecraft-y. it's just so dang derivative, like fan fiction.

interesting and well written

I love the short form, and its getting harder and harder to find good new short story writers. I think the short form is one of the most difficult to do well. I really enjoyed this collection. Think Laird Barron, Jay Lake, et al. these stories are nice and dark, a nice touch of HPL and other writers of his period, and I found the collection very listenable. The reader did a fine job too. There aren't many modern short story collections or anthologies that keep me listening in the same way that older writers can, but T E Grau is now on my like list. Recommended.