The Omen

By: David Seltzer

Narrated by: Holly Palance, Mark Owen

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jeremy Thorn and his wife, Katherine, have just welcomed the newest member of their family to the world: Their beautiful son Damien. But as the boy grows, so does the terror surrounding him. Fatal accidents, suicides, and unexplained violence seem to follow the Thorns wherever they go - but why? And how can Damien have anything to do with the carnage and bloodshed? He is only a child. But Damien Thorn is like no child on Earth. He bears the mark of the beast. And his time is at hand.

This audiobook edition is narrated by Holly Palance, who starred in David Seltzer's The Omen in 1976.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Dated and Ridiculous

The book does in seven hours what the movie did in only two. All of the Book of Revelation nonsense is here--just more belabored. Added to the mix are sections where the Jews are blamed for the holocaust (we're told it is prophesied in the bible because they killed Jesus and broke their covenant with god--ugh), and obligatory Christian homophobia. It isn't a long book, but it overstays its welcome. The movie is fun campy trash with a great score that really sells the demon-kid trope, but the book is execrable.

As they say, there's nothing like a good horror novel--and this is nothing like a good horror novel.

FINALLY ! A decent horror novel....

I’m extremely hard to please when it come to this particular genre, or any genre for that matter. This book comes close to being up at the top with books such as Exorcist, The Shinning, Misery and Pet Cemetery. It’s very difficult to find a book that can hold my interest and wow me on the creep factor. This one did it. Bravo !

Withstood The Test Of Time

I love this book. Always have, always will. It's surpassed ONLY by Rosemary's Baby. Some might argue for The Exorcist, which was also excellent.

I am a nonbeliever and The Omen STILL scares me.

I'm sure the author knew that 666 was a reference to Nero, not a date for the birth of the antichrist, but I love the liberties he took nonetheless. Having said that, I think it's important to point out that Rosemary's Baby did it first with Adrian being born on the anti-Christmas: June 25, 1966. But both Omen and Rosemary's Baby codified the anti-Christ myth in much the same way Night Of The Living Dead codified zombies.

I'll stop here, as a long-winded review will require spoilers. If you are a horror fan, this is a MUST read. And if you've already read it, read it again because it doesn't get much better than this.

Great read!

I am not disappointed. I've seen the movies, but they can never compare to the actual book. I was able to envision the story as it played out, and even though I knew what was going to happen, I was still anticipatory. The Omen is clean and to the point. I love how there's little digression and without a ton of backstory. Sometimes authors go left field with all the characters, and you get lost and forget what the story is actually about.. Mr. Seltzer doesn't do this. This book is definitely worth the credit!

☆☆☆☆☆

intense and so much better than the movie. I couldnt stop, start to finish. ♡

Disappointing story

The author is so incredibly sexist, any part in which Katharine appears is painful. Would not recommend.

A great listen of a classic horror

Who could forget the film, The Omen?! Listening to the novel after all this time was quite something. Good tension and fast plot. The narrating by Holly Palance was/is superb and really greatly enhanced the atmospherics:). Not sure why “Mark Owen” was also listed as “narrator” as he didn’t narrate any of the book? but just gave add on comments at the end. Anyhow, Enjoy if you like this genre!

Good creepy fun.

I've been listening to some horror classics lately and they wouldn't have been complete without The Omen. This was a fast-paced listen that made seven hours speed by. The narration was good, the men’s voices a little contrived sometimes, but not off-putting, just a little humorous. Some of the content is a little dated, as far as the attitudes towards psychiatry and mental health issues go, but it didn't distract. I’ve never watched the film in its entirety, so I found some of the scenes very descriptive and detailed to the point I could picture them clearly. The cemetery in Italy and Katherine v. Blaylock in the hospital scenes were particularly exciting. It reminded me of those mass-produced horror paperbacks from the 80’s I loved so much and went through voraciously: exciting, gruesome, and horrifying. It was just an enjoyable creepy devil story with that ‘gotcha’ kind of ending.

love the movie, love the book!

great story, spooky, and easy on the ears. the afterward is especially interesting. I recommend it.

It is a very good listen to an old classic.

This was a good listen. Any negative reviews should be respected but I think it’s a good listen.

the omen

loved it! great story. all time classic!
narrator bit naff. but story outstanding! five stars

The Omen by David Seltzer

A fantastic book, and a fantastic film. They don't write them like this anymore 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

as good as the film

as good as the film if not better in places and certain scenes or sections have bits that were missed in the film that helps it make more sense. Worth the credit

always loved the movie but the book is even better

the book follows the plot of the movie really well with a few minor details changed and we get more background information about the priest that gets impaled as well as a more in depth explanation of Katherine thornes issues

excellent book. better than the film

a great classic book. well narrated highly recommend to anyone who likes the movie.

compelling

loved it was one of the better audio books that I have downloaded 😀

Similar to the film.

Identical to the film which is ok as it’s good but I thought there might be a few twists we didn’t see in that.
Damien and mrs baylock don’t really get their characters developed as much as they could and you never really hear from Damien.
It is however an amazing story which has endured for years. The plot fits together seemlessly. I couldn’t wait to hear the next bit and quickly listened to it.

Classic Horror

Great book really enjoyed it on Audible but unfortunately found the female narration irritating and sometimes comical. Most of the characters were male, so Holly Palance would speak deep to sound like a man, which just sounded odd. The attempt at an English almost cockney accent for the journalist was dreadful, very Dick Van Dyke ... Sorry such a shame because the story itself is brilliant and horrifying

A classic thriller

Though I've watched the movie a few times, it still gave me creeps while listening to the story. It's a real classic.