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North American Lake Monsters
- Stories
- Narrated by: Travis Young
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
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North American Lake Monsters
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Summary
In this striking and bleak, yet luminous debut collection, Nathan Ballingrud, winner of the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award, uses the trappings of the Gothic and the uncanny to investigate a distinctly American landscape: The loneliest and darkest corners of contemporary life.
Ballingrud’s stories are love stories. They’re also monster stories. Sometimes the monsters collected here are vampires or werewolves. Sometimes they wear the faces of parents, lovers, brothers, or ex-wives, and sometimes they wear the faces we see in our mirrors. The people in these stories - ex-cons, single parents, unemployed laborers, kids seduced by extremism - are stranded by life, driven to desperate acts by love and a longing for connection. Sometimes they’re ruined; sometimes redeemed. They are always recognizably, wonderfully, and terrifyingly human. Even at their most monstrous.
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What listeners say about North American Lake Monsters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Slater
- 30-07-20
Fantastic!
This is exactly what I've been looking for all my life. A book which is scary and unsettling but completely real. The depth of character and trueness of their stories is almost unbearable at times.
This isn't throwaway scares. You are in the hands of a great writer with this collection.
There are a few odd level issues with the recording where one or two lines will suddenly be louder. It bothered me when it first happened but its so infrequent and the narration is so good that I forgot it happened after a while.
Can't recommend this enough!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- djdrunkenjedi
- 19-04-22
The real face of horror?
I haven’t given this full marks due to me preferring Wounds his other book of stories. But this is a work of a master all the same.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Papyrus11
- 18-10-19
Realism and horror
This was an excellent, ground-breaking collection. Ballingrud has a distinct authorial voice I immediately warmed to: earthy and naturalistic, he portrays perfectly, and with great compassion, characters dealing with poverty, grief, homelessness, loss, anger etc.: it is realism of the highest quality. Into this he then adds elements of horror/supernaturalism, to greater and lesser degrees depending on the story. This mix is never jarring; the weird elements work to magnify and embellish the psyches of the characters, whilst also suggesting things monstrous and bizarre just out of reach of our senses. I can't say that I have read any weird fiction quite like it before.
Special mention must go to Travis Young's narration; his tone suited these stories perfectly, and his reading was exemplary.
Do not hesitate to listen to this if you enjoy horror/weird fiction, but I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates good literature. This writer really deserves greater exposure.
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