13 Tales of Sonic Horror, Volume 4 (Unabridged‪)‬

Thank god i only paid $4

In one word: horrendous. The tag line of the company that produces these audiobooks is, "some stories weren't meant to be read," and these stories weren't meant to be disgraced. The line up of authors and tales is solid but the sound effects and sheer noise is so distracting that it takes every ounce of excitement or joy from the narration. Not sure what exactly an aural performer is but here they should certainly stick to simply reading the words as they were written. The opening story is so jam packed with sound effects (crashing waves, splintering wood, screaming, roaring water) that you can't even physically hear or understand what the narrator is saying, I couldn't even pick up the story title or follow what was going on. If you like audiobooks because it's something fun/relaxing to listen to while driving then DON'T BUY THESE. I had a headache within minutes and couldn't figure out if it was my stereo system or if the recording is truly that bad, trust me it is that bad. The main narrator, a guy named K. Anderson Yancy has an odd way of prolonging everything he says with lots of "dead" space in between each word. It almost feels like you are being read to as if you're an ignorant child and the narrator has to say e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g veeeeerrrrry slooooowwwly. Totally irritating, the stories stand for themselves that's why they are classics, they don't need audio sounds or embellishments to make them scary because they just are.