Audio Review: The Signalman and Other Ghostly Tales by Charles Dickens

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The Signalman and Other Ghostly Tales by Charles Dickens


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
First, if you haven't experienced this kind of "enhanced" audiobook before, you're in for a treat. John Sessions's excellent narration is supplemented with specially composed music and sound effects. It's very nicely done - the sound design adds to the atmosphere, but never overpowers the reader's performance.

While this is part of Textbook Stuff's Horror range, the stories tend more towards the atmospheric and suspenseful than the bloodcurdlingly terrifying. The stories are a pretty varied bunch in tone. "The Signalman" is a classic, creepy, ghost story. "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole the Sexton" is kind of a dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, in which some goblins teach a grumpy old sexton a lesson about enjoying life by showing him some visions (and giving him a good kicking). "To Be Read at Dusk" is an odd tale, narrated by a man who is listening to some couriers swap tales of uncanny things that they have experienced, and then has something uncanny happen to him. It ends a bit suddenly, but is still a rather fun story. "A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles II" is an almost Lovecraftian tale of murder and obsession. "The Lawyer and the Ghost", which wraps up the collection, is a funny little story, almost an extended lawyer joke.

Very entertaining listening, especially at dusk.

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