In a Lonely Place

By: Karl Edward Wagner

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

One of the most important horror collections of modern times, back at last!

Karl Edward Wagner (1945-1994) has earned a reputation as one of the finest horror writers of the modern era, but his work has been out of print and nearly unobtainable for many years. His seminal volume In a Lonely Place collects eight of his best tales, including "In the Pines," a classic ghost story evocatively set in the Tennessee woods, "Beyond Any Measure," an original take on the vampire story, "River of Night's Dreaming," a surreal and nightmarish masterpiece inspired by The King in Yellow, and the author's most famous tale, "Sticks," a disturbing story thought by many to have been the basis for The Blair Witch Project.

This new edition includes all the stories from the original 1983 edition, plus an additional rare tale and the author's afterword from the Scream/Press limited edition, and features a new introduction by Ramsey Campbell.

©1983, 1984, 2022 Estate of Karl Edward Wagner (P)2022 Valancourt Books LLC

A truly unique collection of Weird Tales

Karl Edward Wagner manages to mine genuinely new life out of the Cosmic Horror genre -his gift is manifest in the curation of quotidian details, and terrible implications; in his characters all too human ability to explain away unassimilable outré facts, to their unfortunate peril. In example The story .225 Swift is quite simply, a masterpiece, it literally touches the hem of the garment of HPL’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, managing to do so without ANY obvious callbacks to the Mythos, and not going any place you expect. Its unique qualities exemplify those of the collection . Wagner has a gift for the Noirish Final Line of a story that lingers & haunts in the grand tradition of best Pulp. Matt Godfrey’s laconic vocal performance of Wagner’s work is pitch perfect- intelligent, yet unstuffy. Available to precise descriptive detail, yet comfortable with the common touch, Godfrey has the gift of delivering the way horror slowly occurs to a mind unaccustomed to everyday reality receding away from it.

Not the best narrator, but great stories

The stories are great, but the narrator, Matt Godfrey is decent, but not great.

Spectacular stories - good reading, wrong reader

So, so glad to have some of KEW’s stories finally in audio. Godfrey does a great job as ever, but these stories really need someone with a deep voice.

In the pines!

Amazing storyteller believable characters! I was enthralled . They kept me busy for hours. I love this author, and the narrator did a great job. Five stars.

Amazing

I so wish I could hear more of Wagner's work. A truly gifted storyteller deserving of more recognition.

Masterful Narration & Great Stories

I would categorize most of these stories as "slow burn," but primarily because of the growing complexity and proportional satisfaction of reading them. The classic "descent into madness" depicted in some of these stories is done so well - In a Lonely Place is an easy recommendation.

The narrator was fantastic, too! Great use of contrasting tone and accents made for an engaging listening experience.

Soooo good

I’ve listened to this book twice. I like the narrator, in my opinion he’s good for the stories. Scary, unique and some lovecraftian vibes! I highly recommend this book!!

As good as advertised

I’ve heard about this collection most of my reading life, and how it is one of the best single author collections ever printed. That my friends is true, it is an amazing collection and after a way too long hiatus it’s back in print and needs to be read.

Great collection horror shorts

I enjoyed this collection very much and wish there were more of Karl Edwards Wagners tales. Each story keeps you interested in the characters and the plot.

Review

Great collection of short stories:

In the Pines- Fairly Decent

Where the Summer Ends- Fairly Decent

Sticks- this apparently inspired a lot of other major works, such as The Blair Witch Project. It's fairly creepy, but what got me was the afterword.

The Fourth Seal- this could have been written yesterday, instead of decades ago. Wagner wrote this when he was frustrated with the medical field, and in some ways, it's accurate today. Not to spoil things, but Big Pharma is real and there are companies that place profits over people. Even if it means death or expensive medication with fewer innovations.

More Sinned Against- I hated it at first and contemplated skipping it, but listening to the last few minutes, put everything together and made it excellent.

.220 Swift- Pretty good, I love the concept

The River of Night’s Dreaming- One of those things you read and you're left with more questions than resolutions

Beyond Any Measure- Fairly decent