Occultation and Other Stories

By: Laird Barron

Narrated by: David Drummond

Laird Barron has emerged as one of the strongest voices in modern horror and dark fantasy fiction, building on the eldritch tradition pioneered by writers such as H. P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, and Thomas Ligotti. His stories have garnered critical acclaim and been reprinted in numerous year's best anthologies and nominated for multiple awards, including the Crawford, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards. His debut collection, The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, was the inaugural winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. He returns with his second collection, Occultation. Pitting ordinary men and women against a carnivorous, chaotic cosmos, Occultation's eight tales of terror (two never before published) include the Theodore Sturgeon and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated story "The Forest" and Shirley Jackson Award nominee "The Lagerstatte."

©2010 Laird Barron (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Sent here by Pseudopod! Great collection!

After hearing some Laird Barron on the horror podcast Pseudopod, I decided to find something on Audible - and I am not disappointed in the least. This collection has great variety and makes me all the more eager to download a novel by Barron. Short stories are some of my favorite because you can see (hear?) trace elements and the tested waters that become motifs or singular elements in later works.

Very satisfied overall. Barron captures the latent horror of many terrains and environments.

David Drummond does a great reading of each story - switching between characters seamlessly while maintaining unique voices despite the multiple stories - no small challenge, I assume. Excellent timing and narration in general!

One hell of an author

what can I say Laird Barron definitely knows what he's doing. his books are awesome and this one is probably my favorite.

Listen slowly and go back often

Laird’s writing is much more suited to actually reading it rather than listening. It requires a lot of imagination and if you’re listening to this book while doing other things, the smallest lapse in attention can make you feel like you’ve missed some important detail.

But that may just be me. Laird’s writing is amazingly creepy and seeps deep into your brain like a dark tentacle or sentient ooze. I can’t wait to read more!

Tries too hard to be spooky

This set of short stories tries too hard to creep the reader out. The effect is more gross and unpleasant than spooky.

top notch cosmic horror and more

inventive concepts, well-managed dread, professional delivery from both author and narrator. his short stories are just s good as his novels. one of the best there is

From beginning to end!

I listened to this on a day where I drove 8 hours in 1 jaunt.
I listened to the book the entire time.
Not once did I need to change it up.
I think that's a testament to the story writing and narration.
The Forest
-30-
Stuck out, but I felt the entire book was well worth the listen.

Enjoy!

This man frightens me

The outright best horror author alive today in my humble opinion he genuinely scares me

Creepy excellence

This collection is a delightful series of unease and straight up horror. How did I miss this author until now?

Awful stories OK reader

These stories are truly terrible. Another HP Lovecraft wannabe without the genius. Where HPL could break through his tediousness and obsession with mongrel races and degenerate, inbred old White New Englanders and really reach the depths of horror, this guy just hashes over tired story lines and never really comes to the point. Not particularly scary. Not at all well-written. Also, he is obsessed with sex. Reminds me of a ninth grade boy who gets a thrill out of talking dirty.
Reader is OK, but has a really irritating literary chuckle.

I'm hooked!

I loved these stories. They kept me hooked and eager to hear more. However, there were some stories that were relatively short, but that sense of hopelessness was apparent in every one. They're all good at expressing that Lovecraftian aspect of horror.