The Bloody Chamber

By: Angela Carter

Narrated by: Richard Armitage, Emilia Fox

A collection of short stories, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories was first published in 1979 and awarded the Cheltenham Festival Literary Prize.

This Audible exclusive adaptation is narrated by legendary actors, Richard Armitage and Emilia Fox, who take on different chapters of the audiobook. Among these are 'The Bloody Chamber', 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon', 'The Tiger's Bride', 'Puss in Boots', 'The Erl-King', 'The Snow Child', 'The Lady of the House of Love', 'The Werewolf', 'The Company of Wolves' and 'Wolf-Alice'.

About the book

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is a titillating series of dark, sensual and fantastical stories, inspired by well-known fairy tales and folklore.

Dissatisfied with the unrealistic portrayal of women in these legendary fables, Carter turns them on their head, introducing subversively dark, sensual and gothic narratives.

Breathing new and unexpected life into favourite childhood characters such as Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard and Beauty and the Beast, Carter shocks, seduces and amuses the listener with her unique, iconic and surrealist reimagining.

About the author

Angela Carter was born in 1940, in Sussex. She grew up in the shabbily respectable south London district of Balham, the second child of an eccentric journalist father and a neurotic housewife mother.

She studied English at Bristol University before travelling, teaching and writing numerous best-selling novels. They have all received critical acclaim and remain firm favourites of modern English literature.

Angela was a feminist throughout her life, wrote for Spare Rib magazine and voted Labour. Her novels are wholly reflective of her world views and continue to inspire new generations of men and women worldwide.

About the narrator

Best known for his roles in The Hobbit, Hannibal, Captain America, Robin Hood, Spooks and North and South, Richard Armitage has established himself as one of the greatest British actors of our time.

With 14 audiobooks under his belt, including David Hewson's Romeo and Juliet: A Novel and Georgette Heyer's Venetia, Richard's story telling abilities have not gone unnoticed. In 2014, he was merited with having narrated the Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel.

Emilia Fox is an English actress who has starred as Dr Nikki Alexander on BBC Crime drama, Silent Witness, since 2004. Her other TV and film credits include Merlin, Pride and Prejudice, The Pianist, The Casual Vacancy and Inside No. 9.

Also no stranger to audiobook productions, Emilia delivers a myriad of powerhouse performances such as in Philippa Gregory's The White Queen, Muriel Spark's The Complete Short Stories, and Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey.

©1979 Angela Carter (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

not what I expected

it's not erotica, but it comes close. the "c" word that Americans notoriously dislike is used fairly frequently with negative, positive, and neutral connotations. I wasn't ready.
I might have to listen to it again when I'm more prepared so I can see if I enjoy the stories.

A bit uneven

A few of the stories really dragged for me, while others were very good. Puss in Boots was so much fun and so delightfully performed by Richard Armitage that I immediately hit replay and listened to it a second time.

good one

A few of the stories really dragged for me, while others were very good. so much fun and so delightfully performed by Richard Armitage that I immediately hit replay and listened to it a second time.

Very good

Well performed. Interesting stories with twists.

Sometimes left hanging and didn't really understand the ending but overall good.

Lush prose and narration

"Lush". That was my immediate thought as I was listening to these reimagined fairy tales. These are not for children; there is lots of blood and animalistic behavior, all described vividly but with subtlety ( no, that's not contradictory, as you will hear when you listen). The narration is just wonderful by both narrators. The first (4) stories are the best.

New Take On Old Tales

Puss In Boots... Brilliant interpretation by Richard Armitage. That's worth the price of admission alone.

Not Your Childhood Fairytales

Sensual, dark, macabre, and one hilarious story, these are not your fairytales from childhood. They are an usual mix and not for everyone. I can understand the mixed reviews for this collection. They were an unusual read, but the only story I thoroughly enjoyed was the hilarious Puss in Boots. That would be the only one I would listen to again. Emilia Fox and Richard Armitage gave fine performances considering the content of this book.

As Good As It Gets!

Angela Carter is possibly my favorite writer, and to my mind some of the stories in this book are as good as written stories get. The narration too is spot-on. Especially Emilia Fox (Armitage is excellent as well, but I prefer a female narrator for Carter's work). I just listened to "the Tiger's Bride" twice in a row, and Fox is simply ASTONISHING in her ability to capture the humor, the intelligence, the mischief and pure witchery of Carter's voice. The combination of Carter's writing and Fox's narration brings me to a level of delight and glee that is nearly unbearable! I will be listening to this audiobook over and over.

If you are reading this Emilia: Thank you! And bravissima!

Not for everyone: Gothic, surreal, prose w/70’s feminism

I have a very difficult time sympathizing (never mind agreeing with) the low score reviews for this. I get that it’s not for everyone, but expecting a book of sanitized fairytales or zombie fighting heros from that title and this particular author?? That’s ignorance of some kind.

I will preface this opinion with the fact that I specifically sought out this book of short stories, or more accurately this group of intertextual collages of folktales.
I wanted and expected to be enthralled, uncomfortable, and left thinking with unresolved feelings.
Some short stories I enjoyed more than others. That said, I thoroughly loved this book! I will likely listen to this again. Both voice actors/narrators were so good at drawing me right into the worlds of each tale! Excellent-no notes.

Now, If you do not like Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Woman in Black, the movie Crimson Peak, lengthy prose, etc you will most likely not enjoy this book.

Also, if you don’t know anything about a book and don’t wish to be potentially blindsided do a quick Google search.

This is Gothic not Horror in the modern sense. An important distinction to know before you read it. Gothic as a genre disorients the reader with the past coming to the present, describing the environment as a foreboding character itself, unfolding romances that blur fear with love, positing characters who are largely metaphors, and haunting readers/characters with some grotesque scenes. Yes this book is quite macabre, disturbing, and gore-filled. It definitely is not the fast-action, jump scare, terrorized plot train a modern reader might be expecting to board.

Besides being one of the top ten examples of Gothic storytelling, Carter’s re-imaginings of the pieces of familiar stories are intentionally disrupting the form of the Folk Tale featuring a woman as it’s main character. To be clear, these tales, like most original folktales, are bizarre, horrifying, and full of death - not neat happy endings. She heavily uses the metaphor of the female body/ sexuality during a pivotal moment of change like puberty or marriage to highlight the violence and messiness of humanity and criticize societal structures that oppress women. It’s no fourth wave, but effective given context.

If you made it through my opinion on Angela Carter’s incredible work here and why I love it- gold star! Now choose to read The Bloody Chamber and other short stories at your own discretion (But really though, Wikipedia is free)

Brilliant collection of short stories

I love Angela Carter’s short stories. I cannot tell you the level of thrilled I was when they became available on Audible. The stories are great, the performances are excellent. The Tiger’s Bride and Puss-in-Boots and The Cmoanynof Wolves are just amazing.

My adoration aside, it should be said that her descriptors are adjective upon adjective. The language is lush. No one just walks anywhere. I do not like her novels for just that reason, but it work beautifully, for me, in her short stories.