The Cipher

By: Kathe Koja

Narrated by: Joshua Saxon

Kathe Koja's classic, award-winning horror novel is finally available as an audiobook.

Nicholas, a would-be poet, and Nakota, his feral lover, discover a strange hole in the storage room floor down the hall - "Black. Pure black and the sense of pulsation, especially when you look at it too closely, the sense of something not living but alive." It begins with curiosity, a joke - the Funhole down the hall. But then the experiments begin. "Wouldn't it be wild to go down there?" says Nakota. Nicholas says "We're not." But they're not in control, not from the first moment, as those experiments lead to obsession, violence, and a very final transformation for everyone who gets too close to the Funhole.

THE CIPHER was the winner of the 1991 Bram Stoker Award, and was recently named one of io9.com's Top 10 Debut Science Fiction Novels That Took the World by Storm. Long out-of-print and much sought-after, it is finally available as an audiobook, with a new foreword by the author.

©2012 Kathe Koja (P)2020 David N. Wilson

Critic reviews

"An ethereal rollercoaster ride from start to finish." (The Detroit Free Press)

"Combines intensely poetic language and lavish grotesqueries." (BoingBoing)

"This powerful first novel is as thought-provoking as it is horrifying." (Publishers Weekly)

A narration on spaghettification

The performance was fantastic, the story was a dreadful descent into madness. Would absolutely recommend it, but I have no idea how to describe it.

meh

performance was pretty good, Story somewhat interesting, but it can be dull at times. definitly day dreamed or stopped listening time to time. like a rollercoaster with you on the edge to the top, but then its slow on the way down with few turns or hills till it grinds to a dull halt

Started Strong

Started strong but dragged towards the end. Still worth a listen. The narrator was great.

Disturbingly Wonderful

Go down the hole! Will definitely seek out more Koja. Performance worked well and I couldn't stop listening.

Excellent story / excellent narration

Everything about this book is top-notch. Loved the story, and it was narrated quite well. I've been waiting so long for this to come out in audiobook, so I put everything on hold and jumped right on it. Trust me, if you haven't read this one, do it now. You won't be disappointed. Thanks so much to Crossroads Press for putting this back out.

A rollercoaster!!

Gosh I'm not sure what to say but I would recommend this listen for a rainy weekend. The narrators were great. I even found myself yelling at the TV more than once for the characters to get a hold of themselves, mad that the MC would not get rid of his GF, the groupies and the fact everyone just abandoned their lives.I did appreciate the human aspect of him getting mad then fealing bad when he did. sometimes I wasn't sure if it was the fun hole making him do it or not,it was as if I was going crazy too I mean can you die when your feet get torn off at the ankle?

Crazy people doing crazy things

Kathe Koja’s The Cipher is a bizarre horror tale that begins as a folie à deux and progresses to a mass delusional event. In Nic’s apartment building, there is a utility room with something strange that appears as a kind of black hole or dimensional portal (referred to as the funhole). He and his girlfriend play with it and when things are put in, stranger things come out. His girlfriend starts a cult, but Nic is required for the fund games to take place. Things just get progressively weird and most of the remainder is spent in Nic’s head trying to come to terms with his situation.

Koja attempts a horror tale that is mostly psychological. It’s never clear if the funhole is real or simply the delusional hallucinations of a bored, unsatisfied, troubled mind.

The narration is aligned with the psychological state of the main character and while appropriate, does engender a sense of wanting to slap some sense into the characters. Pacing is smooth and a tad brisk.

Twisted fun

Mesmerizing, dark, and beautifully narrated. The writing is gorgeous, the voice crystal clear, lovely style, immersive storytelling. Chilling, compelling, up-market horror. Loved every second!

A bit dragged out

Outstanding performance and very well written but most of the characters are far from likable and at several times it seems to drag on instead of getting on with the inevitable.

An Interesting Book of Weird...

I often find it amazing people can listen to the same book and come out with completely different interpretations, that said I'm not a big literary scholar, cannot speak intelligently about the differing aspects of a book like I have read so many times here and on goodreads (sometimes I read reviews and wonder if I am either incredibly dumb or not reading the same thing as some people). I can say, however, I own thousands of audiobooks and all purely for the entertainment of it! I rarely rarely write reviews, but feel compelled to here.

To me this book was a ride, immediately interesting, not requiring too much background or build up, I love the verse, how it has a slightly poetic tilt to it that reminds me a bit of the way Poppy Z Brite writes. Horror I think is a hard genre because we all fear different things, but I truly enjoyed this book. Sometimes I struggle with how many books I buy (addiction perhaps) and will get bored with one book and hop to another, rarely will I listen to a book from start to finish but I did with this one. There was something identifiable with the main character and his problems, of being swept away by life. I could feel his bewilderment of the situation, his being pressured by others - giving in, and hating yourself for it is something we all experience.

The book may not be especially profound and "funhole" a bit childish, but the book is interesting! If you want a few entertaining hours to get lost in someone elses troubles for a change I'd suggest you give this one a try!