The Omen

By: David Seltzer

Narrated by: Holly Palance, Mark Owen

Jeremy Thorn and his wife, Katherine, have just welcomed the newest member of their family to the world: Their beautiful son Damien. But as the boy grows, so does the terror surrounding him. Fatal accidents, suicides, and unexplained violence seem to follow the Thorns wherever they go - but why? And how can Damien have anything to do with the carnage and bloodshed? He is only a child. But Damien Thorn is like no child on Earth. He bears the mark of the beast. And his time is at hand.

This audiobook edition is narrated by Holly Palance, who starred in David Seltzer's The Omen in 1976.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Fantastically narrated.

Very well narrated. Regarding the book itself, I found that it follows the book to a T more or less. The parts where it goes deeper into the stories or adds more lore are few and far between.

Satisfied by the story, not so much the narratorr

The Omen is a great story, and while I was satisfied by the story itself, the narrator got on my nerves. Every Englishman had a default Cockney accent, or would swap between Cockney and posh, and that inconsistency was annoying and reductive, as if Americans only know two speeds of English accents. Another example of that - the nanny sounded like Mrs. Doubtfire. Not a lot of originality there. I feel like if you’re going to do accents in a book, you should strive to do them correctly. Also, there wasn’t much emotional range or difference between characters in that sense. Panic or anger sounded the same in everyone. So! If you can get past the narrator, it really is a great story.

Not bad at all

I’ve seen the movie several times and have always been intrigued by the story. The book closely follows the movie so no big Surprises by straying away from what you may have already seen. The box however does go in to other details that can’t be expressed on the big screen. Such as what Thorne was thinking or how they came about certain information. I Thoroughly enjoyed listening and thought it was a solid book. You won’t be disappointed.

Enjoyable for fans of the movie

It’s pretty much the same plot as the movie but with additional background details about the characters that help to explain their behavior and humanize or devilize them more than the movie.

Good creepy fun.

I've been listening to some horror classics lately and they wouldn't have been complete without The Omen. This was a fast-paced listen that made seven hours speed by. The narration was good, the men’s voices a little contrived sometimes, but not off-putting, just a little humorous. Some of the content is a little dated, as far as the attitudes towards psychiatry and mental health issues go, but it didn't distract. I’ve never watched the film in its entirety, so I found some of the scenes very descriptive and detailed to the point I could picture them clearly. The cemetery in Italy and Katherine v. Blaylock in the hospital scenes were particularly exciting. It reminded me of those mass-produced horror paperbacks from the 80’s I loved so much and went through voraciously: exciting, gruesome, and horrifying. It was just an enjoyable creepy devil story with that ‘gotcha’ kind of ending.

Exceptional

Really enjoyed it. First of all couple words about performance - I usually don't like a narration with a female voice - just a matter of preference I guess (usually can't follow it for long). But this one... Oh my God. If all of the female narrators did such an outstanding job I'd never have a bias in the first place. Holly is amazing, and she really did amazing job separating characters and giving a chilling atmosphere. Story was great as well - I've never seen the movie but now I want to!

If you enjoy Exorcist and master King's horror stories, you'll love this book. Highly recommend!

One of my favorites

I've alwayd loved the movies and wondered if the book was any better, but the movie actually follows it very closely.

Great Book

I have seen the movie many times. This is my 1st time reading it.

Withstood The Test Of Time

I love this book. Always have, always will. It's surpassed ONLY by Rosemary's Baby. Some might argue for The Exorcist, which was also excellent.

I am a nonbeliever and The Omen STILL scares me.

I'm sure the author knew that 666 was a reference to Nero, not a date for the birth of the antichrist, but I love the liberties he took nonetheless. Having said that, I think it's important to point out that Rosemary's Baby did it first with Adrian being born on the anti-Christmas: June 25, 1966. But both Omen and Rosemary's Baby codified the anti-Christ myth in much the same way Night Of The Living Dead codified zombies.

I'll stop here, as a long-winded review will require spoilers. If you are a horror fan, this is a MUST read. And if you've already read it, read it again because it doesn't get much better than this.

It is a very good listen to an old classic.

This was a good listen. Any negative reviews should be respected but I think it’s a good listen.