The Stars Did Wander Darkling

By: Colin Meloy

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

A suspenseful and atmospheric horror set in 1980s Oregon, perfect for fans of Stranger Things, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Peterson Haddix, from New York Times bestselling author and the Decemberists’ lead singer/songwriter, Colin Meloy.

Maybe Archie Coomes has been watching too many horror movies.

All of a sudden, the most ordinary things have taken on a sinister edge: a penny on a doormat. An odd man in a brown suit under a streetlamp. The persistent sound of an ax chopping in the middle of the night.

He keeps telling himself that this is Seaham, a sleepy seaside town where nothing ever happens. Or at least nothing did, until his dad’s construction company opened up the cliff beneath the old—some say cursed—Langdon place.

Soon, though, he and his friends can’t deny it: more and more of the adults in town are acting strangely. An ancient, long-buried evil has been unleashed upon the community, and it’s up to the kids to stop it before it’s too late. . . .

©2022 Colin Meloy (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

It was good

It was good but a lot of cliff hangers and the story is good but the voice acting was not so good but it was ok I think you should reed this book and than you can make it sound better

fun, dark read

This was a fun, dark, atmospheric read. A little spooky, a bit of horror. Had Neil Gaiman and Stephen King vibes. I think the ending could have used a bit more detail.

Narration was not the best

The story was good enough so that I finished it. I enjoy Meloy’s books. This one did seem to leave one or two major plot points unexplained. I really can’t say much in a review without it spoiling for someone else. I just wish some things had been a little more defined. I felt like I was left hanging more than a bit.

The narrator obviously put in some hard work on this reading. I can only give it about 2.5 stars. One character in particular had what I guess is a city (Jersey?) accent that comes and goes and there were times I really expected him to either say “Fuhgeddaboudit” or maybe “you talking to me”? And as this was a kid (young teen) the gravelly voice was difficult to listen to. All the character voices sounded as though the reader was straining his voice and many times were inconsistent. Often times as the reading progressed even the parts where no character was actually speaking and the reading was only descriptive there was an accent. lol!

I did finish the book. I found it a fun story and an interesting plot. Meloy’s books are fun and I do enjoy them. I have The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid up next. (Bronson Pinchot)
I find I have become fairly picky about narration. Most of these books are too many hours long to suffer through a poor narrator. This narrator is someone I would probably not listen to again if the book involved had to have many different character voices.

Actually this book would make a wonderful full cast production. I would definitely use a credit on that!