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Blood on Satan's Claw cover art

Blood on Satan's Claw

By: Mark Morris - adapter,Piers Haggard,Robert Wynne-Simmons
Narrated by: Mark Gatiss,Reece Shearsmith,Thomas Turgoose,Alice Lowe,Ralph Ineson,Rebecca Ryan
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Summary

Gold Winner for Best Drama Special at the 2018 New York Festivals® International Radio Awards.

Seventeenth-century England, and a plough uncovers a grisly skull in the furrows of a farmer's field. The skull disappears, but its malefic influence begins to work in insidious ways upon the nearby village of Hexbridge. First, the cows stop milking and the fruit turns rotten on the trees. Then, an insolent ungodliness takes hold of the local children, mysterious fur patches appear on limbs and people start disappearing.... 

Something evil is stirring in the woods. Something that is corrupting the village youth, who retreat to the woodland deeps to play their pernicious games. Hysteria spreads as it becomes clear that the devil has come to Hexbridge, to incarnate himself on earth. Can the villagers, led by the Squire Middleton (Mark Gatiss) and Reverend Fallowfield (Reece Shearsmith), prevent the devil gaining human form? 

This digital audio exclusive stars Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith, alongside the original film's Angel Blake, Linda Hayden. Gatiss and Shearsmith are both huge fans of the original film, even recording a commentary for the DVD release. 

An Audible Original drama adapted from the original screenplay by horror writer Mark Morris, Blood on Satan's Claw stars Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who, The League of Gentlemen), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge), John Heffernan (Ripper Street, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell), Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Office), Thomas Turgoose (This Is England), Rebecca Ryan (Shameless) and Philip Hill-Pearson (Good Cop). 

©1971 Tigon Pictures Ltd (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"What marks out 

Blood On Satan’s Claw as a truly credible piece of audio drama is the atmospheric yet unintrusive score by Edwin Sykes and the evocative sound design by Simon Robinson, which transplants you straight into this bucolic, sinister environment from the first crowing of birds as they wheel in the evening sky as something inhuman is unearthed by the farmer’s plough." (We Are Cult)

"The story is a rare example of diving headlong into the action done right. It spends little time establishing the status quo prior to its disruption, but instead gives a general impression of what it might have been prior to the supernatural horrors which stalk the land. While in many cases this could have been abrupt, the audio drama uses a strong cast and a building sense of dread to hook the listener very early on ... The excellent sound design and voice acting is really what helps to convey the story’s atmospheric strength, and the script knows when to let them take the heavy lifting when it comes to drama. Between this and the excellent sound effects, it manages to outshine its source material in moments of true terror ... It’s easily one of the best adaptations Audible Studios have made to date, and a must-buy for any fan of quintessentially English horror." (Starburst)

"If you're a fan of classic horror, then The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith have a treat in store for you." (Digital Spy)

"Heartily recommended for a long cold winter's night. 9/10." (Paul Simpson, SFB)

What listeners say about Blood on Satan's Claw

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Toe-Curling Screamer!

Deliciously creepy, spooky sound effects and at times some high quality screaming. Engaging acting, devil worship and mysterious events. Audible have packed it all and more into a two and half hour speeding bullet of a traditional horror story.

Once again they have assembled a high quality cast to ensure that the acting is of a very high standard. The production values are rich and the sound quality gives a deliciously creepy atmosphere.

If an interlude of good old-fashioned bloody horror appeals to you then just turn the lights off, sit back and spend your time with Blood on Satan's Claw.

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Folk Horror at it's best. A stellar adaptation.

What an absolute treat. Superbly written, acted and produced with imaginative use of audio effects.
Bafflegab Productions are now on my radar permanently. Hard to believe something of this standard was crowd funded. Hopelly they will start turning a profit. Looking forward to owning a CD copy in June
Highly recommended.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An audible treasure.

A wonderful, if short, beautifully portrayed horror
More please Audible.
An indulgent joy. Thoroughly pleasing by expert actors narrators and storytellers. I love straight audioboooks / renditions. But I also love audio plays / dramas / movies with a full cast and sound effects. With audible radio dramas are Not a lost art but vibrant and very much alive.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • AB
  • 07-08-18

Okay for a time filler...

Picked this up for a short time filler. I was left feeling as though it could have been so much better. The general outline of the story is intriguing, but I found the performance to be a little confusing, with it sometimes difficult to differentiate between the main characters. The storyline itself was a little weak, though Audible do a good job of adding the ' bells and whistles' background audio, which helps set the scene.
All in all, quite disappointing.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not clawing for more.

I had high hopes but this audiobook is terrible not terrifying. The delivery is so juvenile and amateur it was actually embarrassing to listen to, I gave up and turned off an hour from the end. That's all I need say!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hairy scarey

The production, sound effects and atmospheric music is first class and this has a great cast of well known performers. (I particularly enjoyed Ralph Ineson who must be the Northiest Northern man to ever grace the sound waves). The story is fairly bog standard with innocent god-fearing folk being terrorised by rampant demon driven female sexuality, but there is some genuine and chilling horror, especially in the skin removal scenes. Overall this is an entertaining way to pass a couple of hours but I would not include this in my list of memorable stories.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

LIke a Hammer horror movie, without the pictures

The plot of this story is demonic interference in a rural village in the olden days (I'm not sure it is possible to be more precise about the date of the setting than this.) The main performers are perhaps better known for their comedy shows, but this is not a comic tale -- well, not deliberately, anyway.

To me, this recording most resembles a 1970s Hammer horror movie -- the vauge setting, the overblown language, and rather silly plot. However, it worked then -- goodness knows how -- and it works now, with the added bonus of nostalgia.

As always with Audible productions, the sound engineering is excellent, with convincing sound effects and fitting music. The voice acting is Hammer-like -- melodramatic and overstated. I presume this is intentional. The plot, well -- Hammer again; nothing we haven't heard or seen a dozen times before.

I enjoyed this but, if Hammer hadn't been such a big part of my youth, I'm not sure I would have got it at all.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Carry on Screaming

Apparently Satan’s Claw was originally part of a movie genre called‘folk horror ‘ by Mark Gatis( the genre contains only has 2 other movies - Witchfinder General and the Wicker Man). I guess he’s tried to be faithful to the original but it ends up a bit like Carry on Screaming, but without the gags. It’s almost literally one long scream as one by one the children of an English village succumb to the black arts. Still it gives Mark a good opportunity to wheel out his High Church camp voice as the local vicar - ‘they are in the grip of DARK forces’. It’s complete tosh and, despite the screams, strangely lacking in tension. There’s a sort of twist at the end but don’t hold your breath. AAARGHH!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Rather noisy with a weak and predictable story lin

It was more an audible play rather than an absorbing book. Rather lightweight predictable and noisy.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Different from the film but still excellent

Effectively a radio play loosely based on the wonderful 1971 film of the same name.

Gone is Mark Williams’s haunting theme. Gone is much of the heart-warming sentimentality. Gone is much of the twisted game-playing and cheeky insubordination of the children.

What’s left is essentially the same story, improved upon, less disjointed and with more loose ends tied. An additional scene at the very end gives a slightly more satisfying finale which the film itself might have benefitted from.

The performances are okay but there’s no substitute for the originals. The Cathy / Ralph love story is less winsome and a few supporting characters appear interchangeable.

It’s certainly worth the price of admission but won’t replace my audio recording ripped from the original film.

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4 people found this helpful