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boggart
noun
A mischievous character from English folklore, boggarts attach themselves to a person or location. Though they can occasionally be considered merely impish or even helpful, boggarts are more often characterised as malevolent and hostile.
Sour Hall’s resident boggart is destructive and torments George and Ash by exacerbating the sources of their pain, drawing out past traumas and current fears.
It's been such a thrill to adapt and expand upon Naomi Booth's beautiful and atmospheric short story. The horror of Sour Hall is intrinsically rooted in the psychology of unresolved trauma, and the ways in which that trauma manifests and challenges us to face it. I wanted to approach this story from a distinctly femgaze perspective and to focus on the characters' emotions and relationships, how the horror element manipulates and threatens these, and to highlight the healing power of love and of empathy, both for ourselves and for others.
Directing Sour Hall on location on an actual farm in Yorkshire was such a unique and wonderful experience for myself and our incredible cast and crew, and that, paired with the amazing 360/binaural sound technology we used, has resulted in something that will hopefully feel really immersive, chilling, and moving for listeners.
- Laura Kirwan-Ashman
A peek into the world of Sour Hall
Behind the scenes at the recording of Sour Hall
Summary
Listen to Sour Hall from 25th January, with a new episode releasing daily.
When George inherits her family farm it’s supposed to be a new start for her and her partner Ash, an escape from the chaotic pace of Manchester life and the traumatic incident that’s casting a shadow over their relationship.
George embraces country living and a burgeoning dairy business but a lonely Ash can’t settle – the farm is isolated and the villagers’ stares make clear their feelings about the inter-racial lesbian couple in their midst.
And then there is the strange banging coming from the milking shed which George won’t let her enter.... Ash is sure she can hear George whispering to someone or something inside....
A presence haunts the farm, one that feeds on fear itself, and it’s hungry. To survive, Ash and George must face past traumas and embrace the things that go bump in the night, or risk being destroyed by them.
Recorded in partial 360 degree sound on location in Yorkshire, this truly terrifying Audible Original stars Lucy Fallon as George and Pearl Mackie as Ash and is best enjoyed when listened to with headphones. This new podcast is a dramatic adaptation of the critically-acclaimed Sour Hall, one of the short stories written by Naomi Booth for Hag.
Please note: Sour Hall contains strong language, adult themes and scenes of a violent nature which some listener’s may find upsetting. In particular the series references sexual violence and miscarriage. Much of this is explored via the lens of supernatural horror, but listener discretion is advised. More detail on potentially triggering content can be found by clicking 'details' on each episode in the app. And for the best listening experience, wear headphones.
This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. New episodes will arrive in your Library daily over six days from 25 January, 2021.

Laura Kirwan-Ashman
The writer and director of Sour Hall, Laura’s work focuses on Blackness, queerness, and a hopepunk, feminine gaze approach to storytelling. Laura’s roots are in filmmaking; her short films have won awards and shown at festivals, and she is one of 2020's BFI Flare x BAFTA Crew mentees. Laura is currently writing her debut feature film in development with the BFI, and has several TV projects in the works.
About the performer
Lucy Fallon is best known for her performance as Bethany Platt in Coronation Street, a role for which she was the 2018 winner of the National Television Award for Serial Drama Performance, the winner of the 2018 British Soap Awards for Best Actress and Best Female Dramatic Performance as well as winning the 2017 Inside Soap Award for Best Actress.
About the performer
Pearl Mackie is an accomplished screen and stage actress best known for roles such as Bill Potts in Doctor Who and Lulu in The Birthday Party at The Harold Pinter Theatre. Pearl is also a well-known voice in the audio industry and starred in Forest 404 for the BBC and was seen most recently in Michael Winterbottom’s Greed.
What listeners say about Sour Hall
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tom Porritt
- 01-02-21
The idea is better than the reality!
Started off well. Building suspense. After the first 30 min episode it got a bit tedious.
The problem with this drama is there isn’t enough vocal description. So for example and audio book usually tells you about the weather, location and what’s going on. In a voiced drama, the script usually gives you that for example, character one would say “oh I best get up. Can’t be bothered because it’s bloody freezing and it’s raining outside. What a miserable winters day”... well there is none of that in this. You’ve left to try and work out who’s where and why they’re there. Are they in the dairy? Are they in the house? Who is talking here. It’s literally like trying to watch tv with your eyes shut and being unable to keep up. I finished it because I wanted to, not because I enjoyed it. Literally 6 episodes of rain, thunder, banging noises, screams, a weird bloke whispering, cows mooing and some very brief lines that tell half the story of two arguing lesbians whilst portraying the sleepy village people of Yorkshire as closet racists whom have never heard of LGBT! And I’m sorry, but the ending is just a load of balls.
It filled a corner but I’m left unsatisfied.
The only positive is the 360 sound. That works really well.
37 people found this helpful
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- Slubberd
- 28-01-21
Hmm. Have the BBC been here?
I found it more irritating than atmospheric. I like to go find out about characters as I go - not be knocked out by their sexuality before they've even walked in the room. That goes for anyone. I don't like how this story made everything a struggle. Self indulgent. Not for me.
36 people found this helpful
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- Katy
- 31-01-21
Glad to have come to the end of this one
Good grief, what an absolute load of tosh. 'Adapted from a short story'? Sad to say, it might have been better not to bother. Disjointed, repetitive, seemed like every 5 minutes someone was waking up in the middle of the night and randomly going off into the dark to look for the other. Silly ending too. Sorry. Glad I hadn't paid for it.
35 people found this helpful
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- mich
- 02-02-21
Glad I didn’t pay for this
I’m so glad I never paid for this, it was a struggle to keep listening to it. If you’re looking for scary avoid this at all costs because there is nothing scary about it. It definitely is more irritating than scary, and the continuous mention of the dairy got on my nerves.
21 people found this helpful
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- Luke
- 28-01-21
Great story odd additions
The story, and performance, is excellent however there's a strange amount of references to sex seemingly needlessly rammed in to this just feels like a waste of time unless of course this will later become relevant
20 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 27-01-21
Incredible! Terrifying!
This is so original!
How they are doing this with the script, acting, 360 sound everything is beyond me but it is amazing! Terrifying but brilliant! Sheer genius!! Love it!
19 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-02-21
Not a great story! Disappointing!
This isten was a struggle. I would not recommend. The ending is very disappointing and the episodes are repetitive. I am glad I didn't use a credit on this.
17 people found this helpful
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- C. Balding
- 31-01-21
Missing half the story!!
So I downloaded this as it was a free mystery podcast. Great I thought! Supposedly updated each day over six days with the new chapter, it's now been six days and I only have ep. 2, 5, and 6. I CANNOT find anyway to get my missing chapters. So so annoyed and disappointed. Moreover I cannot find any mention of anyone else having the same problem. And before you ask yes the updates setting is on!
17 people found this helpful
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- The Glamizon
- 28-01-21
Love it.
Well written, engaging with relatable characters. A spooky tale which tackles some difficult and emotional issues, however there are trigger warnings given before each performance which give warning to some of the content.
An atmospheric tale, backed up by great sound effect.
The story line is set in an old, rural, dairy farm. George AKA. Georgia and her partner Ash are the two main characters. As young 'lesbian lady farmers' they have certainly sparked the interest of the locals and something sinister that bides there. NO SPOILER ALERTS. Im not at the end of the series yet but so far I can honestly say that I can almost smell, feel and sense their fear as I'm transported right there to the farm.
I am really loving each episode, I'm not usually a fan of short stories, mainly because I get frustrated when I'm getting into the story and it ends, when like with this series, I could easily listen to it for hours. Well done audible on a great production and around of 👏 👏 👏 👏 to the actors for a great performance. X
13 people found this helpful
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- legeon
- 03-02-21
Oh
This story started off brilliantly. Scares abundantly there and brilliant Soundesign to boot. However certain members of the cast clearly were not used to radio work. And the stories ending was pure and utter unadulterated garbage.
9 people found this helpful