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The Electric

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The Electric

By: Andrew David Barker
Narrated by: Nigel Peever
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Summary

In the summer of 1985, 15-year-old Sam Crowhurst discovers an old, abandoned cinema that screens movies made by ghosts, for ghosts.

Sam and his friends Emma and David find themselves drawn into a world where the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, and Theda Bara are still making pictures, where Harold Lloyd and John Belushi team up for roustabout comedies, and Karloff and Lugosi appear in films scripted by Edgar Allan Poe. Sam comes to learn the mysteries of the Electric cinema and his part to play in its long and strange history.

The Electric is about movies, ghosts, and that ephemeral moment in all of our lives: childhood.

©2013 Andrew David Barker (P)2019 Andrew David Barker Historical Fiction Fiction Haunted Heartfelt Scary Ghost
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This was a spooky read and the sound effects really bring the story alive. The narrator does a superb job of distinguishing between the characters and sounds a bit like Vincent Price when recounting the story as the main character Sam. During the summer holiday Sam discovers the wonderful Electric Cinema, a dilapidated building hidden from view. The Electric is a Picture Palace for ghosts which shows films made by ghosts. Deceased directors, writers and even well know actors have carried on doing what they do best, producing films, but this time for a ghostly audience. This is an intriguing tale with a moving finale - it would make a great film!

An intriguing tale

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Listener received this title free

a very intriguing premise told with sincerity and love for its subject matter. the protagonists come off as genuine and the emotional parts of the story are unforced. the audible narration is a joy, and the production values top drawer. a highly recommend listen

all film stars are ghosts

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Listener received this title free

Far from frightening but certainly ethereal and yet tangible in equal measures. The dreamlike quality of the prose will transport you back to 1985 and earlier. Nigel Peever's marvelous narration keeps you captivated so don't be surprised if a few hours have passed without you noticing. This is certainly one I will listen to again

A truly nostalgic and evocative tale

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This was a really good ghost story!Kids find an abandoned theter in the woods.Creepy goodness. Nigel Peever was the perfect guy to narrate this.The extra sounds lead to the effect of you being there. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

The Electric

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The Electric by Andrew David Barker

I must admit I am partial to a well written Ghost Story but this one really was a cut above the rest. It is ingenious and fresh with a premise that draws you in almost immediately. A teenage boy finds an abandoned cinema in the wasteland near his home, where long dead stars create films and an audience of the deceased congregate to experience films from the grave.
Like Sam I am a particular fan of old films and was more likely to be watching Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart than the brat-pack as a teenager. I too had a little gang who would hide in the undergrowth and play too close to the river.

The central dynamic between Emma, David and our narrator Sam through whose point of view we experience The Electric is reminiscent of those in Stephen King’s Short Story The Body (which later became cult Classic Stand By Me) or the early storyline of IT or Dreamcatcher. Tens brought together and irrevocably changed by a shared experience and whilst this is a deeply atmospheric tale, a spine tingle festival, it is actually a much more nuanced and tender tale about the callowness of youth, about grief and loss and the acceptance of those emotions and of final goodbyes.

Where stars of a Bygone age cannot let go of their need to be in Movies, and buffs just want one more thrill in those velveteen seats, where love, betrayal romance and high adventure are reflected from the screen into the lives of the viewer. Here two young souls find each other as they seek to go on after the loss of a parent.

I was profoundly moved by the story (so if you were in Waltham Abbey today and you saw a woman crying as she trudged through the wind, sorry that was The Electric Effect) and yet deeply uplifted by Story’s End. The best story allows the reader to carry on the tale and here is one where we really can do it…
Where the stars we have loved and lost are collaborating together to star again in great Dramaand other lost souls are sitting in the dark letting that story unfold before their very eyes.

A word about the Narration by Nigel Peever: This is one of the most immersive tellings of a tale I have listened to in a long time. Nigel has a knack for creating true emotion in his characterisation , anger and sarcasm and deep loss are felt as well as heard and his general narration voice is so strongly enunciated with such warmth and timbre that you cannot help but be drawn further and further into the story. Definitely added to my favourite Narrators list!!

Gloriously Creepy, but heartfelt story

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