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The Twisted Ones

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About this listen

Award-winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher, presents a terrifying tale of hidden worlds and monstrous creations…

When Mouse's dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be?

Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there's more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather's journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.

Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they're looking for you. And if she doesn't face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.

"Righteous, folkloric horror. The devil is waiting in between these pages." -CHUCK WENDIG

©2020 T. Kingfisher (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd Gothic Horror Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary Exciting

Critic reviews

"Righteous, folkloric horror. The devil is waiting in between these pages." (Chuck Wendig)
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The book itself is fine. The central concepts and atmosphere of the story are interesting and generally engaging, particularly during the beginning, but in my opinion the characters are a bit thin, and the plot goes slightly to pieces in the last act. Not particularly satisfying overall which is a shame because usually this kind of folk horror is exactly what i love to read.

Also the self-referential jokes and the ironic, meta-understanding of the horror genre peppered throughout the book feels a little overdone and begins to distract from the substance of the story.

The main problem here though is actually the spoken performance. It's rare that I take the time to criticise an audiobook narrator but the choppy rhythm/inflection distracts and takes away from the author's intent, and the generally lifeless tone of the reader began to grate on me before i even reached the halfway point. The last couple of hours in particular really felt like a slog.

Decent book. Bad audio book.

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So far, my top book from this author. A brilliant and twisted tale of lost folks in a claustrophobic setting. I absolutely loved this.

Brilliant Folk Horror

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I loved the characters and the narration, and it was an intriguing, fun and creepy story. Will be looking for more from this author and narrator.

Really enjoyed this!

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I was really into this until it took a leap into a slightly different subgenre and from that point on my engagement level dropped. Well written though and the narrator is excellent.

Great first half, slightly disappointing second

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A quick summation: The story is good, the characters are very loveable, including a very vividly portrayed dog named Bongo. The prose is smooth and easy to digest, the atmosphere is stronge and it generates a good sense of place.
The downsides: The balance between the initial mystery and the latter, more otherworldly aspects seems slightly off. There is another world that I feel we scratch merely the surface of a little too much. I understand the need for mystery and intrigue, but it could have benefitted from more exploration. And, whilst I hate to criticise anyone's work, the narrator does not, for me: personally, work. She takes pauses in odd locations and the tone and intonation often feel a bit unusual for the emotional context of a particular scene. Definitely check out a sample before buying.
I enjoyed the story but struggled with the delivery.

Conflicting Feelings

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