The Woman in Black cover art

The Woman in Black

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Woman in Black

By: Susan Hill
Narrated by: Paapa Essiedu
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £11.19

Buy Now for £11.19

About this listen

A chilling new version of Susan Hill’s classic ghost story, narrated by Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project).

Eel Marsh house stands alone, surveying the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Mrs Alice Drablow lived here as a recluse. Now Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor with a London firm, is summoned to attend her funeral, unaware of the tragic and terrible secrets which lie behind the house's shuttered windows.

It is not until he glimpses a young woman at the funeral with a wasted face, dressed all in black, that a sense of profound unease begins to creep over him, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk about the woman in black or what happens whenever she is seen.

Kipps has to stay on in the lonely house, sorting out Mrs. Drablow's papers. The mist begins to enshroud it and the surrounding graveyard and the high tide cuts it off from the outside world....

Now available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.

©1983 Susan Hill (P)2022 Audible, Ltd Ghosts Gothic Horror Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Haunted Scary Paranormal Fantasy Suspense Horror Fiction

Featured article: 6 Must-listen classic audiobooks


When you finally get a break from the day-to-day it's the perfect time to get stuck into a classic story. We asked the greatest fan of classic literature in the Audible HQ building for his top picks.

Featured article 6 Must-listen classic audiobooks
All stars
Most relevant
Sound track at times too heavy, detracted from the story. More enjoyable without its moodiness.

Music

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've read this book and heard another Audible version of it which I purchased some time ago. This free version is The Best! (I've also watched the film which I recommend you Do Not Watch as it is so dreadful).
Don't hesitate to listen to this, even if it stops being available as part of Audible membership! It's just.....great, in every way; wonderfully read, fabulously enhanced with occasional sound and music and truly chilling.

What a great production!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I agree with other reviewers in that I find some of the audio effects overdone...directors of this kind of performance should realise that less is often more! However, this irritation was -for me- minor and I soon got used to it. The music, on the other hand, is well-judged, suitable-sparse and enhances the drama, as it should.

I'm sorry to say that Paapa Essiedu disappoints at the start [note I say 'at' the start; not 'from']. I saw his vibrant, complex Hamlet with the RSC a few years ago but here -where he is required to manage ALL the voices and emotions- he is somewhat out of his depth. Compare with seasoned audiobook performers such as Paul Ansdell (who recorded this same book some years ago), Peter Batchelor, Jenifer McCarthy or BJ Harrison, and you will see (hear) the difference. Single-voiced -and without music or effects- they are able to capture their audience using just their large ranges of vocal skills...and thus we get the nearest thing to reading the book ourselves.

However, after much less than an hour, Essiedu seems to "get into it" (I presume that the book was recorded in sequence). He is plainly enjoying himself, relishing the character-differentials -some achieved better than others- and becomes a sort-of one-man drama...all in all, very satisfactory!

So - one star deducted for the reasons given. I'll keep my Paul Ansdell version as a much more intense and concentrated reading [and therein lies the difference], but actually, I ended up really enjoying Essiedu's performance of a justly well-regarded ghost story!

Mostly excellent despite some grumbles...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wish there were more productions like this one available on Audible. Sound effects, narration magnified and intensified a brilliant story. I deliberately paced myself as I didn't want this book to end. It's beautiful.

Marvellous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well known story of heartbreak, haunting and revenge. Narrator does an excellent job and I would be delighted to listen to another example of his work.

A Good Tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews