The Willows


Read by Michael Thomas Robinson

(4.2 stars; 96 reviews)

A tale of horror in which a pleasant sojourn down the Danube tumbles terrifyingly awry as the veil between this world and an unfathomably weird dimension is inadvertently pierced by an innocent pair of vacationers, "The Willows", arguably Algernon Blackwood's seminal contribution to supernatural literature, has had a lasting influence on the field. No less a personage than H. P. Lovecraft describing it as "...the greatest weird tale ever written." A reading will reveal a clear influence to one familiar with Lovecraft's work. The masterful handling of mystery and suspense that build to a quite satisfyingly unnerving crescendo may be particularly noted by the discerning aficionado of the genre.(Summary by Michael T. Robinson) (2 hr 21 min)

Chapters

Section I 42:40 Read by Michael Thomas Robinson
Section II 34:53 Read by Michael Thomas Robinson
Section III 35:28 Read by Michael Thomas Robinson
Section IV 28:44 Read by Michael Thomas Robinson

Reviews

Old School Thriller


(4 stars)

Willows takes one in a suspencful ride between fantasy, horror, and Sci-fi. Masterfully painting the scene and manipulating the readers mind through a steady building of emotions and events. The characters feelings ams actions are even more real feeling than in his other work Wendigo.

very well read


(5 stars)

I enjoyed the way this was read. Very hypnotic :)

Excellent Little Early Horror Novella


(4 stars)

Found this book looking for more weird fiction after reading a bunch of Lovecraft’s stories, and I can say I was not in the least disappointed - one can definitely tell the inspiration Lovecraft took in style, and somewhat even in content. The reader does a good job of bringing many of the tense moments later in the story to life, although his audio quality isn’t the best.

up my alley


(5 stars)

I am fond of this one.

Great horror novella


(4 stars)

Very atmospheric with an enjoyable reader.

Great story, dreadful reader


(2.5 stars)

The reader reads at an appropriate tempo and enunciates well, but his tone is as monotonous as a robot, and even more annoying, he manages to mispronounce almost every geographical name, starting with Danube, which he pronounces "Danoob." If you take it upon yourself to read a story like this one, do the listeners a favor and check the pronunciation of place names; and if you can't manage them, choose something else to read. Listening to the reader mangle name after name was painful.

Otter?


(5 stars)

Two men canoe down the Danube, and camp on a small island, moist with pagan spirits. Reminiscent of David Bruckner's "The Ritual", but more placid. At the same time, it has the babbling narrator of otherworldly horror, like "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft, but saner. Still, I feel like the characters were pretty weak. A modern writer would have made them a father and son or something, and given them more personality. Really, the ideas were terrific, and carried the story.

Pretty creepy


(3.5 stars)

When the book began, I didn't think I could listen to this reader. However, as he read on and the book became more strange, I found that he was perfect. Such an unusual and bizarre tale. So many occurances were left to the readers' imagination as to the cause that it started to annoy me. The ending leaves much unsaid and that really bugs me.