The Splendor of Fear by Ambrose Ibsen - Narrated by Melissa Moran

#horror #audiobook

Audiobook Review

When one reads a horror book, one expects to root for the survivors and hope they make it to the end.

Spoilers abound, be warned

For this book, I honestly didn't care about either person making it. I know that the "too stupid to live trope" exists, but if you go that route and don't have the survivors actually learn and become smart, then you run the risk of creating unlikeable characters. Which for me, happened here.

So this couple is going into the national park for a vacation camping in the woods. Penny does not want to go but thinks her boyfriend is gonna propose so passive aggressively goes with him.

She reads up on the park on the way there and learns about the witch who was killed and how her spirit made everyone leave the town, creating a ghost town. It also happens to be the anniversary of the witch's death.

The stupid decisions begin from the moment they arrive. They get to the park and no one is there. They call the park rangers and he tells them no one is in the park and to come back later. They of course don't do this. Then the boyfriend, Jared, decides to find a camping spot all the way into the woods and is generally horrible to Penny.

The creepy stuff happens immediately but do they leave? Nope, they go fishing.

This continues all the way through the story.

The ending really needed some more details. No, not the question that was asked, which comeon, the timing of that was horrible.

The only really good thing was the narration. Melisa Moran did an excellent job and was the only reason I finished.