Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez; performers Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew and 50 others; Audible Studios; 13:26; free until Nov. 4
What happens when a story written for a visual medium — a graphic novel — becomes an audiobook? Can an audiobook make up for the loss of the illustrator’s contribution? “Locke & Key,” a full cast performance produced by Amazon’s Audible Studio, is a bold attempt to find that answer. It’s based on the best-selling six-volume comic series by Joe Hill and illustrator Gabriel Rodriguez, sans the artwork. And that’s a problem. Despite plenty of sound effects, an all-star cast — including a cameo from Hill’s father, Stephen King — and a specially composed musical score running through every scene, the story feels flattened, stripped of an essential component. Hill’s plot almost makes up for it with its intriguing magical keys (who knew opening up brains could be so useful?); an evil character who’s both male and female; and a narrative stocked with ample hairpin turns taken at high speed. But the sharp performances of Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”), Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”), and Kate Mulgrew (“Orange Is the New Black”) add less than you might expect, even with all the evil laughter thrown in. Several of the voices are similar, leaving the listener guessing at the speaker’s identity at the start of several scenes. The musical score can feel obtrusive, taking up too much time between scenes, and occasionally giving the production the sound of an old radio drama. But the story remains compelling. There’s plenty of gore along the way as the Locke children find the keys that could spell their doom or salvation. That makes this unsuitable for children. But it’s just creepy enough for adults.
Dead Boy by Laurel Gale; narrated by Robbie Daymond; Listening Library; 5:59; $35-$44
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Being dead is inconvenient. Your hair falls out. Body parts come loose. And if the air conditioning breaks? Forget it. Crow Darlingson’s personal reek drove the neighbors away. Crow, an 11-year-old boy who has been dead since fourth grade, spends his days locked up with his overprotective mother. He’s lonely, and the elaborate school assignments she assigns aren’t filling the gap. But in “Dead Boy” by Laurel Gale, Crow’s stench turns out to be lucky when feisty Melody Plympton, a girl his age, replaces the fleeing neighbors next door. Finally, Crow has a friend, even if he has to sneak out to meet her. This book, aimed at children 8-12, combines the irresistible charm of a high gross-out factor — when a maggot falls from Crow’s nose, he hopes Melody thinks it’s a booger — and the children’s quest to vanquish a monster known as the Meera. If they can meet the Meera’s challenge, it will grant them a wish. But its gifts are barbed, as Crow’s parents learned when they wished their dead son would come back to them. Narrator Robbie Daymond does a terrific job bringing the Dead Boy to life. Daymond, an actor and voice artist, not only delivers a cast of distinctive characters, but he catches the tone of Gale’s story without stopping to wink at the reader.
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes; narrated by Kirby Heyborne; Tantor Audio; 7:02; $24.98- $26.59
When a vampire turns milquetoast Fred Frankford Fletcher into a creature of the night in this book by Drew Hayes, it barely registers as a blip in Fred’s low-key existence. Fred still doesn’t like confrontation and he sure doesn’t want to assault people violently to keep up his blood supply. Instead he makes a deal with the local hospital, trading illicit accountancy for a steady supply of O negative. But his vampire status does make him more eco-conscious, he says, “realizing I could actually live to be affected by eventual environmental disasters.” Life is pretty dull until he meets an old friend at a high school reunion and becomes entangled in her life as an agent for a secret government organization charged with corralling misbehaving “parahumans” like zombies, ghosts and vampires. It’s a cute premise, although it wears thin as the book progresses. Kirby Heyborne provides Fred with the perfect milquetoast voice to tell the story. Even his careful pacing feels right for a wimpy accountant. Most other character voices too work well, including a credible Southern accent for Bubba the weresteed, an equine version of a werewolf. Since the stories are low on violence, and the violence that’s included is cartoonish — a ripped-out throat is only a temporary upset — this is almost suitable for children, but references to sex and a smattering of profanity make it a poor choice, which is too bad.
Jenni Laidman is a freelance writer.