Book Review: “The Monster Collection” (Audiobook)
The Monster Collection
Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson
Out of the three books presented in this audio collection, I’d previously read two. For those, it was interesting to revisit these books in audio form. For the other, it was great to experience it for the first time.
The Monster Collection presents three classics of the horror genre. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, and Dracula are all contained in this 30-hour plus audiobook. For the curious, it was Frankenstein which I went into with only films as prior reference. The narrators for all novels do a wonderful job, with both Jekyll and Hyde and Frankenstein narrated by men, while Dracula is split between two narrators, a man and woman handling the various viewpoints throughout the novel.
The narration for all three was absolutely solid, but Dracula was probably most impressive. Told in the epistolary style, for those unfamiliar, this novel is presented via letters, diary entries and articles, and the narrators did an excellent job handling this.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, narrated by Richard Armitage, is quite a short, tightly packed read. A lot happens in this tale, but if it’s rushed, it can feel over before it begins. Luckily, Armitage really draws you in, taking his time with telling the story, and allowing the atmosphere to seep through.
Similarly, Dan Steven’s narration of Frankenstein feels like it matches really well with the characters and style. This was my first experience of the novel, and some parts of it – in a way I’ve found with other classics – might be a bit slow for some modern readers, but Stevens’ narration handles this well, with clear differences between the various characters.
And finally, Dracula. God damn, I freaking love this book. Like, so so much. I’ve read it previously and have a lot of love for vampires in general, but it has been a fair few years since I delved into this tome. For narration, as good as both Armitage and Steven are, it’s Greg Wise and Saskia Reeves who top this for me, but maybe I’m clouded in that, again, I love this book anyway. The impression I got is that these two worked together to match characters. This definitely could be seen as slow/tedious by some in general, (similar to Frankenstein) especially if comparing to the more condescend, actiony film versions, and it is long, taking up the majority of the listening time for this collection, but I loved revisiting this in a different format.
This is a good collection if you’re visiting at least one of these books for the first time, or have prior experience of them and want them in a different format. If you didn’t get along with something like Dracula, the audiobook version probably won’t do much to change your mind, but if you do enjoy classics like these, The Monster Collection is worth checking out.
Grade: A
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @elleturpitt
I purchased this audiobook using an Audible credit.
