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Benighted

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Benighted

By: J. B. Priestley
Narrated by: Brian Clarke
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About this listen

Philip and Margaret Waverton and their friend Roger Penderel are driving through the mountains of Wales when a torrential downpour washes away the road and forces them to seek shelter for the night. They take refuge in an ancient, crumbling mansion inhabited by the strange and sinister Femm family and their brutish servant Morgan. Determined to make the best of the circumstances, the benighted travelers drink, talk, and play games to pass the time while the storm rages outside. But as the night progresses and tensions rise, dangerous and unexpected secrets emerge. On the house's top floor are two locked doors; behind one of them lies the mysterious, unseen Sir Roderick Femm, and behind the other lurks an unspeakable terror. Which is more deadly: the apocalyptic storm outside the house or the unknown horrors that await within? And will any of them survive the night?

Benighted (1927), a classic 'old dark house' novel of psychological terror, was the second novel by J. B. Priestley (1894-1984), better known for his classics The Good Companions (1929), Angel Pavement (1930), and Bright Day (1946). The basis for James Whale's 1932 film The Old Dark House, Benighted returns for the first time in 50 years.

©1927, 1955, 2018 The Estate of J. B. Priestley (P)2018 Valancourt Books, LLC Classics Horror Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary

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All stars
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I'm sure this wasn't written in short sentances! The cadence and rhythm was flat and the reader often stumbled on a word. Drove me mad and had to skip middle to last chapter. Took too long to build suspense. Stage play better platform.

Good story horrible reading of it.

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I love the way this is written. Reminded me of Alan Bennett in a way. The narrator is a bit hesitant at times but it adds to the vagueness of it all.

Great listen

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I like stories by J B Priestley, John Buchan, and those of a similar ilk. I was really looking forward to this. It's a tame thriller that leaves itself open at the end.

I do, however, wish I'd just read the novel. the reader takes an incredibly slow pace, comes across as monotonous, and can't even get the phrasing right. The only way I could tolerate this was to set the play speed at somewhere between 1.3 and 1.5, which makes it more bearable.

Standard JB Priestley, but.......

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This is an ideal story for Halloween or any time you want to get chills what i didn't like was the passing mention of antisemitism which really had no effect on the story but it is a product of the time it was written it is wrong it is in the book but historically accurate to the way people thought back then and is important to not forget it so we don't repeat it in modern day

Great little eerie story

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Whilst the story was reasonably worth listening to, the narrator was terrible. He read as though he had never seen the text before and constantly stumbled over words. He made no attempt to distinguish the different voices of the characters - except for one frail & elderly man - so it was difficult to know who was talking. I managed to stay with it to the end but was very disappointed.

Disappointing

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I really wanted to listen to this but the narrator is terrible. Other reviewers mentioned this but I thought, hey, it's probably not that bad.
Spoiler: It is that bad.
Remember at school when the teacher asked pupils to read, and there was that one who stumbled over words longer than one letter? Well here he is!
The story sounded interesting and fun, but I had to give up before the end of the second chapter.
I've given the Story a rating of 3 because I can't leave it blank and I don't know how good it is because I gave up, but 3 is neutral.

I should have heeded the other reviews

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