The Howling
The Howling Trilogy, Book 1
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The Howling
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Caffrey
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By:
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Gary Brandner
About this listen
An Amazon number-one best-selling horror title
Karyn and her husband Roy had come to the peaceful California village of Drago to escape the savagery of the city. On the surface, Drago appeared to be like most small rural towns. But it was not. The village had a most unsavory history. Unexplained disappearances, sudden deaths. People just vanished, never to be found.
©1977, 2011 Gary Brandner (P)2022 Mark Alan MillerListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
“If you haven’t read Gary Brandner, you’re missing a treat.” (Stephen King)
What listeners say about The Howling
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alan Preece
- 14-06-22
By The Light Of The Moon Glow.
Karyn and Roy Beatty escape the big city for the quiet and solitude of the country. Karyn is recovering from a serious assault in which she lost their child, and her relations with her husband are understandably strained because of it. The small town of Drago initially appears just what they need, but there is something eerie in the woods, something that howls in the middle of the night, and no matter who Karyn asks no one has answers that can allay her fears.
As Karyn digs deeper into the oddness she feels in the town she discovers the possibility that the creature stalking the night might be something more unusual than a coyote or wild dog, and her fears are not softened by the aggression Roy begins to display. Increasingly isolated, Karyn discovers the identity of the howling creature, and finds herself alone against an age-old evil.
Most know The Howling from the 1981 movie directed by Joe Dante which is based on Brandner’s work. But if you have watched the movie and never read the book you are missing a substantial “alternative universe” version of the tale. Though the main plotline remains the same, there are multiple changes throughout the book. Most notably a change of career for the main protagonists, which alters a great deal of how the story affects the reader. In the book Karyn Beatty (Karen White in the movie, played by Dee Wallace) is not a TV celebrity but a housewife, and so she lacks any of the “clout” of her movie counterpart.
For me this makes what happens to her far more affecting. Whereas in the movie Karen is pursuing the man who eventually attacks her, her book counterpart - Karyn - is the victim of a random attack. This changes what transpires considerably, as Karyn is far more vulnerable, and she does not have the weight of a TV network behind her when the truth is revealed to her.
The benefit of the movie version of the tale is that the graphic nature of the violence she suffers is reduced to a few moments of quick cut action. The book version of the character on the other hand suffers horrible abuse, and this in turn makes her husband's behaviour later in the book far more unacceptable. The movie is essentially “softened” from the book, and this is probably a good idea, as the book has moments where a compassionate reader will be appalled at Roy’s behaviour.
The Howling is a dark tale, and not because of the werewolves stalking the night. It could be argued that the biggest transformation into a monster is not the lycanthropes, but Roy himself. After an encounter with a local woman he becomes drawn into a series of illicit encounters, and this draws him further from Karyn, eventually making his aggression towards her grow. It’s clear that a great deal of this is due to his own guilt, but it is also implied that this local woman has some kind of power over his behaviour, though this doesn’t soften the readers' dislike of him. Not until the transformation is complete, at least, and we see the possessed Roy, the man who is now a beast who pines for his lost humanity.
Though The Howling is not a particularly complex book, from a storyline perspective, it is complex when it comes to character. As the reader moves through it the themes of domestic violence become more and more apparent, and the werewolves could be just a McGuffin to explore these problems.
I originally read The Howling back when I was a teenager, and I had forgotten how bleak much of it can be if the reader dwells on these points. I had seen it as a werewolf tale then, as it can be seen as now. But there is more going on in the book than that. The more serious themes may not be as well developed as they might have been, but for that I’m grateful - they are dark enough.
After re-reading the book I think - now - that there are two novels in one with Gary Brandner’s The Howling. There is a tale of werewolves hunting around a small town, and there's also a tale of growing domestic terror.
Originally I read The Howling in paperback, but this time I was offered an audiobook version of it from Encyclopocalypse Publications, and this may have also contributed to how differently The Howling now affects me as a reader. It is ably narrated by Stephen Caffrey who does minimal, though effective, “voices” with the characters that add depth. There was one point in the book where Roy mimics Karyn’s voice, and this moment was one that quite impressed me. Caffrey cleverly managed to mimic himself mimicking a female character, which is no mean feat.
There were a few flubs that had slipped through the edit, and occasionally the sound quality was a little uneven, perhaps when a new recording had been started or words had been “dropped” into the edit. In spite of these slight production errors Stephen Caffrey does a good job, and I’m certain if he is called upon to record the remaining books - and I certainly hope he is - he’ll do an equally good job, perhaps even a better one, with them.
Encyclopocalypse Publications release of Gary Brandner’s The Howling (as narrated by Stephen Caffrey) is a very good way to experience a classic horror novel that has bred many imitators. I certainly hope the remaining books in the series will find their way to a complementary release, and I thank them for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. J. Pepperrell
- 11-05-24
Excellent to listen to.
I’ve loved this book trilogy for years and it was really nice to relax and listen to it on Audio book. It’s such a fantastic story.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Fantasy Book Nerd
- 23-07-22
Maybe, I am not living in the past
Recently, I have been reacquainting myself with some of the old horror books that I read when I was younger. One of these was The Howling by Gary Bradner.
The Howling is one of those werewolf stories that gets cited as being a classic werewolf tale. However, for me it was a dichotomous book that ultimately missed its mark.
The story revolves around the main protagonist of Karyn who at the beginning of the story is the victim of a brutal rape after her husband, Roy has gone to work. In an attempt to overcome the trauma of the incident, they move to a semi rural village on the outskirts of L. A. The village that they have moved to is a tight knit community that holds a secret. Throughout her stay in the village Karyn hears a strange howling in the woods, and when her dog goes missing, she knows that some kind of evil lurks in the town.
Now, like I said this book is pretty dichotomous in a number of ways. For one there is the way that Karyn's recovery from the brutaility that she has experienced is just plainly awful. I am sure that in the late 70's there was the emergence of some victim support, but unfortunately Karyn never gets the chance to access any, and the way that Karyn overcomes her trauma is to enter into some kind of physical relationship with her husband, Roy and then wonder why she has no interest in sex.
And whilst we are on the subject, Roy is simply the worst husband ever. Instead of being supportive, he thinks that it is a good idea to have an affair with local temptress, Marcia because his traumatized wife 'is having a few problems'. It's like 'whaaaat?' oh my lord!
I have to say, I very nearly DNF'D this book several times. The sex scenes are super cringe, and I really had a hard time with the characters. And in all honesty, the werewolf bits are few and far between for the first half of the book.
Now on to the other side of the coin, in what does Gary Bradner do well.
In all honesty, when he gets down to writing the horror aspects of the story, Gary Bradner is really good. He has a good descriptive style that puts you in the middle of the situations, and on top of this he can build and evoke tension when the situation demands.
It's just the rest of the stuff, like one dimensional characters (particularly Roy who is so shallow, he is virtually transparent), and the predictability of the storyline. However, in its defence, the predictability of the storyline may in fact be due to its age, but I am not sure that that wholly absolves it.
I think one of the reasons that I didn't DNF this book sooner was primarily down to Encycopocalypse's excellent production of the story. Again, they do a commendable production with this audio presentation, and I think it is mainly down to Stephen Caffrey's excellent narration that I stayed with this book
*please note I received an advanced listening copy of this in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed are my own.
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