View from Valhalla

Title: Shape Shifters
Author: S. Lawrence Parrish
Genre: Monster Horror
Released: 22 August 2011 – 8 September 2011
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks
Formats Available: podcast only

Rating: R for violence, language, sexual situations

I’ve recently greatly enjoyed going to Podiobooks.com and simply perusing their offered wares. That is how I stumbled upon Shape Shifters. I read the synopsis (below) and when I got to line “a werewolf tale with no vampires” I knew I had to give it a listen.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: The sun sets. The moon rises. And the night howls…

The people in the foothills town of Black Diamond are thrilled to hear of government plans for commercial development of the Kananaskis Parklands. With three world-class ski resorts within an hour’s drive, everyone is going to get rich! But The Fellowship, a colony of “nature nuts” who live to the immediate west of Black Diamond, are effectively stalling the government’s plans. Hostilities escalate when a hitch-hiker is brutally slaughtered just outside of town…

Shape Shifters–a werewolf tale with NO vampires. (Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Shape Shifters was easy to listen to. All of the audio levels were safely within comfortable limits. There were many sound effects and the use was usually done fairly well. However, on at least one occasion I can remember, the cycling of the effect was a bit repetitive.

Grade: B+

Cast: Mr. Parrish read his story independently and did quite an adequate job of it. Some of the voiced characters were a bit similar and occasionally the listener might be confused as to whose point of view he is listening to. The story is told from a variety of view points so it is hard to single in on a single character as being the lead character. However, all of the ensemble characters were interesting enough that the average listener will be interested in hearing what is happening to each one.

Grade: B+

Story: The story is a straight forward werewolf tale. The town is divided into two camps. The humans and the wolves. Of course the humans know nothing of the wolves and are only aware that there is something “different” about the freaks that choose to live in the woods and keep to themselves. While the story offered nothing completely new in the way of werewolf folklore, it also did not try to change everything we know. It also, as promised, contained no vampires.

Grade: C

Verdict: I had high hopes for Shape Shifters. The werewolf has always been one of my favorite classic monsters. I was a bit disappointed in several aspects of the story though. One, once again the monster is really not a monster. They’re too human. They’re treated poorly as people and we’re supposed to have a sympathetic reaction. I wanted a terror story where evil wolves hunted/killed hapless humans. That isn’t this story. *SPOILER* Add that too a scene of bestiality that was much too graphic for my tastes and unless you’re a huge fan of the genre, I’d have to recommend you give Shape Shifters a pass.

Shameless plug: Don’t forget, if you send an audio comment to me at Odin1eye at viewfromvalhalla dot com, I’ll include it in the podcast version of this episode next weekend (or when I receive it). You can also leave voicemail, for this or any other story, at the Valhalla Hotline simply by calling 956-307-ODIN (6346)

Disclosure:I don’t follow Mr. Parrish on Twitter, nor have I ever had a conversation with him.

~ by odin1eye on 14 January, 2020.

Posted in Podcast Reviews