Danger in the Dark By L. Ron Hubbard

Danger in the Dark
By L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio


Remember the old Science Fiction and Fantasy magazines? You know the ones that featured short stories written by great sci-fi authors. This audiobook was like going back to those old pulps and reliving the golden age of sci-fi. This audiobook contains 3 short stories written by L. Ron Hubbard that are as diverse in subject matter as they are fun to listen to.

The production is a multicast performance complete with music and sound effects and featuring the actress Karen Black. The other voices are R.F Dailey, Christina Huntington, Jim Meskimen, Gino Montesinos, Noelle North, and Josh R. Thompson. All the voices throughout the stories in this audiobook along with the music and sound effects create an aura about this production that makes it easy to get lost in the simple and fun stories.

The main story is the title story, “Danger in the Dark.” It tells the tale of Billy Newman, who strikes gold and buys an island in the Philippines. He gets the island at a bargain price and later finds out why. The natives all fall ill and crops begin to fail and the tribal chiefs blame Billy for angering the god Tadamona. Tadamona is a 75 foot god that runs the island and unless Billy can come up with stronger “magic” he will destroy the island.

The next story is a fun fantasy called “The Room.” A small town veterinarian goes missing. The last time he was seen was entering his room. This room is one that was his exclusively and no one was to clean, ever. After his disappearance, the veterinarian’s nephew inherits the room to find that things are not as they seem in this room.

The third story, "He Didn't Like Cats," is a morality tale along the lines of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart.” A man, who as the title says, doesn’t like cats, comes across the cat and gives it a quick kick. The cat falls into the street and is run over by a vehicle. Before it dies it howls in pain to the point that it almost sounds human. The ordeal shakes the man up a bit and is haunted by the cat through the rest of the night.

These are some great sci-fi/fantasy stories from the late 30s to the early 40s and the production on this audiobook make this an entertaining listen.

Listen to the audio review below.



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