Back in March I started listening to a new horror based audio drama, fittingly named Haunted: The Audio Drama. This had originally been planned to be a TV show but due to budget constraints the decision was made to change the format. I have now finished listening to season one of the show, roughly one episode a week was dropping, for a total of thirty three episodes spread over eight different stories.
I previously reviewed the very first two episodes, so I will gloss over that part. Basically, paranormal enthusiast Abigail Corbin (voiced by Isabella Barbieri) seeks out her idol, ex-paranormal investigator James Hunter, in order to get him to help her investigate strange goings on in her town. They learn of a strange signal that has the power to turn anyone who hears it homicidally mad. With that as the basis, and the season's overarching plot, the two end up going on further adventures, with the hope that one of their investigations will eventually lead to clues that can help them solve the case of the strange signal.
Some of the stories are better than others, but what ties this all together is the wonderful vocal talents of the main cast. Abigail and James both grew as characters over the first season, and it was lovely seeing how their friendship grew. Personality wise they are polar opposites, Abigail is somewhat naive and passionate, while James is a bitter and jaded alcoholic. He is always presented as someone being old and out of touch with the world, which always felt strange seeing as the character is only thirty five years old, five years younger than I am in real life, yet acting like someone a lot older. There is a recurring character of a former love interest of Abigail; policeman Dan Cowell (Luke Hunter), he is the biggest side character by far, popping up in plenty of the chapters, growing lots as a result. There was also the eternally friendly and optimistic Cheryl (Tess Gustard), she was another nice side character. Probably my favourite of the side characters was someone I think may have been named Benton, either way, he was like the opposite of James, a paranormal investigator who believed absolutely everything he investigated was in some way linked to the supernatural, even when the evidence suggested otherwise. He was a complete idiot, but strangely endearing.
The different stories takes on different areas of horror with some working better than others. There is variation here, with one of the chapters (The Tracks of Fear) even taking on a time-loop concept that was neatly explained within the context of the show. Least interesting for me was The Lonely Shadows, this is the moment where it becomes clear that paranormal events might actually be real. Taking place at a girl's boarding school it is let down slightly by some occasionally wooden sounding acting. For me the most frustrating part was The Photograph. This had a fantastic story to it, missing people who then appear in the background of a superbly creepy photo, but it ended in an underwhelming fashion. There was always a cliffhanger ending to episodes that were not the final of their chapter, some of these were great, other cliffhangers not so much, but with so many that is to be expected. Even the chapters I didn't enjoy so much were still excellent, there was not a single bad episode to be found, which is an impressive feat. It all comes together for the action packed final chapter, Echoes of the Dead, full of excitement, both finishing the main story for the season, as well as setting things up for a second season. Sure some of the story beats along the way felt a little too familiar, such as James having had a traumatic childhood and Abigail becoming a damsel in distress, but even with those tropes in effect I had lots of fun listening to this, I was excited for each new episode to drop.
Even ignoring the fact that Haunted: The Audio Drama was free, I still thought this was a fantastic show. The main cast were perfectly suited for the characters they played, the story remained something I needed to hear all the way to the end of, and the average half hour length meant I was always left wanting more. With talk of a Christmas special and of subsequent seasons, this looks like it has plenty of stories left to tell, ones that I will eagerly listen to as soon as I get the chance.
SCORE:
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