Descent

By: Alexandra Wood

Narrated by: Tara Fitzgerald, Shobna Gulati, Jason Barnett, Sirine Saba, David Sturzaker, Frida Saba-Storey, Ulyana Dryzhak

Length: 1 hr and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s Christmas Eve, and Lara anxiously anticipates the arrival of her sister, Cleo, so she can reveal a shocking family secret that has been haunting Lara since their mother’s death. By confronting revelations about their grandfather’s shameful past, Lara is hopeful that she and Cleo can make reparations and exorcise this ghost from their lives. The ghost, however, won’t be appeased so easily....

Alexandra Wood’s new play - twisty, suspenseful, and written exclusively for audio - will convince you that you really can’t escape your past.

Playwright Alexandra Wood was awarded a commission through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, an initiative dedicated to developing innovative original plays driven by language and voice. As an Audible-commissioned playwright, she received funding and creative support to develop Descent.

This audio play features immersive audio techniques; to maximize the listening experience, headphones are recommended.

©2021 Alexandra Wood (P)2021 AO Media LLC

Very clever

Anyone who doesn’t like this story because it is a “jumbled mess,” something “without any kind of resolution,” etc., are likely young, poorly read, and/or blissfully ignorant of what this storyteller(s) is actually attempting to relate.

Anything more, would ruin what “that is,” but rest assured you’re in good hands. If it were that bad, the storyteller would not have received a grant to develop and distribute it on Audible, in the fantastic spatial audio formats.

fun short story

this was a great short thriller story. I thoughly enjoyed the sound effects that brought more thrill. this was a fu.n experience.

Meh

I expected it to a be really fun & unique experience, but it was merely a predictable, updated Twilight Zone. The specialized sound effects were sort of gratuitous for this particular story. I enjoyed it, but then, I love the Twilight Zone. kind of a waste of credit.

Fantastic Story and Dramatization

Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.
The audio is very good if you actually listen to the instructions in the introduction. Many complained about the sound quality being “up and down” and that at times they “had to lean in to hear”. Well if they had leaned a little closer during the Intro and actually listened they would have heard that this audio drama was recorded binaurally and is best listened to on headphones! Ironic they weren’t listening while listening to an audiobook.
As far as the story goes, at first blush this dramatization seems like a very simplistic yet confusing ghost story that just kind of happens, but the story is allegorical and I think that concept just flew over the head of many of the listeners that were critical of the story. When you realize it is allegory for a real life struggle many face, the story just comes alive in a very heart breaking and terrifying way. That’s as far as I go. I don’t want to give it away. Bravo!

Unexpected Ending

Wow! Not what I was expecting. This was a great book about sisters and events that happen one Christmas. The ending was quite surprising and made me rethink everything I had just read. It is a book I will remember for a long time. I would listen to it again.

cool execution

everything was good but the ending left much unsaid. leaves you wondering wtf just happened

very good 👍

I love reading 📚 ♥ and this type is very good 👍 👌 works . I need some really scary stuff

Very interesting

Loved the read and would recommend to others something different ! Give it a try you might be surprised

Started out great

Story has potential but the main Laura just looses her mind with not enough character building up to her rash decisions. Does turn into a hot mess towards the middle and quickly turned me off. Voice acting was great but not a great story.

Excellent sound effects

The story was great. I loved he theatrical reading and the amazing sound effects. I listen while I walk and at one point it scared the crap out of me because I thought someone was right next to me ready to grab me. I hope there are more of these.