A Long Time Dead

By: Wondra Vanian

Narrated by: Allyson Voller

Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Angels and aliens, a bargain with the devil, voices from beyond the grave, and voices raised in terror. From an old-fashioned ghost story, to a mind-bending tale of mental illness, and a bite-sized vampire romance, this collection of short stories by Wondra Vanian will explore more than one side of the crazy, terrifying thing called life and teach us to remember that we're A Long Time Dead.

©2017 Marfa House (P)2017 Marfa House

An Okay Young Adult-ish Themed Cozies

A Long Time Dead was an okay listen for me. It was listed as horror but not horrorific but that's a good thing. It wasn't really scary but seemed more geared in the YA category especially with Dimitri and Alice. This is my first time to listen to a Wondra Vanian book I think and I'd perhaps listen to more in the future.

Allyson Voller is a voice actor I like. She has a great voice with good inflections and always a clean read. I mean this in the utmost repect and I like that they do this but while listening to this audiobook, my kittehs and dogge gathered round and listened with me. They don't always do that and I think some people's voices are soothing for them to hear. A great performance!

"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

A Long Time Dead

A collection of short stories & a novella with various themes of death. Some of the stories have paranormal themes, all are poignant.

A deal with the devil, vampires, madmen, romance...all of this & more are featured within these pages. Often thought provoking, always entertaining.

I was given an Audible version of this book by the narrator/author/publisher and chose to review it.

Love short story's

I love short stories like this. The one that stood out most was the pregnant mother who kept seeing the dead little girl. And the vampire singer found his one true love. I will be following this author.
I received this free for an honest review from the author or narrator.

An OK collection of short stories

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Although I realized this was a collection of short stories going in, I found myself getting confused by odd silences, little variation in voice by the narrator and some sloppy editing. A couple of the stories were decent but most I found myself getting bored. For short stories, that's just not good.

I'm not sure if it was because this was an audio book, but this one just wasn't for me.

An overall 3 1/2.

Any additional comments?

Short story collection with a few good ones and a few not so good ones. Overall I would give the entirety a 3 1/2 . A few of the stories just didn't have enough substance. Short stories don't have to be long to be good , but some needed just a bit more to them.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

if you like shorts these are for you

was gifted this Audio ARC for a honest and unbiased review from the author /narrator.
Wondra Vanian did a good job with these shorts. There were a couple that could of been better but overall they we good.
Allyson Voller help the stories with her discriptived voices.
If you like shorts these are for you.

Awesome!

This book contains a series of short stories, each is exciting and written with an expert hand. They kept on edge waiting for the next one. This was my first experience with this author but not the last as I'll happily read anything of hers again.

My favorite story was one about a young couple expecting their first child. They've just moved into a new home but the house has a bit of history. The wife starts seeing a little girl in a red dress and hearing strange sounds. it all climaxes into a suspenseful ending.

I'm a huge lover of short stories and will be looking for more from this author.

I was given this book free for an honest review.

Spooky YA Collection

I think 'A Long Time Dead' will be enjoyed most by young adults who are into the horror/thriller genre. While I did enjoy the stories, they were a bit 'light' in the horror department for my taste. That said, I did enjoy all the stories from top to bottom. My favorite was the first one about the little girl in the red dress. The narration was pretty good, as well. Overall, I'd give it an 8/10!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Some hits sprinkled among some big misses

This is a collection fo short stories culminating with a longer one which shares the title of the collection. I didn't realize this going in, so when the first "chapter" of "A Long Time Dead" ended, I thought that was the end of the story and was quite confused -- especially since the second chapter seemed completely unrelated to the first.

Backing up though, the first few stories can be hit or miss. Some, like the first (which you hear in the audible sample) are very creative and linger on your thoughts when finished. Others come across more as anecdotes or random thoughts than actual stories.

One of the better "hits" was the story about the expecting couple that bought a new home. Maybe I zoned out, but I didn't actually fully get it until the end, which is always pleasant (who wants to suffer through something they already guessed the end to, right?).

The final story though was just a big miss for me unfortunately. It starts off somewhat interesting, but then simply spirals into an overly-saccharin Twilight-esque tale that I don't even think the YA audience could get through without several eyerolls. It definitely put a damper on the collection IMO.

The narrator was decent enough, though the audio production made it sound like it was recorded in someone's bathroom at times. There were several long gaps of empty air at odd points, and once, she even read a line, stopped and re-read it in a completely different tone. Some editing would clean that all up.

While the "misses" drag the score way down, the hits are solid enough for me to give it a 4.

I was provided this audiobook free of charge in return for my honest review.