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Cold Hand in Mine
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
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Cold Hand in Mine
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Summary
Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
Cold Hand in Mine was first published in the UK in 1975 and in the US in 1977. The story Pages from a Young Girl's Journal won the Aickman World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection.
This collection includes:
- "The Swords"
- "The Real Road to the Church"
- "Niemandswasser"
- "Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal"
- "The Hospice"
- "The Same Dog"
- "Meeting Mr Millar"
- "The Clock Watcher"
Robert Fordyce Aickman was born in 1914 in London. In 1951, he published his first ghost stories in a volume called We Are the Dark, written in conjunction with Elizabeth Jane Howard, then went on to publish 11 further volumes of horror stories, two fantasy novels, and two volumes of autobiography. Dubbed ‘the supreme master of the supernatural’, he won a World Fantasy Award and British Fantasy Award for his short fiction, and also edited the first eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. Aside from his writing, Aickman was passionate about preserving British canals and founded the Inland Waterways Association in 1946. He died in February 1981.
Reece Shearsmith is a talented actor and writer. He is most famous for co-writing and starring in the award-winning The League of Gentlemen, along with Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. In 2009, Shearsmith and Pemberton won Best New Comedy at the 2009 British Comedy Awards for Psychoville. Reece Shearsmith has just finished filming Ben Wheatley’s horror A Field in England, out in July 2013.
Critic reviews
"I think that Aickman is one of those authors that you respond to on a very primal level. Reading Robert Aickman is like watching a magician work, and very often I'm not even sure what the trick was. All I know is that he did it beautifully. Yes, the key vanished, but I don't know if he was holding a key in the hand to begin with. I find myself admiring everything he does from an auctorial standpoint. And I love it as a reader. He will bring on atmosphere. He will construct these perfect, dark, doomed little stories, what he called 'strange stories'" (Neil Gaiman)
"We are all potential victims of the powers Aickman so skilfully conjures and commands" (Robert Bloch)
"This century's most profound writer of what we call horror stories" (Peter Straub)
"Superb tales of suspenseful unease...a contemporary master of the genre" (Publishers Weekly)
"Of all the authors of uncanny tales, Aickman is the best ever… His tales literally haunt me; his plots and his turns of phrase run through my head at the most unlikely moments" (Russell Kirk)
What listeners say about Cold Hand in Mine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ed
- 10-01-23
Mixed bag
I loved another one of Aickman’s books of short stories but this one was abit more hit a miss. Still very enjoyable if you like his style. Great narration from Reece shearsmith.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 13-10-13
promised more than it delivered
Is there anything you would change about this book?
I think the narration was a little too halting on occasions, and sometimes it did not flow well.
Would you recommend Cold Hand in Mine to your friends? Why or why not?
the stories often seem to run out of steam and I felt a little cheated. sometimes the story started out as a winner and then fell at various hurdles, some did make make the end of the race at all.
Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Reece Shearsmith?
I think he was fine but seemed unsure of the pace of the story sometimes.
If this book were a film would you go see it?
no
Any additional comments?
it was a case of the curate`s egg...good in parts
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shortie Chapman
- 17-01-20
interesting collection
really liked Reece shearsmith's narration. he's not as polished as other narrators I've heard, so if that's what you're looking for, I would not recommend. I however enjoyed the fact that it seemed like he was acting every story. as for the content of the book, I'd not read any aickman before but will do so after finishing this. the stories aren't scary in a tropey sense... they make you think more than anything
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mark setters
- 15-03-15
Quality of narration unsurpassed
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I did not realise the narration could bring a story to life as much as this did.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Beccameriel
- 28-08-13
Quietly unsettling
I hadn't come across Robert Aickman before so had no expectations of these stories. My decison to buy was based on the description and the fact that Reece Shearsmith was reading them. I enjoy weird fiction (Lovecraft, Machen etc.) and these tales are great examples. There aren't big set pieces of supernatural horror but more studies in atsmosphere and creeping dread.
I am really enjoying Reece Shearsmith's narration. He has a fairly dead pan delivery creating an atmosphere of initial mundanity into which moments of horror gradually creep up on the listener. It's exactly the right tone for the stories.
The only problem is one that I've come across in other short story collections on audible; there is no track listing so you don't know which story is coming up next.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- I. Lennon
- 06-03-14
Chilling
What made the experience of listening to Cold Hand in Mine the most enjoyable?
This is very much the dark and evil cousin of "tales of the unexpected"... I don't think I can say anything else without spoiling it!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dredddog
- 12-02-20
Classic 20th century horror
Great stories by a modern master of the weird tale. These are very subtle, understated stories of horror, dark fantasy and magic realism. The Swords is a modern classic while other stories include vampires, haunted clocks and sea monsters... Or do they? There are no easy answers to any of these tales and the reader is often left to ponder on their true meaning. Excellent narration by Reece Shearsmith helps pile on the atmosphere. Fully recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- fiona
- 15-09-13
atmospheric stories
Aickman is a master of the creepy tale. great characters wonderful slices of lives under pressure. Always spooky, well written and enthralling.
Narration by shearsmith suits these tales down to the ground
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pip
- 24-10-18
Good listen
Over the past short while I've fallen in love with the works of Aickman, and after listening to The Dark Wine Sea I was excited to get started on Cold Hand in Mine. I did enjoy this collection, but it didn't grab me like The Dark Wine Sea. It's a good listen (or read!) and has some very capturing stories, but I wouldn't say it's the best of Aickman's works. Reece Shearsmith, as always, brings the stories to life, however, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of good old fashioned horror.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- McShadysranch
- 16-10-19
Fantastic narration
I could listen to Reece Shearsmith reading me stories all day. The stories themselves were well written, imaginative and enjoyable but I often found the endings a bit sudden and disappointing. If you find the first story in this book a little off putting, please bear with it. I'm definitely going to listen to the others in this series.
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1 person found this helpful