Supernatural folk horror meets true human evil

Matt Wesolowski’s latest book ‘Demon’ dropped on Audible yesterday and I wound up devouring it. Like the rest of his Six Stories series, it is a fictional work of a true crime podcast – Six Stories which has 6 narrators impacted by the crime tell their stories. His hallmark is twofold- first that his setting is squarely in the British psyche, society, criminal history and geography- these are the murders, scandals and missing children that resonate down through the decades in our national consciousness. Secondly, he walks the finest of lines between true crime and supernatural horror- each story could have a mundane explanation, or more temptingly there could be a supernatural reason rooted in folk lore or urban legend.

Demon tackles one of the most harrowing crimes- an examination of a pair of twelve year old boys who brutally kill a vulnerable child in the North Yorkshire Moors. While every single detail is significantly different, the mere concept still raises the spectre of the harrowing James Bulger murder in Merseyside and frankly I was worried how such a story could be addressed with any sensitivity? The reason I’m writing this review, and I feel that I can recommend it, is that it is treated right- questions about the culpability of children, and whether they should be punished forever for an unforgivable act, of if they should be rehabilitated are raised and examined but not definitively answered- it lets the reader/listener make up their own mind about it.

More than in most of his books, the nature of evil is examined. Where the children born evil? Was it a product of hard upbringing’s and trauma. Was it a demonic possession, or where they just haunted by loss and tragedy? Where they abandoned by society and could others have contributed to the tragedy? Modern elements such as Daily Mail-style media outrage, and the ethics of granting child murderers anonymity combine with insular local villages distrusting non-conformists and legends of witches haunting the moors. And naturally there is a twist- which he lays the groundwork for, but which I didn’t see coming.

You can read this book, but given it’s format as a fictional podcast, I feel it has a better voice when you listen to the audiobook narrated by 7 voice actors- then it’s a taut, fascinating podcast that lacks most of the annoying tropes of true crime podcasts but all their strengths. I give it a harrowing and thoughtful 9/10

2 people found this helpful

Not his best

I love Matt Wesolowski’s six stories novels. I have read them all and they are just brilliant. Unfortunately, I found this one a little ploddy and it took me far longer than it normally would to read it. Three stars as even a below par Wesolowski is better than most

1 person found this helpful

Another Outstanding Story

Listened to this in the course of a day. As well written and thought provoking as all the previous Six Stories. The format is brilliant, and lends itself to the Audible platform perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a complex story and clever writing. Also, praise as well for the cast, the narration was excellent.

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fabulous

Really enjoyed this book. it flowed nicely, slowly revealing a little more of the story whilst still leaving parts to your imagination. the ending tied it all up beautifully. There were some shocking parts and some that were truly frightening. The narration is first class almost like listening to a radio play. My next listen is definitely going to be another in the series.

Another great one

The books are always good, but given their podcast structure, translate so well to audio

The worst one so far I’m afraid

I’ve listened to all of the other Six Stories and loved every one, but I was glad when this was over. I would say that there are two major issues that made this such a disappointment (without divulging anything that could be a spoiler).

Firstly, it came across as more like a political essay, crammed into the stylised podcast format that I’d previously enjoyed, than an engaging story. There is very little suspense as to what really happened; something that made previous books so compelling.

Many (most) of the people interviewed were so tangential to the story and seemed more like convenient vessels for particular points of view, rather than real people. This was especially true of the final episode, which also contains just a few too many coincidences to be believable.

Secondly, the performances are pretty so-so, which is quite possibly an issue with the direction rather than the actors and also that they aren’t given much to work with that lets them stray from their apparent function as representatives for whatever point the author wishes to make.

This is an emotive subject and whilst the book claims to want to allow the listener to decide, I felt nonetheless like I was being firmly guided towards a particular conclusion.

I’ll certainly be listening to the first five Six Stories again, but I doubt I’ll revisit this one.

satisfying listen

Enjoyable listen, Matt continues to produce well written books in the 6 stories format.

Wow!

Six Stories is one hell of a series, but this one blows your mind. Matt Wesolowski is a master of his craft. Brilliant!

Riveting

The only downside is this is the last. Excellent from start to finish. 👏

Captivating

Another fabulous installment of the series.

Enthralling, compelling, creepy, twisted... everything you want in the mystery thriller