Heartbreakingly sad and wonderfully eerie from beginning to end. The writing is very good and contributes to the atmosphere. A poignant meditation on grief and redemption, and the incomplete nature of young lives cut short. ( )

My original Midnight Picnic audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

When Midnight Picnic started with Bram accidentally running over a dog and trying but ultimately failing to aid the dying animal, I was convinced I would hate this. However, the engaging writing, the flow of the language coupled with the haunting atmosphere really pulled me into this dark and sad story.

Bram is basically a decent bloke living a mundane life with an on/off sexual relationship with the depressed girl living on the same floor as him above Moms bar. His accident is the start of a journey that leads Bram to the land of the dead where he follows six-year-old Adam who is consumed with the concepts of right, wrong and punish. Adam was murdered by Jacob Bunny and is seeking help from Bram to settle the score with Jacob. Author Nick Antosca provides heartbreaking vignettes of the tragic lives of these well-drawn characters and portrays a dim and eerie afterlife.

Not so much a scary ghost story, but a highly emotional and unsettling, surreal road trip, Midnight Picnic was utterly spellbinding exploring issues such as loneliness, evil, and redemption. Only four and a half hours long, I listened to this in one sitting. I’m still not sure what to make of the ending, though.

With regards to the narration, it was performed by R. C. Bray. Need I say more? As always, outstanding. His tone matched the tension and eeriness of the story perfectly. Quite often, if a young child is a major part of the story, I find the narration suffers. In this case, I was in awe how authentic six-year-old Adam sounded. There were no issues with the production.

If you enjoy unique surreal stories this is for you.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher. ( )