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Title details for The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom - Available

The Birthing House

by Christopher Ransom
Edward Herrmann
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

A psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, The Birthing House is a tale of one man's descent into madness, where fantasy and nightmare share the same bed.

In this brilliantly crafted ghost story, a young couple, Conrad and Joanna Harrison, attempt to save their marriage by starting anew in a rural turn-of-the-century former birthing house. One day, when Jo is away at work, the former owner bequeaths a photo album that "belongs to the house." Thumbing through the antique photos of miserable midwives and pregnant girls in their nineteenth-century dresses, Conrad is chilled to the bone when he sees his own wife staring back at him with rage.

The Birthing House is a story of possession, sexual obsession, and ultimately murder, as a centuries-old crime is reenacted in the present with devastating consequences.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    August 4, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781483051925
      • File size: 315727 KB
      • Duration: 10:57:45

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      When Conrad and Joanna Harrison begin their new life together in a house that was once used as a nineteenth-century birthing house, their loving relationship falls into turmoil as the horrors of the house take over. This story is far from original, yet author Christopher Ransom provides plenty of chills that will spook even the most dedicated of horror fans, especially as delivered by narrator Edward Herrmann. He reads with a subtle intensity from the very beginning of the story, implanting in listeners a strong sense of foreboding that helps to set the scene for the eventual mayhem. The story is filled with plenty of horror-story clichés but when combined with Herrmann's skillful performance, the results prove to be compelling. L.B. 2010 Audies Finalist (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 8, 2009
      A blend of supernatural horror and psychological thriller, Ransom's impressive debut chronicles a couple's descent into madness after they purchase a 140-year-old Victorian house in rural Wisconsin. Failed L.A. screenwriter Conrad Harrison, whose marriage is on the rocks and who's still coming to grips with the sudden death of his estranged father, decides it's time for a change and, on a whim, buys a turn-of-the-century birthing house he fatefully found after driving the wrong way out of Chicago. But the sprawling structure has a dark history, and after his wife lands a new job and leaves for a few weeks of training in Detroit, Harrison begins to unravel the house's bloody past, even as his own sanity is unraveling. Replete with subtle symbolism that supports the birthing motif (spiders with bulging egg sacs, a moist clutch of snake eggs, etc.), this addictively readable ghost story will keep readers up all night, with the lights on, of course.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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