"The Mist" audio dramatization

Originally published on 4/14/08

As a way to market the release of the film adaptation of Stephen King's short story, The Mist, Simon and Schuster released an audio CD. I had never read it and was curious so I picked this up after work one day. Before buying you should know that this isn't an audiobook persay. It isn't one person reading the short story to you as many would be accustomed to, or expect. This is more in line with the old radio dramas that they used to air back in the day. If you enjoy those then you'll certainly like this. If you want an audio-book i suggest you pick out another one of King's titles.

Before it even starts, the CD tells you to put on headphones and gives a small test. I ignored this because I didn't think it would make much of a difference. I, instead, chose to listen to it on my laptop sans headphones. I do regret that as it was quite muffled. You know those movies where the dialogue is way too quiet, so you turn it up and then an action sequence or some intense scene comes and it's way too loud? That's what it was like for me. I imagine that it works much better with the headphones. At least I would hope so, for as much as it pimps out the "3D sound" having the sound be sub par was rather anticlimactic.

The CD itself is quite good, only an hour and a half long, and it does a good job of establishing the mood of the story even without King's prose. While not as intense as the film, the CD does a good job of both disturbing you and giving you the creeps.

Some parts were unclear, but I attribute that to the sound. The voice acting is decent, not stellar, but not horrible. The woman voicing Mrs. Carmody does a good job with it, rivalling even Marcia Gay Harden's intense performance in the film.

If you have already seen the film, then a lot of it will seem glossed over. Darabont fleshed out a lot of back-story for the characters, here they are limited by time constraints. If you enjoyed the short story then I do recommend this as it does provide an interesting presentation of the material via a new medium. It's definitely worth the money, a fact that is augmented by it's low price.

Stephen King Examiner Review

*Originally published on 9/8/09


I already posted a review of this over on Associated Content, but I thought I'd revisit it and see if my thoughts had changed since the last time I listened to it.  One major change is that I will actually be listening to this on headphones.  I didn't last time, choosing instead to rely on my laptop's speakers, and I found the sound underwhelming (ironic given how much the cd pimps the 3-D sound).

I'm a big fan of audiobooks.  They're great while driving, or just when you're in a recliner.  When I picked up this cd, that's what I thought I was getting.  It's not.  This is more of a radio drama.  It works for the most part, but I can't help but think that an audio reading of the story would've been just as effective, maybe use the actors for the dialogue but fill in the gaps with prose as it's hard to get an idea of what's going on at times.

The sound is better with headphones, noticably so, but it's still hit or miss.  There are times where some of the actors mutter their lines under their breath.

The voice acting is fine for the most part, though the actors in the film did a better job.

The CD is cheap, so it's hardly a rip off, and it is over an hour long so you get quite a bit of bang for your buck, but you're better off just reading the story or watching the film.