Criminal Macabre

The Complete Cal McDonald Stories

By: Steve Niles

Narrated by: Eric Bryan Moore

The world has two faces. The natural and the supernatural. The faces we see every day. The faces of hose filing past us in an almost zombie-like stupor, numb to the horrors of everyday life or driven to madness by the pain and agony of modern-day existence - and those are the people who aren't zombies or monsters! Cal McDonald is a detective with one foot in the real world, and one in the world of magic. For Cal, the horrors we all dream about in the fevered darkness of the night are all too real, kept at bay through an almost constant influx of drugs to numb the pain, but never erase it. McDonald is Cut from the same mold as Sam Spade, Jake Gittes, and the famous detectives of Chandler, and Spillane. Cal McDonald, whether he likes it or not, is all that stands between us and the nightmare world just outside our vision.

Criminal Macabre 007, Steve Niles. Dark Horse Books and the Dark Horse logo are trademarks of Dark Horse Comics, LLC, registered in various categories and countries. All rights reserved.

©2008 Steve Niles (P)2020 Mark Alan Miller

Awesome, Fun, Engaging Intro into Criminal Macabre

Criminal Macabre: The Complete Series is an excellent audiobook of the Criminal Macabre series. I’m not too familiar with the Criminal Macabre comic series; however, this is an outstanding intro. The relationship between Cal and Mo’Lock is tight, engaging, and very fun. I was very concerned with the zombies and vampires being generic tropes, but Criminal Macabre puts its unique twist into it. Each character and every moment has a purpose, and it is something that I enjoyed about Criminal Macabre. The narration by Eric Bryan Moore is outstanding, and he is personally my favorite narrator after listening to him. He creates very distinct voices for each character and makes it entertaining. This is not your typical “I read for you” audiobook. The story is an excellent intro to the Criminal Macabre series, and I am heavily interested in reading comic books/graphic novels about it. There is a lot of content for an audiobook of about 12 hours. However, it is worth the listen. Nothing gets stale, and each chapter makes the listener wanting more. I highly recommended this audiobook, especially if you’re a fan of Criminal Macabre or want a great intro into the series.

PI With a Twist

Great series of stories that are nothing like you have ever heard. Cal and his Ghoul partner are somehow able to come out alive or dead based on how they went into a situation. A great mix of horror stories mixed with humor.

A functional drunk fights monsters and evil!

The character Cal McDonald is a paranormal private detective created for Criminal Macabre, which is a Dark Horse Comics series. In addition to the comic series, the character also appears in two novels (Savage Membrane & Guns, Drugs, and Monsters) and a collection of short stories (Dial M for Monster), which are all included in this single omnibus edition of Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories.

The backdrop of the Criminal Macabre series is similar to what you might find in the dark urban fantasy genre, but the majority of the population is in denial of the existence of the supernatural and the authorities actively work to cover up evidence of supernatural involvement in criminal activities. Though vampires, werewolves, and the undead are integrated within society, normal people are unwilling or unable to accept their existence, leaving individuals like Cal McDonald with the task of investigating crimes in the dark, supernatural underworld. Cal, isolated by his work and the horrors and loss he has experienced during his life, is a self-destructive, anti-social, anti-hero. He spends the majority of his days and nights taking an excess of alcohol, barbituates, and illicit stimulates in order to maintain a balanced state of functional inebriation.

I found all of the Cal McDonald stories enjoyable, especially the interplay between Cal and his kinda-sorta-sometimes business partner (and ghoul), Moloch. The books are well written and the narrative is deep, dark, and immersive. The plots of the stories often take unexpected (and interesting) twists and turns. The story is told from Cal’s point of view and the tone, like his character, flits between grim horror and snarky sarcasm. Cal seems to possess a death wish born of his self-loathing and depression, yet refuses to die at the hands of another, particularly if it's one of his many supernatural adversaries. Between his awful luck and occasional fits of rage, he tangles with vampires, werewolves, demons, aliens, zombies, and other things that go bump in the night through the series. I know the comic series is still running, but really hope there are more novels published in this series as well.

The narration for the audiobook is a perfect fit with Criminal Macabre and Eric Bryan Moore’s distinct tone perfectly captures Cal’s personality and dark temperament. Other characters are well portrayed with unique voices that represent their nature and disposition. Overall, Moore’s performance greatly enhances what is already an entertaining and interesting collection of stories.

Special thanks to Eric Bryan Moore, who provided me with this book at my request.

Foot in real world and one foot in the magic world.

With a foot in the real world and one foot in the magic world really does sum up this collection of stories and short stories. The different people we pass. It parts a little gorge and the zombie state some people are in. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

No Holds Barred in a Supernatural Underworld

Steve Nile's short story series about Cal McDonald, a human private detective solving cases in a dark, urban fantasy world, is gripping, gross, and hilarious all at the same time. In this complete series, you get 13 hours of paranormal noir crimes, ghoulish monster mayhem, and a cast interesting and unique characters that give Cal a reason to keep his glass full. Cal flirts between excessive wise-guy-attitudism and grim depression episodes but he is an honest man and lives within an inch of his life everyday as he fights off vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the whole lot. all in all, an excellent and horrific series that keeps your interest from story to story.

This audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Eric Bryan Moore, whose voice nails the mixture of satirical, zany humor and dark, temperamental tones presented in the series.

Overall, I highly recommend the series especially if you're already into the graphic novel series this audiobook is based on, and am looking for more stories in this franchise.