Dolly

A Ghost Story

By: Susan Hill

Narrated by: Cameron Stewart

Length: 3 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

A chilling ghost story from the author of The Woman in Black, set in a crumbling English house...

The remoter parts of the English Fens are forlorn, lost, and damp even in the height of summer. At Iyot Lock, a large decaying house, two young cousins, Leonora and Edward, are parked for the summer with their aging spinster aunt and her cruel housekeeper. At first the unpleasantness and petty meanness appear simply spiteful, calculated to destroy Edward's equanimity. But when the spoiled Leonora is not given the birthday present of a specific dolly that she wants, affairs inexorably take a much darker turn with terrifying, life-destroying consequences for everyone.

©2012 Susan Hill (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

it lost a star for the ending

I expect a story so detailed to have an ending that makes more sense. It doesn't have to be a happy ending, but it needs to be satisfying.

I enjoyed it.

interesting story. I enjoyed it!
I'll be wary of dolls I find now. going to share this one with the kids!

Brilliantly Chilling.. wait for the ending!

Susan Hill inherited the Ghost Story Crown from the master, M.R.James. Her style of telling
is similiar to his, and she weaves the plot flawlessly..so well done! A lonely house far from others,
a church graveyard, a piece-meal family amid conflicts and inheritances..and a simple toy
that isn't what it seems.

doll horror done right

i’m always on the search for good doll centered books. especially horror. i’ve been thinking lately how it comes in categories.
1-you’ve got the dolls that become possessed by a ghost or an evil spirit, or pretty much from something that isn’t the doll.
2-you’ve got the dolls whose spirit are that of the doll. and in this category: sometimes they live and are active such as Toy Story or The Doll People.
to a lesser extent you have The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, where you have the thoughts and feelings of the doll but he can’t physically move.
3-you’ve got stories where the dolls are simply inanimate objects that are more or less used as metaphors, similes, analogies. they are meant to mirror the lives of characters, or to show you that these characters “are just like these inanimate dolls” or “something profound, poetry, yada yada yada”. that’s the jist and i jest but you can make some profound thoughts and statements through this category. this category could def crossover w 1 and 2 as well.

Dolly is closest to category 2. the doll in this story is very much a doll. and so the horror plays by the doll’s rules.

before i go on: in general, the book is at best a 3. it’s not amazing. it’s actually really really dry. it takes a while to care about the characters and once you do you don’t particularly care that much.

but in terms of doll horror; the relationship between the doll, the scares, and the character; then it was extremely welll done and probably one of my favorite concepts i’ve read so far.

the narrator was very good but his voice for one of the female characters was a little annoying. that’s why i gave him a 4.

and there you go. a nice, quick little halloween treat. good for a free book!

Not bad, but nothing fantastic

Judging from the other reviews I had read before listening to this, I thought I would be in for more than being slightly creeped out. I am a little disappointed by that as well as the short length of the story. I feel like it could've had a lot more to it. Still, it is creepy. I don't regret having listened to it by any means, but I do find myself wanting more (not necessarily a bad thing obviously).

Movie?

This would be such a good movie! I personally do not like horror films, but this would be a good one.

💤Dolly Dearest 🤏

The story wasn't to bad, I guess. It tended to be a bit confusing though and had me asking... Why? & What? a LOT!!

It was not scary at all and the voice of the little girl & then as a grown up was VERY ANNOYING!! 👎 The little girl was a snobby brat and the voice used for her made her even worse. 🤬 I wanted to push her down the stairs with her dolly. Lol😂

It tended to be very long winded😴 & the characters were a bit over developed at times, while others were not developed enough.🙄 I pushed myself to finish the book and found myself falling asleep & having to go back to listen to the parts I missed.😴😑

The narrator wasn't to bad really, but I wouldn't get another book with him as narrator myself.👎
If the book is free (like it was for me) then maybe give it a shot, but it's not worth a credit or money.🤏

A wonderful surprise

I’ve never heard of this story before but it was recommended to me and it was free (and 3 hours long, which is short enough to finish in one day). To my surprise, I quite enjoyed it. I felt that the strongest aspect was the characterization and I really enjoyed the ending. I would recommend simply because of its length, it’s so short that if you don’t like it, it’s not as though you’ve wasted your time. Also, I listened to it at 1.8 speed and was done in less than 2 hours and the pacing was manageable.

Easy listening

Nice Short and sweet. Had this playing as I was quilting. By the time it was done I was done as well.

Chilling Story!

Wow! I loved this book. It is very creepy! The audio reader was excellent, too!