I,Strahd by P.N. Elrod
An Audio Book Review
Narrated by Roddy McDowall
A long, long time ago my husband and I were married. It was so long ago that not only did dinosaurs roam the earth but it was all the rage to have a vehicle with a tape deck in it. Everyone who knew us referred to us in polite company as “likeable but crazy as hell.” As a lot of newly married folks do, we went off on a honeymoon to celebrate the beginning of our married life together, and there was no better way to kick things off than with a madcap adventure in a Jeep Cherokee with a tape deck.
We were married in New Jersey and set off early in the morning to our new home in North Carolina, a mere eight hour drive. It ended up taking 12 because we hit all kinds of traffic. Stopping at the house only long enough to switch out luggage and check in with family, we set out on another eight hour drive, this time up into the mountains of North Carolina to a dude ranch where we were supposed to spend our honeymoon for the next 10 days. However, a few hours after we got there we decided we hated the place, it was in fact the only dude ranch I have ever heard of that did not have horses and required proper attire for dinner (and they did not mean cowboy boots and plaid flannel shirts). Scoring a full cash refund, we hopped back in the jeep and as we drove helter skelter down the mountain we plotted out our next move-to Disney Land of course! We knew that it would be a long drive, another eight hours just to get back to our starting point so we could begin our trip to Disney, but we were young, high on excitement and lack of sleep as we set forth on our adventure.
After an hour in the car, the trip was becoming maddeningly boring as the reality of the length of the drive hit me. Ferret-like, I began to root around in my husband’s jeep for something to do and luckily I discovered a book on tape, the first I had ever seen not in a library. It was P.N. Elrod’s I Strahd. It was a TSR product and I was instantly dubious about its quality. It had been a couple of years since I had read the Dragonlance books, and this Strahd book looked like it was the first in a series, something calling itself Ravenloft. “Hey, is this any good?” I asked holding up the box with the cassettes in it.
His eyes lit up and smiling, Glenn assured me I would love it as “it has a vampire in it.”
The book was read by Roddy McDowall. As a girl and a horse enthusiast, I recognized his name as the high pitched, squeaky voiced, effeminate teen in the movie My friend Flicka. And, since I had brothers I also knew that he was the guy who played Cornelius in The Planet of the Apes franchise. I screwed up my face as I considered whether or not to give the book a listen.
“Twelfth moon, three forty seven” it began. The voice deep and velvety smooth, it had a dreamlike quality to it, rather mysterious and compelling. And then after an appropriately dramatic pause, the story began with these words “There’s a traitor in the camp you know.” I was hooked.
I absolutely loved that audio book, every moment of it. We listened to it the whole way through, all four cassettes in a row. It was a mad brilliant story narrated by a master storyteller. I was in love. Strahd was not just a vampire, he was a Byronic villain hooked on his own petard. There was no way I could not love him. Between Elrod and McDowall some sort of magic was woven and this story became endearing to me.
We had made it back to our starting point in North Carolina. We could finally get on the road and head on down to Disney Land. We did and had a great time.
But I never forgot Strahd. I sortta stole the cassettes from my hubby and would listen to them in the house while puttering around doing other stuff. In fact, I would have to say that I loved that story so much that I would listen to it about once a month for many years.
When I found a hardback copy of I, Strahd in a book store one day I had to pick it up. I was such a noob that it never occurred to me to buy the book. As soon as I got home I began to read the novel for the first time. I was wowed all over again, and totally thrilled because the book had two chapters in it that had been edited out of the audio edition that I had loved so much.
I, Strahd is one of those books I truly love. But it’s more than that; it became a “comfort food” of sorts. When I took my father-in-law for his chemo treatments I took I, Strahd with me to pass the time. When my own dad had cancer I took the book with me to while away the hours during his infusements. I read I, Strahd on the train ride to my best friend’s funeral. My mom has cancer now, and again, that dog eared book is not so far from my bed side.
As an author I travel a lot and get to meet lots of folks. Aside from meeting my fans I do occasionally get to meet authors that I love and admire. About a year ago I was at a con when one of my friends at Buzzy Multimedia told me that P.N. Elrod was there too, and did I want to meet her. What kind of stupid question was that! I instantly regretted that I didn’t have my copy of I, Strahd on me for her to autograph, but I did have the con’s program with her picture in it. I had figured I could get her to sign that instead and later when I was back home have it laminated and use it as my I, Strahd book mark. As luck had it, I was able to not only have her autograph my con guest book, but she also accepted an invitation to sit down and eat breakfast with us all. I was able to, in a very non-stalker like way, ask her bunches of question about the book and the character and her writing process. It was a memorable time, and one I will not soon forget.
I was very lucky to have finally been able to meet one of the authors whose work I enjoyed so much, whose book has always meant so much to me. And I can honestly say that it was because of that meal that I had promised myself to remember that I should always be kind and patient with my fans when they bombard me with questions and “what if” scenarios.
As it happened, we had a great time at the con, but we had an even better car ride home, we got to listen to my favorite audio book on the way home.
QtR - Theresa Bane, vampirologist
Buzz-O-Meter Scale 1-10 (10 being the Highest)
I, Strahd Gets A “9.5″
