Cinestate, the Dallas-based production company building its own multimedia universes, today released its first “ear book,” The Narrow Caves. The three-hour story, with voice acting by Vincent D’Onofrio and Wyatt Russell, among others, was written by S. Craig Zahler, who directed last year’s bone-crunchingly memorable blood-spattered western Bone Tomahawk.
I’m imagining something of an old-fashioned radio drama, with better voice acting and probably some more R-rated content, but the world of narrative fictional audio content is admittedly unfamiliar territory for me, and I’m curious to see hear whether it works. I’m getting a 30-day trial membership to Audible, and will report back. If you’ve already listened to it, let me know what you think.
Here’s the plot description for The Narrow Caves:
In Florida, 1983, two college students meet at a yard party and do not hit it off. Walter and Ruby have no reason to reprise this antagonistic encounter, but something strange and almost primordial burgeons within each of them. Their thoughts and dreams turn toward each other, and in very little time they find themselves in an intense and unique relationship. What lies at the bottom of their strange connection is unearthed when Walter joins Ruby on a holiday trip to her home in upstate New York, where a living darkness inhabits the woodlands that surround her family’s mansion. This engrossing and unpredictable blend of mystery, horror, and romance subverts the idea of “fated love” while exploring strange compulsions, intense desires, and ancient mysteries that are best left buried deep in the earth.