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Decorum at the Deathbed

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Decorum at the Deathbed

By: Josh Malerman
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
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About this listen

With her husband barely clinging to life at home, Becka has taken to jogging. Running helps clear her head and her heart. But it's not until she discovers a free-standing confessional booth deep in the woods that she begins to clear her conscience.

As the days pass, and as her husband's condition worsens, Becka returns to the booth, finding it hard to stay away.

But what draws her there? Is it the clean feeling of confession? Or is it what might be listening on the other side of the grate?

Decorum at the Deathbed is the newest tale of psychological terror from Josh Malerman, New York Times best selling author of Bird Box and Malorie.

©2020 Josh Malerman (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC. Horror Heartfelt Scary

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I struggle to get my head around how I feel about this short story. The prose and some of the ideas are of a high quality, but I can't help feeling uncomfortable by the portrayal of mental health and the misogynistic tropes protagonist falls into. I struggle to really put my finger on it, but comparing this to gothic horror that uses many of the same conceits and imagery feels different. I think the explicit discussion of real mental health conditions and the melodramatic comparison of the 'hateful wife' and the 'innocent dying husband' just give me the ick. Like, I get that this is written to be titillating, in a similar vein to extreme horror and other potentially problematic media, and the doing it to do it and the enjoyment of it is not an issue, maybe this just isn't for me.

I did enjoy the writing style and performance, so I might give Birdbox a read at some point as I did enjoy the film.

I Confess I Have Mixed Feelings

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I really enjoyed this audiobook but the narration spoiled the full enjoyment - there wasn’t enough inflection in her voice and it took me a moment to realise it was a woman narrating it and not an AI program - but the story is there, the story is good, the concept the idea… as always original and crazy like the best of Josh Malerman’s shorter work!

Confess Confess Confess

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Repetitive, misogynistic, dull. One good idea (the confessional in the woods) does NOT make a good story unless it is in the hands of a talented writer. And to add insult to injury, The audiobook reader is excruciatingly bad.

Terrible

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