UNIVERSAL HARVESTER

What begins as a creepy horror story evolves into a melancholy meditation on loss and grief as delivered by author/narrator John Darnielle. Jeremy works at the Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa. Several customers report "something else" on their tapes, so Jeremy takes them home to watch and finds eerie black-and-white footage spliced between scenes. When he realizes a farmhouse pictured in the scenes is not far from town, he and the store's owner are drawn to investigate. Musical interludes can sometimes feel intrusive but ultimately help guide the listener between sections, and Darnielle's understated narration is a perfect match for the quiet story. His restrained delivery highlights the steady Midwestern attitude of his characters, making the story's pensive strangeness that much more unsettling. E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2017]