An incredible experience

I've been hooked on Richard Maclean Smith's Unexplained podcast for a while, and I was eager to get this audio book. Once again, he brings his incredible talent as a writer, researcher, composer, and performer to a selection of bizarre and eerie true life tales. There's truly nothing quite like listening Maclean Smith's flawless reading of his expertly-written words as he narrates an unsettling story before examining the philosophical implications of it, all set to his evocative music.

In my view, Richard Maclean Smith stands head and shoulders above other "true life horror" content creators, and this book did not disappoint on any level.

If you're on the fence about buying this book, I should point out that two of the stories aren't, strictly speaking, "unexplained" - they have explanations and the author gives them. I won't say which two for fear of spoilers, but I will say that this didn't bother me personally, as both tales are still creepy, and the philosophical interpretations that follow were just as compelling as the rest of his work.

If you like the podcast, this is a must-have, especially the audio book. If you're new to the author, this is a masterfully written examination of the unexplained that takes the subject seriously and never jumps to conclusions.

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2 people found this helpful

Interesting

Love variation of topics . I .liked tone of reader. I would like ore of such stories p.ease

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Amazing

Amazing story telling coupled with eerie music provides an atmosphere like no other audio book I've listened too. Looking forward to more books in the future.

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More a philosophical study than a book about the unexplained.

The book is, undoubtedly, well written. However, its title is (probably unintentionally) misleading. If one purchases a book for a little light reading, one doesn’t expect a study in philosophy written in the style of a Marcel Proust novel. Sorry I cannot be more positive.

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Good value.

not greatest. some are totally meh but overall good value if you like this sort of thing. although get uncanny first much better done

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Loved the stories

I’m a huge fan of the podcast so once I was up to date on all the episodes I had to listen to the book as well. Unfortunately I live in the US and the only version available is the terrible Bruce Mann version. I had to do some tricks to get audible to allow me to purchase but once I got it I was very excited. The only thing I did not like was the voice acting done by others. I think it can be helpful to have another person speak from the first person POV when telling the story but the man that does these parts I think over does the voices a little bit. Thankfully RMS does not do this during his normal podcast episodes.

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1 person found this helpful

Clever combination of story and science

At first I found the narrator irritating - vocally delivering as if reading from a script. But, the combination of scientific perspective overlaid against mysteries psychological, spiritual, supernatural and alien gripped me as it went on. I really enjoyed the scientific perspective and would recommend it to anyone interested in unexplained phenomena.

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1 person found this helpful

Just as good as the podcast!

Love the podcast, and was pleased to find that the stories/subjects covered were original and had not been covered on the podcast. Excellent audiobook, definitely worth a credit if you like creepy/mysterious accounts of paranormal/odd real like occurrences.

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Interesting but....

I want interesting stories not a full on lecture about white privilege race var gender give yourself a break mate we dont all subscribe to your PC view of the world! Tbt lectures completely ruined the experience!

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Nothing much new.

Perhaps this would work as an introduction to the podcast of the same name. The stories in each chapter have all been covered elsewhere, in detail in print and on podcasts,
so there is nothing “new” as such.
Some interesting speculation and theories, but the narrative tends to swamp the actual stories.

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