Fairy Tale

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Fairy Tale

Written by: Stephen King

Narrated by: Seth Numrich, Stephen King

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About this listen

Winner of the 2023 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator

Master storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this #1 New York Times bestselling and spellbinding novel about a young man who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a horrific accident when he was seven, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from that shed.

Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

Stephen KingSeth NumrichStephen KingSimon & Schuster Audio

Dark Fantasy

Fantasy

Supernatural

Suspense

Thriller & Suspense

Fiction

Paranormal

Exciting

Heartfelt

Magic

Scary

Sports

Fantasy Thriller

Dark Fantasy Fantasy Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Paranormal Exciting Heartfelt Magic Scary Sports Fantasy Thriller

What the critics say

"High-schooler Charlie Reade, son of a widowed recovering alcoholic, is walking by the town’s rundown “psycho house" when he hears a distressed barking. Entering the backyard, Charlie finds the house's owner, Mr. Bowditch, laying on the ground—with a broken leg—guarded by his faithful old dog, Radar. Charlie becomes caretaker for Mr. Bowditch and forms a strong bond with ailing Radar. Soon Charlie finds a mysterious shed in the backyard that serves an entrance to a different world where it may be possible to reverse the dog's aging. Numrich’s narration of Charlie’s quest is everything a reader appreciates. He uses unique voices for all of the characters, both human and inhuman, drawing readers completely into the parallel universe, and sounds convincing as a teenager. The narration undoubtedly drives the story and will keep listeners entranced. This gateway fantasy is ideal for anyone looking for a world-building journey similar to Frodo’s quest in The Hobbit. Charlie is highly likable and his devotion to Radar only adds to the appeal. Fans of all things Stephen King may also enjoy the parallels between his narration of Bowditch’s recorded messages to Charlie and his cameos in the film adaptations of his novels." (Suzanne Temple)

"Seth Numrich’s narration of 17-year-old Charlie Reade’s story is moving and frightening in equal measure. Charlie befriends a reclusive curmudgeon, Howard Bowditch, and his aging dog, and inherits Howard’s house and dog when he dies. Howard also leaves Charlie a cassette recording — voiced remarkably by Stephen King. On it, Howard recounts a story within the story, involving a locked shed, a portal to a dying world, and Charlie’s part in a plan for salvation. Numrich creates a distinctive voice for each character, complete with growls and guttural snarls for evildoers. He even makes a hum sound threatening. Listeners will be drawn into this audiobook by the intimate tone of Numrich’s narration, which is like hearing Charlie himself."

Most Relevant

This book is wonderful. the first half of this book is some of my favorite writing, I enjoyed every minute of getting to know the characters and what their motivations were.

Stephen King's reading in this context and his performance were great (and not very long) I've heard some of the other reading performances he's done and this was the first one I actually didn't mind listening to.

the rest of the book builds up to a turn I should have expected, but was somehow still surprised, I found some of the direction predictable, but I was never bored by things turning out a certain way.

I'd love to learn more about the world and everything that King wrote, though in some aspects it was simple it made the details all that more enthralling.

the narrator does some scenes where you are not supposed to understand what the character is saying by only saying part of the word or a few sentences, I found this charming, but I could see people struggling through it (most of these scenes are kept short) but I think Numrich does a good job at keeping these blurred as far as he can. I enjoyed it, as it allowed me to become immersed into the story.