Audiobook - Dark Shadows: The Enemy Within

They say two's company and three's a crowd. Susan Omand finds out what happens when the third person isn't a person at all in Dark Shadows "The Enemy Within" from our friends at Big Finish...

After a very successful first few encounters with the Dark Shadows series I was looking forward to my return to Collinsport and the next story. Only it turned out not to be Collinsport, but the next town along, Bangor, that was the setting for this tale.

Cyrus Longworth, a resident of Bangor and the local handyman, helps a new neighbour, teacher Sabrina Jennings, move into her new home across the street. As they unload the boxes, there's one that Sabrina doesn't want Cyrus to carry in. It seems Sabrina has a secret that she doesn't want to share. However she's not the only one as their conversation is punctuated by pithy commentary from a third voice, that of John, who exists as a separate entity within Cyrus' head. As the story and their relationship develops and Cyrus and Sabrina go out for a meal together as friends, they find out more about each other and discover that they both lived in Collinsport at one time. Sabrina also admits that she's not the married lady that Cyrus thinks she is, because her husband died, a story that much delighted the devilish John. Then things take a darker turn as one of the neighbours also turns up dead. Was widowhood the only secret that Sabrina hid? Or has Cyrus been busy during the times John takes over his body? Is he going to admit John's existence to Sabrina?

So another great story from the Dark Shadows. It had loads in it with gypsy magic and supernatural happenings as well as the high body count that I am coming to expect from these stories. Again it had great pace, good humour and a lot of action and really felt like an episode of a televised series with the acting and dialogue, written by Will Howells, supplying the imagery very well. I also really liked the continuity from the last episode in that, even though it was a totally separate story and the main characters were different, a few of the minor characters and events from the last story were mentioned, which tied it in place nicely. One thing spoiled it for me though and that was Sabrina's (Lisa Richards) voice. She sounded a lot older than I understood her to be in the story, and had shades of Jessica Fletcher in her accent. It was an image that I could not shake easily and it put a bit of a damper on the relationship aspect of the story because Cyrus himself (Christopher Pennock) sounds a lot closer to the thirty-ish that he should have been. The voice of "John" (James Unsworth) however was perfect and I could just imagine the sarcastic little devil sitting invisibly within Cyrus making comments, causing problems and upsetting as many people as possible.

I'm really looking forward to the next one now... I think I'm getting hooked.

Image - Big Finish.