Come, Let Me Whisper
A collection of macabre tales by Russell L. Burt. Your comments are welcome!
Macabre fiction. Horror fiction. Dark fiction. Whatever you choose to call it, that is what is contained within this collection of short stories. But other than that, these tales are as varied as can be. Ghost stories… they’re in there. Lovecraftian monsters… certainly. Twist endings… got it. Psychological terror… of course. Sunny, happy endings… not so much. Oh, and one other thing these stories have in common: they are intended for a mature audience- one who is not easily offended, I might add.
January 31st, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Only two stories so far, Russell and I like what I’m hearing. The writing is smooth and confident but not, ummm, how do I put this, swaggering and sinking in cliche.
I thought you might like to know there are ears out here and they’re looking forward to more whispering…in a purely literary sense, of course.
moe
March 27th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
I enjoyed these stories immensely. Many of them had an interesting twist to them. Mr. Burt left me wishing for more stories - the mark of a good author.
April 6th, 2006 at 6:39 am
The ideas are good enough, but there are some things about the writing that made me twitch.
* The point of view feels shifting and uncontrolled to me, and there’s a lot of “head hopping” which is unnecessary.
* Too many times Burt chooses to use passive language for description, when the writing would have been more powerful with more active language.
* Finally, some of his word choices and word inventions grated on my nerves. “Clichely” is not an adverb, and doesn’t even come off the tongue well. “Antagonized” should not be used as a dialogue attribution tag. And I had to stop listening when I heard “Logicked” (I assume that’s how it’s spelled) used as a synonym for “thought”. Frankly, Burt’s writing would have been better and stronger had he chosen to stick with conventional language.
As I said, the ideas and concepts behind these stories are strong and interesting. I’d like to see them revisited when Burt has polished his language and his writing style is more professional.
June 21st, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I just finished the complete set of stories, In my oppinion, Mr. Burt has created a kind of niche genre. The stories are like the ones you tell at slumber parties and basment gatherings when you where a kid. Pre Muti media times. The stories have a reminiscent flavor to them, when complimented by the authors reading. The simplicity is very intriging.
He is like the kid in the neighbood who you sorta know but don’t. You are unsure of him maybe even a little scared. But, now he is telling this ghost story, at the slumber party right before you all gather to say…Light as a feather stiff as a board, and levitate your best friend. Great stuff! keep it going.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:21 am
Great Stories. Very easy to listen to and some interesting ideas and memorable tales.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Captivating tales. Vivid descriptions create great images assisting the mind to escape into the story. Great job!
September 25th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I just finished listening to Come Let Me Whisper. These stories are some the the best I have heard in a while. I found them very engrossing, expecially Fish Story and Casey’s Sacrifice.
January 15th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
excellent captivating stories. Russell is also a great down to earth fellow person to converse with and stay in touch with online. I look foreward to meeting him in person if I ever attend some convention he’s at.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:18 am
This was the first full Podiobook story I listened to and it really hooked me in. I love listening to Russell’s narrations and I think his ability to come up with so many different stories (all unique) in the same vein of creepiness is fantastic!
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I wish I could recommend this book. I’m going to leave some constructive criticism in the hope that the author tries something new in a different style.
The writing is very good. The problem is the narration. The accent is very off-putting. Furthermore, one should not EXPLAIN one’s horror stories at the end. That by itself is the reason I won’t be continuing my subscription. Sorry.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Though I was somewhat put off by the author’s accent at first I quickly adjusted to it. Have you ever heard Stephen King narrate his stories? Same deal.
These stories are well written and captivating. I highly recommend this book.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Hi all, it’s the author of this series here. I just wanted to pop in and, first, thank all of you who have taken the time to leave your comments here, and, second, let any who might have enjoyed these older tales know that the series has been continuing over at my site rlburt.com. In fact, I just celebrated my two year anniversary in podcasting with the release of episode 53! I hope you’ll hop over and check out my newer work, if you haven’t already!
Russell
http://rlburt.com
December 5th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Congrats to you, Russ. Happy Birthday CLMW (podcast).
I would, first, like to thank you for the hours of enjoyment. I’ve enjoyed every episode. The people who I’ve introduced to these stories are all plenty satisfied.
A few comments:
I disagree with Mr. Crawford regarding the verbiage. I use a bit of slang and make up my own words, as needed. That’s me. If it so happens that Mr. Burt’s characters do the same, well that’s just how some people are. If it fits the story, write it like that.
Cory has a point regarding the story explanations. We are each capable of processing our own perspective. However, some (like me) do appreciate the explanations, due to their value for potential authors or authors looking for new angles. I guess putting them at the end of the story is acceptable, as Cory and others can just forego that last little bit.
Cory also mentioned the narrator’s accent. I haven’t spent any length of time in Tennessee since the mid 90’s, so I notice the accent, now that I’ve been away. Not really a big deal, though. Everyone has an accent. People in Texas hear the accent a Michiganian speaks. People in New Hampshire hear the accent a Floridian speaks. But Texans don’t have an accent as perceived by other Texans. Should we expect Mr. Burt to release geographic editions of his podcast? One for every area? Should he issue foreign language editions to satisfy Italians, Greeks, or the Baltic peoples? I don’t believe so. I believe the listeners are likely able to adjust after an episode or two. Those who cannot adjust, well…
The content is what I appreciate the most. The accent of the narration and the explanations at the end do not detract from the stories.
I would really enjoy hearing these on a more frequent basis. The release timing is probably due to Mr. Burt’s lifestyle and quality of output. Perhaps pumping them out faster would cause the material to suffer. I’ll take what I can get, however I can get it, and be happy.
In closing, I want to thank Russ for making my world a bigger place and for his generosity.
Russ, thank you so much.
-Vic
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:41 am
I absolutely love listening to your stories. I have grown to love hearing your accent and I think it definitely adds to the stories. I just started listening to the Come Let Me Whisper podiobook and I am having a difficult time not listening to all of them at one sitting. The opening poem is wonderful. I just came to the story where you asked your listeners to record their own version for the podcast….Noooooooooooo. I revel in your reading of it and it gets the goosebumps going in preparation for the coming story.
I also have to say I agree completely with Vic Velcro’s input. How can you enjoy a story by tearing it completely apart? It is what it is.
Thank you for letting my mind wander a little each evening, Mr. Burt.
-vampire_odessa
March 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I’m not typically a fan of the horror genre, but I thought I’d give this a chance at was a series of short stories. I found I enjoyed some of them while not enjoying others. I’m not a big one for bad language or graphic sexual content, however I didn’t think the consider any of these these stories to be “over the top” in that respect. I do recommend them, however, for mature audiences.
Speaking directly to the author, I think your stories are sufficiently good enough that you don’t need to fill the pages with sex or profanities. Carrie’s Sacrifice is an example of a story that can stand on its own without referring to someone’s self-gratification.
As for accent, well, I wouldn’t expect you to speak in any way that wasn’t natural for you. I especially like your wife’s voice for the female counterparts in the stories. I sure hope she continues. Good luck with your next endeavor!
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 am
I’ve listened to every story on the book and I think Burt is the new Richard Matheson for the 21st century. He is excellent.
Lots of myths, Lovecraftian beasts, sex, violence, erotica, mysteries, zombies, killer chidren and of course, the Fish.
It’s a must hear for horror fans, in fact anyone who likes audio fiction.
Spread the word!
August 20th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I really do not want to come off sounding negative, but I’m afraid I just can not bring myself to like this series. I have listened to about 10 of the stories and feel kinds let down. I get a good feeling at first and then everything goes down hill. The story ideas are great and all, like a great idea for a movie, it’s just the translation to print is lacking. All the episodes are way to short for the plots to unfold like they should have. I would listen thinking that this could be a good story line just to have it end poorly.
Example (sorry for spoiler): man with wired religion married woman. Man tells woman that in his religion the have together “till death do us part”. Woman wants to split after a few years, demon breaks through floor and attacks woman, man kills demon.
That’s it, great story line and so much could have come from it, but the author didn’t even take the time the discribe the demon. Instead of feeling immersed in the stories, I felt like someone was recapping the book to me. I think if the author would have cut the number of stories and put more effort onto developing the better ones into long, more complete plot lines, this would be a killer listen.