First made available in September 2008, the audiobook recording of Guy N Smith’s short story ‘Crabs’ Armada’ was released as a promotional mini-CD which was also handed out at the September 2008 Guy N Smith Fan Convention, as well as a free download on the Ghostwriter Publications website.
DLS Synopsis:
Jack Boswell didn’t want to do the dive. However, someone had to go down and clear up the mystery that lay hidden on the seabed. No one would have believed it, but the truth of the matter was there, under the water. It appeared somehow the four-hundred-year-old shipwreck of the Rata Encoronada had travelled almost a mile along the bed of the Giant’s Causeway towards the shore.
The idea that the remains of the vast galleon had moved of its own accord, over such a distance was preposterous. Nevertheless, somehow it had happened. So, they’d sent Boswell down under the depths of the sea, to try to establish how the shipwreck had moved over a mile seemingly on its own accord.
However, when Boswell reached the crumbling galleon, he realised the dive might not have been such a waste of time after all. Amongst the dirt and rotting remains of the vast ship, small artefacts, no doubt from the time of Thomas de Granvela and Don Alonso de Leiva, had been uncovered. Treasures that would be worth a small fortune!
It was enough to persuade him to explore the lower levels of the shipwreck. And as he did so, he noticed two glowing orbs within the darkened shadows below deck. At first, he thought they were rubies, or some other lost treasure. But then he saw the burning hatred within them. Those were no rubies, they were eyes…
DLS Review:
The audiobook starts off with a ‘Twilight Zone’ meets ‘Psycho’ style musical intro, concluding the short intro with the sound of crashing waves on a beach, setting an eerie 1950’s feel to the whole piece. The tone and quality of this is absolutely spot on, setting the atmosphere perfectly within this first 30 seconds.
The audiobook runs for a total of 16 minute and 21 seconds.
The audiobook was originally recorded as a sample of the proposed audiobooks which Ghostwriter Publications planned to record and release. The 16 minute and 21 seconds recording was read by ex-radio news reader and narrator, Steve Crozier.
The short story itself was first published within the limited edition chapbook ‘The Cadaver’ (1991), and later included within the ‘Crabs’ Armada’ (2009) standalone chapbook, as well as the original ‘Crabs: Unleashed – The Collection’ (2009) chapbook, but notably not in the ‘Crabs: Unleashed’ (2009) reprint, and then later reprinted within the ‘Crabs Omnibus’ (2015) collection.
DLS Synopsis:
Jack Boswell didn’t want to do the dive. However, someone had to go down and clear up the mystery that lay hidden on the seabed. No one would have believed it, but the truth of the matter was there, under the water. It appeared somehow the four-hundred-year-old shipwreck of the Rata Encoronada had travelled almost a mile along the bed of the Giant’s Causeway towards the shore.
The idea that the remains of the vast galleon had moved of its own accord, over such a distance was preposterous. Nevertheless, somehow it had happened. So, they’d sent Boswell down under the depths of the sea, to try to establish how the shipwreck had moved over a mile seemingly on its own accord.
However, when Boswell reached the crumbling galleon, he realised the dive might not have been such a waste of time after all. Amongst the dirt and rotting remains of the vast ship, small artefacts, no doubt from the time of Thomas de Granvela and Don Alonso de Leiva, had been uncovered. Treasures that would be worth a small fortune!
It was enough to persuade him to explore the lower levels of the shipwreck. And as he did so, he noticed two glowing orbs within the darkened shadows below deck. At first, he thought they were rubies, or some other lost treasure. But then he saw the burning hatred within them. Those were no rubies, they were eyes…
DLS Review:
The audiobook starts off with a ‘Twilight Zone’ meets ‘Psycho’ style musical intro, concluding the short intro with the sound of crashing waves on a beach, setting an eerie 1950’s feel to the whole piece. The tone and quality of this is absolutely spot on, setting the atmosphere perfectly within this first 30 seconds.
After introducing the story, Steve Crozier reads the unabridged short with crystal clarity, and a slightly softly spoken voice; not rushing but taking his time to deliver the story well. The character dialogue is delivered with an ever-so-slight change in tone, highlighting that it’s dialogue, without coming across as tacky or any attempt at acting.
Every now and again the reading is also interspersed with brief snippets of sound effects, such as splashing water, clicking crab claws, and slurping, dripping-blood. These few scatterings of sound effects add to the reading, providing just that little extra audio atmosphere to the piece as a whole.
For a freebie, the recording really is a very high-quality one, with Crozier’s performance with reading the story of a high calibre and without fault. As the recording reaches its dramatic finale Crozier’s voice brings in an added feel of energetic urgency, sweeping the listener up further in the pinnacle moments of the horror story.
The audiobook ends with the same music and introduction as appeared at the beginning of the recording.
For those not familiar with the short, the story itself is a textbook Guy N Smith short ‘Crabs’ story, crammed with all that escalating suspense we love. Yeah, we all know what’s going to happen here! We’ve got a diver going down into the murky depths of the sea to investigate a four-hundred-year-old shipwreck that appears to have shifted a mile along the seabed. Guess who’s responsible for moving the decaying galleon?! Yep…our ferocious, flesh-hungry crustacean friends.
The outcome’s inevitable. From the outset we know what’s going to happen and are salivating at the prospect of more giant crab carnage. As such, the success of the story pretty much depends upon the escalation of the suspense and then onto the eventual bloodbath that’s sure to follow. Luckily these are two areas for which Smith is a veritable master.
It’s only short, but the suspense that Smith builds as we edge towards the inevitable horror is second to none. By the time the crabs’ eyes are spotted, you’re pretty much clawing at the pages for the mayhem to commence. And then the hapless diver’s desperate attempts at escaping the crabs’ reach are nothing short of classic Guy N Smith. Frantic, desperate, and utterly futile. You’ve just got to love it!
© DLS Reviews
Other ‘Crabs’ instalments:
- ‘Night Of The Crabs’ (1976)
- ‘Killer Crabs’ (1978)
- ‘The Origin Of The Crabs’ (1979)
- ‘Crabs On The Rampage’ (1981)
- ‘Crabs’ Moon’ (1984)
- ‘Crabs: The Human Sacrifice’ (1988)
- ‘Crabs Fury’ (1998) [Graphic Novel]
- ‘Crabs’ Armada’ (1998) [Audiobook CD]
- ‘Crabs: Unleashed - The Collection’ (2009) [Chapbook]
- ‘Crabs: Unleashed’ (2009) [Chapbook]
- ‘Crustacean Vengeance’ (2009) [Chapbook]
- ‘The Decoy’ (2009) [Chapbook]
- ‘Crabs’ Armada’ (2009) [Chapbook]
- ‘Killer Crabs: The Return’ (2012)
- ‘Crabs Omnibus’ (2015)
- ‘The Charnel Caves’ (2019)
