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  • The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures

  • By: Aaron Mahnke
  • Narrated by: Aaron Mahnke
  • Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (141 ratings)

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The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures

By: Aaron Mahnke
Narrated by: Aaron Mahnke
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Summary

A fascinating guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, from the host of the hit podcast Lore.

They live in shadows - deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through generations. And yet no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them. Werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits.

In this volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, exploring not only the legends but also what they tell us about ourselves. Aaron Mahnke invites us to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil dwells. He delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism - some officially documented, others the stuff of speculation...perhaps. He visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, the European villages where gremlins make mischief and Key West, Florida, home of a haunted doll named Robert.

The monsters of folklore have become not only a part of our language but a part of our collective psyche. Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know, on some level, that not every mystery has been explained and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls.

As Aaron Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore....

©2017 Aaron Mahnke (P)2017 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

Praise for the Lore podcast: "Truth can often be much scarier than fiction - something Mahnke proves as he dives deep into the world of folklore and the darker side of history in a quest to root out the fragment of truth at the bottom of our fears." ( Entertainment Weekly)
"Narrated by Mahnke in a style that evokes spooky campfire stories, Lore is a history lesson like no other." ( Esquire)

What listeners say about The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Just a mash-up of his podcasts D:

Any additional comments?

I am a big fan of the Lore podcasts and was disappointed that this book is just the podcasts in one big long recording! I feel cheated. The podcasts are free and I wasted a credit on this.

HOWEVER, I love Aaron’s voice and the stories he tells. And if I didn’t know his podcasts then this would have been excellent.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting!

I love all the old supernatural mysteries and I found this to be really well researched and interesting, with a lot of origins I wouldn't have heard about before! left me looking forward to volume 2.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Departs from the title

Thoroughly enjoyed, just like the podcast. However, it did detour from creatures to ghosts unfortunately. There were also a couple of quite large omissions I felt, especially such as giant apes (Bigfoot/yeti etc) which you'd have expected from an American author. I would have also liked more original material not yet published via the podcast but it was still immensely enjoyable with extra titbits added.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic listen!!!

A truly fantastic listen!. Would recommend to anyone who is fascinated by the weird and scary stories of this world. It’s not only scary stories, but case studies of different cultures and period of our history and how we may not be so different from our ancestors as we would like to think. Love the podcast, get this!.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Super

I love the Lore podcast and, although some of the stories are the same, there is plenty of new and interesting lore in the book to make it a worthwhile purchase.
As always, Aaron Mankhe delivers the well researched tales in his charmingly affable manner.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history, especially that of the unusual, overlooked and weird variety.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love it

Loved the TV series. The book is even better. Really looking forward to volume 2!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heard this somewhere before

Great stories, great performance. But it’s just the podcast stitched together.

It’s still nice to hear them all in one go and it flows perfectly.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Ermmmm......

Great idea for a book and first third is interesting but then it just descends into a load of old tosh about ghosts and strange events taken from 19th century newspapers.
Shame

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

podcast is better

not the wordt but save your credit and follow the podcast its far better produced

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A bit incredible

I was looking for a book exploring lore and perhaps what some of it says about the human condition / cultures / etc. Unfortunately, the author gives far too much credence to what are at times laughably out-there stories, with a basic ‘it could be true, ooooh’ message repeated throughout. He also tells the stories as if they were true, most of the time, I.e. ‘the ghost then presented himself to her and said...’ or similar, which makes it all very silly. Aside from this, the voice acting is a bit over dramatic in some parts and quite dry, with strangely stilted intonation, in others. Particularly noticeable when there are attempts at humour, which fall quite flat because of this.

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