I like the narrator’s adaptation: Ian Gordon, who does a whole lot of these for HorrorBabble, has a great voice for it and some really good technique.
In this particular “reading”, he speaks as a narrator that is actually speaking to *you*, about what he (the character himself) knows.
There are also some sound FX in the background as he “tells his story” to – literally – *you*, which I find an enjoyable and unusual contrast to the story itself.
But enough of this gay banter.
Gordon is a decent voice actor as well as someone with a naturally gifted-for-this-sort-of-story voice, at least in this audiobook.
An interesting short horror story to relax to with a nice cup of tea.
After about a nine and a half minute intro as described above, the story switches to being the titular Pickman himself talking to the narrator, offering to show him some rather “strong” works of art that he has come up with in privacy…works deemed a bit TOO strong for the “common man”.
Then it switches back to the narrator, who seems to be a bit disturbed by his own story, and “puts the kettle on” before resuming his story to the visitor. That would be you, again.
He begins to describe the pictures that he sees when he first arrives at Pickman’s secret location: not-quite-human, hideous figures with faces terrible to behold.
He is ushered into the next room of Pickman’s “works”, and actually screams at what he sees on the walls.
The narrator pauses in his narration as he himself becomes more and more disturbed and scared by his own tales as he describes himself as HAVING been at seeing the horrific art.
The slowly-getting-worse effect is a bit boring, but I think that’s because it’s so common for Lovecraft.
The narrator talks about screaming again as the WORST, most HORRIBLE portrait is revealed by Pickman…a portrait he sees as so close to reality so as to BE reality.
Pickman himself, then, appears afraid as well as the narrator as he seems to hear something scary…he tries to dismiss it, though, and summarily ends the “tour” as if things are just fine.
That was the last time the narrator ever heard of Pickman.
He reveals that he took a photograph that had supposedly been one that Pickman had taken of a background from which to work on his next painting, but discovers – he reveals to you – that it was in fact a picture of that last room itself, and of a hideous being that was being painted, from reality itself.
Good, solid story. And you havta love the ending.
Grade: B+