I've listened to a number of audio-only stories and every time I have I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I've listened to Catchers, I can say that this record has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in one sitting. Catchers is an intergenerational horror tale that delivers on both scares and shocks all carried by terrific writing, Ben Rock's impressive direction and the presence of the stellar cast each member of which giving an impactful performance. It can be called a mash up of Cloverfield, Stephen King's The Mist and Alan Wake.
The story follows Blair, a trainee "Dog Catcher" who spends her first night on the job after they take refuge in a secluded farm house to help an unfortunate family fend off a pack of unrecognisable creatures as they try and force their way into the family's home. The series pushes the listening experience up to another level with its incredible diegetic sound design. The story takes place in a number of locations and the world itself plays a role in the storytelling as much as the dialogue with the each new location being met with a change in atmospheric sound effect that elevate the story from an audiobook narration into a fully realised world. As this is a podcast, there quite a number of episodes with 8 episodes making up the total, especially for someone with the attention span of a wind-chime caught in a hurricane like me but thanks to the strong character dynamics and the fantastic pace the show never dips for a second.
As this is an audible exclusive it shouldn't come as a surprise that it is mixed to the highest quality possible and is well worth the price of admission to horror fans and SFF fans alike. It feels like a classic "creature of the week" story pulled into the modern day with its layers of social commentary that highlights the issues that come with corporate deregulation, the dangers of messing with nature and the new trend of political individualism that encourages people to harbour a deep-seated distrust of those outside of their own political and collective folds. Catchers is an engaging horror mystery with feisty characters, biting social commentary and is a welcome addition to a this updated format of audio storytelling.
