Grabbed on a whim and did not expect something like Cormac McCarthy performing a sponatenous stream of concious horror mashup of Howl and Ragnarok.

Absolutely phenomenal narrator for a horror book. Connor Brannigan sent chills down my spine with his inflections and gravely monster voices. However, this is the fifth book in a series (which I didn't realize) and it left me floundering to understand the world. Super creepy though and high on the horror elements. If you enjoy horror novellas, I'd probably recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook of The Ballad of Old Joe Booth by William Pauley III.

The Ballad of Old Joe Booth is the fifth installment of William Pauley III's Bedlam Bible. Despite this, however, The Ballad of Old Joe Booth could be read as a standalone easily.

This was a haunting piece that I listened to whilst taking a bath. A stupid decision, as the author did an incredible job of capturing the fear and unknown of the depths. I was enthralled rather quickly by Old Joe Booth, and found the tale both harrowing and thrilling.

The narrator, Connor Brannigan has a deep purr that made the story all the more mysterious. An excellent narration of a brilliant tale.

This very short audiobook is split into four segments. It covers the fantastical story about explorations surrounding a monster called Old Joe Booth.

This is part of the series by William Pauley III called the Bedlam Bible. I feel like it matches the aesthetic of the rest of the series, though I didn't quite read them in the correct order! Because this is a short story I didn't feel as connected and don't honestly know if I understood what happened in this one. Very lovely narration as with all the others, but I have to say I don't feel like I could re-explain what happened to someone if they asked me!

One of the books you read/listen to due to the *interesting vibes* and it fitting into the eighth block of the other stories.

<i>I was provided with a complimentary copy of this audiobook by Doom Fiction via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily</i>

This was a surprised and a good one at that. I hadn't read the story before nor after this one - although it sounds like it's in the middle of a book. So I listened to this one as an audio, standalone. The narrator did a great job, giving a story to the lines of verse and poem. I loved the guys digging in their pockets and the lore around what lived there. But the story lost me a bit after they gave it one last thing and moved on to pinchers and eating book pages and whatnot. So while I loved the beginning, the end was a bit odd but I'm glad I gave it a try.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

First I was not aware that this was book 5 in a series. I do need to pay more attention to whether or not it is a book in a series. So I did not follow everything. That being said I really enjoyed it. The book is in verse which was a perfect choice for the story. It flowed really well and I enjoyed it enough I will be looking for more books in this series.

4 stars

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. This was wonderfully creepy. It was giving me shivers up and down my spine as I listened to this. I didn't realize this was part of a series until after I started listening but thank goodness it was easy to get into. I would highly recommend this. It's short and so very scary.

A delicious slice of horror from the Eighth Block, and I suspect the backstory to what will become the main antagonist (or maybe not, who can tell where this series will go).
Another excellent tale wonderfully narrated.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Yes! Yes! Yes! The Ballard of Old Joe Booth by William Pauley III is an exceptional addition to The Bedlam Bible series. The Ballard of Old Joe Booth is book #5 and does not disappoint! Horrific, creative, and beautifully told, I absolutely loved this terrifying tale... and the cover is everything! The cover really adds a sense of horror to the story. I am officially waiting with bated breath for the next book.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The ballad of Old Joe Booth is more a book of verse than a clear narrative. You get the sense of being cut loose from ordinary thinking through unique syntax and strange word forms. Is Old Joe Booth the enemy or a path to transcendence? The utter ambiguity as to the answer is something that had me pondering this story for hours after reading. Worth the time to listen twice!

Well, that was interesting and i mean that in the good way. I've never listened to anything like that before. The story had a grew flow and had great descriptors. I liked Part summer the best.

This book isn't really for me as I don't read this genre. I had to read a book that checked off one of my promps for the month and this did that. It wasn't a bad book but I don't think I would read any more books like this.

Good ole' Joe.

I love the Bedlam Bible series.

Very strange.

Very good.

I wish there was a signed limited omnibus edition of The Bedlam Bible series. I would be buying it for sure.

I am obsessed with this series, every book is amazing and you can read them as a standalone as well because they still make perfect sense.
This was so interesting and amazing, I highly recommend this series to everyone!

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an AudioARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley for letting me listen to the audiobook ARC of this!

When I selected this from Netgalley, I was unaware that it was part of a series that I had neither read nor heard about - but after this I will certainly be going back and reading the others.
The writing conjured such eerie and visceral imagery, along with such an intriguing story that I was able to follow despite having no context of other entries in the series.
It's exactly the creepy short narrative I have been craving, and - though I have previously proclaimed not being a fan of poems - this has got me interested in this form of poetry!

Brilliant work, and I would highly recommend it!

This was creepy, macabre, and hellish. In the best way possible.
I have only listened to one other installment of the Bedlam Bible saga, and listening to this one has just solidified how much I want to delve into all the others. Whilst I did enjoy the other one more (White Fuzz), I think that was simply because it was a longer fleshed-out narrative, whereas The Ballad of Old Joe Booth really did feel like listening to a chilling archaic bible passage.

The writing was super atmospheric and above all else, creepy as hell. Connor Brannigan’s narration added so much, and was super immersive. He was the PERFECT choice for narrator.

Thank you to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for providing me with an Audio ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was not familiar with this author or the Bedlam Bible series, but this creepy installment has definitely fed my curiosity. I did the audiobook and through #Netgalley and Connor Branigan does an excellent job narrating this origin(?) story of Old Joe Booth, one name for a cosmic horror that goes through the seasons. Labeled as an epic poem, the creepy writing adds to the haunting sense of dread.

I am totally reading this series out of order and you know what? It still makes sense.

This one was a short, creepy, and awesome tale about Old Joe Booth and some poor fellas who should have walked away.

I cannot actually go into much details as this is short enough that details could spoil the whole thing but lets just say I would be side eyeing any crabs that may get near me.

Connor narrates this one so well that I was sucked in from the first word.

This book was a very quick listen.

The narrator had a great cadence and did a fantastic job of reeling the listener in. I was left wanting for more with this one.

Well then, I listened to it and here we are!

This was my second Bedlam Bible/Eighth Block novella, so it took me a little while to really get into the flow of it all, but it was fascinating to listen to for certain. It had an interesting lyrical quality to it, even if the layout wasn't my favorite, I appreciate the demi-dive into the character of Old Joe Booth and his clearly demonic background/history.

The narration by Connor Brannigan provides a great connection to the rest of the series and gives a level of continuity to it as a whole. Since the title calls it "A Song for Eighth Block" I kind of thought that it was going to be sung to me, but I'm actually kind of grateful that it was just read to me... Although singing it to me without instrumentals or context probably would have made it creepier, in my humble opinion... also grateful it wasn't sung to me by a child because that would have been nightmare inducing.

Thanks to Doom Fiction for the ARC audiobook version via NetGalley!