That Ghoul Ava Sacks a Quarterback:

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the title at first—*That Ghoul Ava Sacks a Quarterback* sounds like a mad libs gone wrong. But five minutes into Pamela Lorence’s narration, I was hooked. Her Ava Birch is a masterclass in deadpan comedy: imagine if your snarkiest friend were also a centuries-old corpse with a penchant for quarterback snacks. Lorence nails the balance between Ava’s exhaustion (“*Again* with the psychic drama?”) and the book’s escalating chaos, like when a high school football game devolves into a supernatural turf war. The production is clean, but the real star is the *tone*—this isn’t just horror-comedy, it’s horror-*satire*, skewering small-town politics, fandom culture, and the absurdity of being “chosen” for greatness when you’d rather just nap in a crypt. That said, the pacing *does* stumble in the second act. A subplot involving Ava’s ghoulish “family” feels rushed, like Brown had too many fun ideas and not enough room to let them breathe. And while Lorence’s character voices are stellar, a few minor characters blur together in the audio mix—you’ll occasionally lose track of who’s speaking during the book’s more crowded scenes. But these are quibbles. The finale, a gloriously unhinged mashup of sports commentary and eldritch horror, had me cackling on my commute. If you love your horror with a side of heart (and a chaser of “wait, did that just happen?”), this is your audiobook. Just maybe don’t listen while eating." "tags": [ "dark comedy horror audiobook