The Tea Party

I’ll admit, *The Tea Party* took me a few chapters to fully sink into—not because it’s slow, but because Grant’s horror is so *subtle*. The book opens like a pastoral idyll, all tea cups and rocking chairs, and for a while, you might wonder where the horror is. Then you notice it: the way conversations loop, the way the villagers’ stories don’t quite add up, the way the forest seems to *breathe*. This isn’t a book that screams; it sidles up to you and whispers in your ear until you’re paranoid about your own neighbors. Matt Godfrey’s performance is a masterclass in restraint. He doesn’t overplay the creepiness; instead, he lets the text do the work, delivering even the most mundane lines with a faint undercurrent of something *not right*. His pacing is deliberate, almost hypnotic, which works beautifully for the book’s dreamlike (nightmare-like?) tone. My only critique? The sound mixing occasionally dips the dialogue too low during outdoor scenes, forcing me to crank the volume—only to get blasted when the music swells. And while the ending is haunting, it’s also *ambiguous* to a fault; some listeners might crave more resolution. Still, if you’re a fan of *The Wicker Man* or Shirley Jackson’s brand of dread, this audiobook is a must-listen—just maybe not before bed.