The Wormhole Effect

I’ll admit, I went into *The Wormhole Effect* expecting something either more experimental or more polished—what I got was a mixed bag of cosmic confections that occasionally dazzle but often leave you wanting another bite. The standout here is *'The Last Transmission of Station K-9,'* a poignant, almost *Bradbury-esque* vignette about loneliness and static that Scholl delivers with just the right amount of quiet ache. His voice cracks ever so slightly at the story’s climax, and it *works*. Less successful is *'Glow-in-the-Dark Love,'* which reads like a first-draft Twitter thread stretched thin; Scholl’s usual charm can’t salvage the clunky dialogue, and the production’s minimalist approach (no sound effects, no cast) leaves the story feeling flat. The audiobook’s brevity is both a blessing and a curse. At 90 minutes, it’s an easy listen for a commute or a lazy afternoon, but several stories end just as they’re getting interesting—like a magician yanking the tablecloth away before the trick resolves. Scholl’s narration is consistently *good*, though not always *right*: his gravelly warmth suits the nostalgic pieces but feels oddly mismatched with the few attempts at hard sci-fi jargon. Still, there’s a scrappy, DIY energy here that’s oddly endearing. If you’re the kind of listener who enjoys *The Moth* but wishes it had more spaceships, you’ll find things to love. If you need your sci-fi airtight, though, you might leave this wormhole feeling a little queasy.