Creeping Waves

By: Matthew M. Bartlett

Narrated by: Dexter Herron

Where is the real Leeds? How does one get there? Is it floating on the air—words and music you can almost reach out and grab like wriggling worms of sound and ether? Is it in the carnival that seethes under the corrupted church, drawing the lost along shadowy corridors and through the strangely angled funhouse doors to the place where the city fathers perform secret rites with the goat-headed masters of the dark?

Do you seek the Real Leeds? Venture out to a secluded spot, turn on your radio, and spin that dial down to the murky low numbers, somewhere just around 87.9. That music, that voice calling on the edge of static and distortion—it might lead you to that blasted and damned path toward the Real and Truest heart of Leeds, Massachusetts.

This is WXXT. It's the witching hour, when shadows take wing and nightmares stalk. Turn your radio up. Point your antennas to the infinite sky. And stay tuned for Weather on the Sixes. WXXT. The bubbling blisters on the tongue of the Pioneer Valley.

©2016 Matthew M. Bartlett (P)2018 Matthew M. Bartlett

You've Never Heard Anything Like This

Matthew M. Bartlett writes the kind of creepy, haunting stories that get under your skin and stay with you in the dark. Creeping Waves is an exceptional mosaic of a book, stitching together the damned and the damnable souls of Leeds, MA. I promise if you're a fan of the frightening or unnerving, you've just found the gem you're looking for. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

You're listening to WXXT...

Bartlett is good. Damn good. I dug everything about this one.

“The sun was a ghost trapped in quicksand made of clouds.”

The dread within is brilliantly woven throughout all the works (large and small) and somehow assembled into a piece much larger than the mere sum of its parts.

Coffee, cankers and cabbage, rigorous rogerings, anti-itch cream for the male undercarriage, sautéed Regina ring fingertips with cherry wine, painting the asphalt red and descended black nipples with thick wiry toe hair.

You’re listening to WXXT…

Bartlett Dazzles and Horrifies

This collection serves as a sequel to “Gateways to Abomination” as many characters and stories continue on in this volume. Bartlett has created a fascinating mythos wherein I could read twelve more books. This is a great showcase of literary fiction in the vein of Barron and Langan. He’s breathed new life into self-published horror fiction and in doing so inspires many. 4.5 stars.

Destined to be a timeless classic

I enjoyed listening to this book more than any other audio book I've heard. I didn't believe that the sophomore effort from Bartlett could be better than his brilliant debut collection. I was wrong.

Don't touch that dial...

Transgressive is a word that can become meaningless if overused, but it's truly the best word to describe Matthew M. Bartlett's work. Matthew's prose walks up to that imaginary line we label "too far" and happily stomps over it. Name your taboo, and the stories in Creeping the Waves stares unblinking at them. With the stories told in the framework of the imaginary (or is it?) radio station WXXT, audiobook is the perfect format for these stories. It also seams together the various lengths and styles of the prose so that the variation seems organic. I can't say you'll be the same after you listen to this, but I can assure you that it will stay with you for a very long time.