Schrader's Chord

A Novel

By: Scott Leeds

Narrated by: George Newbern

Heart-Shaped Box meets The Haunting of Hill House in Schrader's Chord, Scott Leeds's chilling debut about cursed vinyl records that open a gateway to the land of the dead.

I told you they were real.

After his estranged father’s mysterious death, Charlie Remick returns to Seattle to help with the funeral. There, he discovers his father left him two parting gifts: the keys to the family record store and a strange black case containing four ancient records that, according to legend, can open a gate to the land of the dead.

When Charlie, his sister, and their two friends play the records, they unwittingly open a floodgate of unspeakable horror. As the darkness descends, they are stalked by a relentless, malevolent force and see the dead everywhere they turn.

With time running out, the only person who can help them is Charlie’s resurrected father, who knows firsthand the awesome power the records have unleashed. But can they close the gate and silence Schrader’s Chord before it’s too late?

Quirky, humorous, engaging (albeit not-quite-horror) read

This is billed as horror, but it’s more of a quirky, wittily humorous and slightly gruesome family saga and road trip romp woven through with interesting musical stuff (and a lot of heart). Really enjoyed it and have been recommending to friends. Great choice on the reader. Looking forward to seeing more from this author!

Not a Horror Novel

It has some gristly images and some clever set pieces, but the author loses interest in the horror pretty early in favor of cozy scenes. As becomes obvious pretty early, the center of the story is romantic rather than frightful and, as a sort of dark fantasy, it’s a good first novel, but as horror?

Other issues — characters from multiple generations share exactly the same cultural touch points, which is weird. Anna swings between a semi-realized character and the sort of woman the author appears to want to date. There’s some ham-handed attempts at inclusion that go nowhere (but the author tried), and a lot of writing that feels like the author is hoping for a movie deal but comes off as a bigger-budget episode of Supernatural.

All in all, not terrible, maybe promising, but it really needed to decide if it was going to be horror or fantasy and didn’t really hit either. I feel bad about being so negative, but it was a bit of a slog to finish. I won’t rule out later efforts.

The reader was fine. I didn’t love his voice, but he delivered a solid reading with slight tone shifts for voices (although his “Yorkshire” accent was… well) and didn’t over- or under-dramatize.

TL;DR: it was fine.

Took a chance and enjoyed it

I enjoy paranormal / spooky reads but unfortunately so many of them are predictable. This one had a unique storyline and drew me in, definitely not predictable. Long listen but kept me engaged. Narration was excellent. Happy I purchased and would try another book from this author.

Cool story but no one to really get behind in this one.

I hate to knock anyone’s writing because this guy is a 100x the writer I am. I loved the idea behind this book and was ready to get hooked. Unfortunately I could never get behind the main characters. The only one I could pull for meets an early demise. The initial scene where the story gets serious does not have the aura of believability you want. You are thinking- after what you just saw you are going to do this with people you supposedly care about??
And the protagonist, despite multiple efforts by the author to develop positive traits, kind of comes off as selfish and whiny. By the end, I was just ready for it to be over. Interesting and fitting ending though. The narration exacerbated the whining nature of the main character for me but certainly wasn’t bad.

Excellent Spooky Tale

Really enjoyed this book from start to finish. Finished in a day. Great character development, wonderful narration. Perfect book for October. Can’t wait for this author to write MORE.