“Night of the Orchid” is an entirely different story than “Red Moon” and has the characterization the latter lacked in spades. Whether this is more a character story or plot story is entirely based on the listener’s own predispositions. It’s very literary in that regard. As for myself, the plot took a back seat to the characters and themes of the story.

Religious Horror and Feminist Themes

The themes of the story almost seem to conflict with each other. By contrast Each character is complex enough to not become a straw man for one side. One such theme is temptation, who Madeline (Rebecca Hamilton) captures and works off of with the mysterious ghost (Peter Hannah) with devilish charm and sway in both the words on the page and his delivery of them.

Tense Themes of The Shining and the Plot of Psycho

The unnerving piano music at the climax and revelation of the ghost’s identity through flashback is a strange blend of off-putting and horrific in the style of Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and the tension of Stephen King’s “The Shining” film adaptation.

The moment before a character’s death near the end by contrast to a death earlier in the middle is anti-climactic. Where the first death is gruesome and horrific to hear, the later is quiet with no signs of a struggle from either performer or sound effects.

How Madeline defeats the villain works logistically, but the method’s setup is easily missed or forgotten if not listening to this almost 2-hour audio drama in one sitting. The midpoint of the story unfortunately lends itself too well as a stopping point. At least in terms of emotional and physical exhaustion from the listener after a long time of clever banter between Madeline and the ghost and the death mentioned above.

While the plot is more or less straight forward, the themes of gender inequality between men and women (AKA Feminism) is shown as both complicated and easy to digest. It won’t solve the issue, but it’s a damn fine story that makes you think about it.

8.5/10

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The Shadow Remake: Black Rock