The Creeper

"Something is breathing in my ear."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: April 2020

Series: Class Vol 4.02

Featuring: April, Charlie, Matteusz, Miss Quill

Synopsis

While the pupils of Coal Hill Academy celebrate Hallowe'en, Quill and Matteusz investigate an alien distress call emanating from a boarded-up house in Shoreditch. Can April and Charlie reach them before it's too late? And what is the 'Creeper' inside?

Verdict

The Creeper was another great audio to continue my way through the fourth volume of Class audio adventures! I really liked this one as a strong follow up to the excellent oopener of Mock and this was a very different take on the school setting and age of the characters. This very much feels like my university life and whilst the main characters here are attending Coal Hill Academy, the use of a Halloween party was terrific. Having that as a setting always works as the spooks are never going to be purely innocent and there’s potential for them to become real. That’s kind of what happened here and there was a lot of fancy dress humour which worked well. April had arrived in the popular costume of a zombie with it being the Day of the Dead and she wasn’t happy to find so many others matching her. She knew she should’ve stayed in her sexy witch outfit and that’s something that bypassed Matteusz. With Ram not around to provide her with a Dracula, April was on the hunt for Charlie. He l less thrilled by the prospect of the Halloween party which provided some good amusement, especially with him admitting he was claustrophobic. That didn’t bode well as the episode endured. It was really nice to have four of the main cast all featuring here with April, Charlie, Matteusz and Miss Quill in main roles and that really did make a difference. Whilst it’s been nice to pair off different elements of the cast, this arguably felt like the most authentic from the audio range yet. The Creeper as the titular character and how she was later referred to was a really good character and fitted in well with the Halloween setting. The distortion of her voice was decent and I liked how mysterious she seemed. Mattheusz and Miss Quill going missing in the Creeper’s home was good and provided a strong plot basis. It heightened the threat which was perpetuated by the distortion. The enigmatic nature of the symbols all being a mess on the floor was well done and I liked the use of background voices in creating an eery atmosphere. I appreciated everything that was going on.  The bones covering the floor added to that and the Creeper being the cause of that was a really great revelation. It wasn’t much of a surprise, but her comments about human blood being sweet and some people taking longer to die than others were outstanding. I will say that the voice probably sounded too much like Quill and I thought it was her in a different dimension at the start, but it worked when she wasn’t overpowered with dialogue. The image of her carving star charts into the stones with her nails was horrifying and it was fun to play on Charlie having two faces as she could see the real him behind the human facade. The supposed truth regarding the Creeper as being the guide for an interspace tourist trip going wrong seemed slightly odd, but the concept of spatial dislocation breaking down and the Creeper not being able to leave was fantastic. The star charts being a beacon to try and escape was very logical and April having to be the one to try and get through the passage to the dimension and free Mattheusz and Quill was very good. It tied in with Charlie’a earlier fears and the Creeper playing on that and April being isolated was very well done. It was pretty fun for the Durant as those trying to break through attempting to latch on back through the dimension and whilst I thought they might have been revealed a little late, it was nice when that moment came. I was impressed with how April used the nun story that Mattheusz recited to her from his grandmother to focus his mind and keep him stable despite almost falling apart in the distorted dimension. Mattheusz found his way back through the passage, but was possessed as the Durant came through. They were priests of war just requiring a door, and now they’d got that. I liked how the Creeper was named as such because that was her signature named after how she moved through space. April was encouraging a new one and conjured up Miss Steel which was a popular choice. The drama of the conclusion with Charlie altering the star chart to divert the signal away and shutdown the passage worked very well and I liked how he took it upon himself and Quill to have responsibility for her now that her only way home was gone. The twist at the end was wonderful with the Creeper seemingly have been playing all along and now had a planet of her own to play with. She knew the Creeper story and the younger voices recalling that was great. I’m not sure we will get one, but if this leads into a follow up for the finale then I’ll be very happy! Overall, a really great audio. 

Rating: 8/10